…I Am A Tree

Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Yeah, it’s back!  Lots of good music in the past year or so, plus some old stuff, so let’s get it into gear.

This is a really nice little show by Todd from 2006 at Four Sisters Winery in Belvidere NJ. Give it a listen!

--------------------------------------------------
Todd Sheaffer
19-AUG-2006 SAT
Four Sisters Winery
homegrownradionj.com Wine & Music Festival
Belvidere, New Jersey
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DAUD:
C 414 B-XLS/ST (DIN-a SubCard) > V3 (16/44.1 ANSR) >
PMD-671

WAV > FLAC:
CF Card > CDWAV v1.71 > Adobe Audition v1.5 >
FLAC FrontEnd v1.7.1 (level 5)

[tsheaffer2006-08-19.heikki.flac16]
--------------------------------------------------
TOTAL:					   (62:24)
--------------------------------------------------
01: Johnny Maj Intro			(00:31.57)
02: Long Way to Go			(05:49.07)
03: Homegrown				(01:45.48)
04: Raindance				(06:41.73)
05: Charlie Hogan			(05:31.50)
06: Chains				(04:46.11)
07: Homegrown				(01:10.70)
08: How Long				(04:49.17)
09: Ferris Wheel Waltz			(05:50.66)
10: Girl from the North Country		(06:24.40)
11: Cheatin' at the Club		(04:29.40)
12: Storms				(08:00.41)
13: What's Going On *			(06:32.48)
--------------------------------------------------
Notes:
	* w/ John Ginty on Keys
--------------------------------------------------

long overdue
got the sun in a shoe
out of breath
everything in the gutter

lost how it goes
pickin’ at the bones
shadowed moon
everything under the weather

oh that smile on his face (and sometimes smile on us Grace)
and it all falls into place
and with ease
light as a feather
oh smile on his face
and it all falls into place
ain’t it sweet
when everything comes together?

why is it dark
in my head, in my heart
have I lostÂ
everything that I’ve found?

we’ve been down here before
where it’s dark and it’s cold
and you’re lost
just bangin’ on through the weather

oh that smile on his face
and it all falls into place
and with ease
light as a feather
oh smile on his face
and it all falls into place
ain’t it sweet
when everything comes together?

oh that smile on his face
and it all falls into place
and with ease
light as a feather
oh smile on his face
and it all falls into place
ain’t it sweet
when everything comes together?

oh that smile on his face
and it all falls into place
and with ease
light as a feather
oh smile on his face
and it all falls into place
ain’t it sweet
when everything comes together?
——————–

One of my favorite Todd Sheaffer songs, this really speaks to me of facing adversity with a smile on your face, and that with perseverance, you’ll get past it. Things may be dark now, but that will pass.

Sort of been feeling this way all week, so hearing this live this weekend would be a Good Thing.

Here’s Railroad Earth performing it in 2004.

http://www.archive.org/download/rre2004-10-02.matrix.flac/rre2004-10-02d1t01_vbr.mp3

Hackensaw/Earth, Cocaine Blues, originally uploaded by Kyrion.

The Hackensaw Boys joined Railroad Earth onstage for a rollicking version of Cocaine Blues, which can be heard here.

12.31.06, The Trocadero, Philly. 

And yes, it’s an old photo. ;P

Our Wii showed up this week, along with Guitar Hero and The Beatles Rockband.  We’ve not even tried Guitar Hero yet, because The Beatles package is simply outstanding.

We have one guitar and a drum kit, and it’s sort of evolved into Kim playing the guitar and me on the skins.  We started story-mode the other night, then deleted everything and re-started last night. On Easy, of course.

The story-mode takes you through the history of the band, starting with the Cavern Club and early tunes. You then get the Ed Sullivan Show, Shea Stadium, Budokan (Revolver period), and then Sgt. Pepper’s in the Abbey Road studio. There’s more after that, but we’ve only gotten to there.  We also tried Helter Skelter (insane, but we did well) and Dear Prudence, which was boggling in its complexity, even on easy.

Holy wow, is this fun. We both are gaining a new appreciation for the Beatles, and me, in particular, for Ringo, whom I used to blast along with most folks.  Even on easy, some of the stuff is simply nuts.  We tried one song on Medium and my mouth was on the floor.

The current plan is to finish the story, then master all songs to 5 stars on Easy.  At that point, we’ll advance into the harder settings and see what happens.  Now we want regular Rock Band, so we can get some Dead, too.  And a bass. And a second guitar.

Oh, and Paul’s bass parts on most tracks look insane on the settings.

Can’t recommend this one enough.

Everyone who knows the Dead has an opinion about May ‘77.  I fall into the camp of, “holy crap, this was an amazing month of music.”  I was fourteen then, and, had I not been ignorant, likely would have found a way to a couple of the shows that month as they played a bunch in and around New England.

This show, another Betty Board, is filled with tons of great stuff.  I love shows that open with Bertha, and this one delivers. Set two, however, is the smoker. Estimated > Eyes > Drums > Samson is outstanding.  ‘77 Eyes are just so gooey to me…love them.  I believe this show is the first Passenger and first Iko, too.

Enjoy!

5/15/77 – Grateful Dead
St. Louis Arena – St. Louis, MO 

Recording Info:
SBD -> Master Reel (7 inch reels @ 7.5ips 1/2trk) -> Dat (44.1k)

Transfer Info:
Dat (Sony D8) -> SEK’D Prodif Plus -> Samplitude v7.02 Professional -> FLAC
(3 Discs Audio / 2 Discs FLAC)

Transferred and Edited By Charlie Miller
charliemiller87@earthlink.net
4/11/05

Notes:
– All disc changes are seamless.

Set 1:
d1t01 – Bertha ->
d1t02 – Good Lovin’
d1t03 – Row Jimmy
d1t04 – New Minglewood Blues
d1t05 – Tennessee Jed
d1t06 – Lazy Lightnin’ ->
d1t07 – Supplication
d1t08 – Jack-A-Roe
d1t09 – Passenger
d1t10 – Funiculi Finicula
d1t11 – Brown Eyed Women
d2t01 – Dancin’ In The Street

set 2:
d2t02 – Tuning
d2t03 – Estimated Prophet ->
d2t04 – Eyes Of The World ->
d2t05 – Drums ->
d2t06 – Samson And Delilah
d2t07 – Ship Of Fools
d3t01 – Saint Stephen ->
d3t02 – Iko Iko ->
d3t03 – Not Fade Away ->
d3t04 – Sugar Magnolia

Encore:
d3t05 – Tuning
d3t06 – Uncle John’s Band

I was lamenting the lack of new music up on archive.org and that the west coast often seems to come forget about taping shows, when I came across this “new” old tape from waaaay early on in the band’s career.  Not sure if it’s pre-Telluride 2001 or shortly thereafter, but it’s fun (and a soundboard, to boot).

The band has come a long, long way since that time.  Yes, you can hear the spark there, but nine years down the road, they’ve fulfilled the early promise of greatness many folks predicted.

Enjoy!

 Railroad Earth
 6/28/01
 Half Moon Saloon
 Vail, CO

Taped by Dave McKearney

SBD - DAP1 - UA5 - WaveLab - CDWave

    Set 1:
01  Chains
02 Stillwater Getaway
03 Luxury Liner
04 Sing For Me
05 Colorado
06 New Camptown Races
07 Bird In a House
08 Cold Water

    Set 2:
09 Lordy Lordy
10 Birds Of America
11 Dandelion Wine
12 Came up Smilin'
13 Ragtime Annie Lee
14 Head
15 Black Bear
16 Bowling Green
17 I Am a Mess
18 Whiskey Medley
E:
19 Seven Story Mountain
20 Everything Comes Together
21 Old Home Place

This is a sweet little set by Todd from his recent stint opening up for Greensky Bluegrass. Some times, I think this is my favorite way of listening to Todd — stripped down to just his voice, his guitar and harmonica and his songs.

Todd Sheaffer
December 2, 2009
123 Pleasant St.
Morgantown, W.V.

Source:AUD>SONY ECM-MS907/SONY ECM-MS957>ZOOM H4n
Transfer:ZOOM H4n>WAV>Trader's Little Helper>FLAC
Taped & Transferred By Lee Maine

1. Long Walk Home
2. Oh Mary, Don't You Weap
3. Walk On By
4. Long Way To Go
5. I Only Want
6. Tuning
7. Scudder's Lane
8. Bangin' Out A Melody

*Opened For Greensky Bluegrass

Prompted by a twitter discussion this morning about the merits of Barry Sless over Fake Jerry of DSO, I offer up this show from 2005, the day after Railroad Earth played with Phil Lesh and Friends. Phil was supposed to sit in this night with Railroad, but bailed due to sickness. Barry stepped up to the plate for pretty much the entire first set, both electric and pedal steel.

Everything is worth listening to here, but be warned that the streaming player’s tracklisting gets messed up.

Railroad Earth
2/13/05
Mystic Theater
Petaluma, CA

KM 254's
Taped/transfered by Sandy A.

CD 1

Set I:

Magic Foot>
Luxury Liner*
Storms*
Head*
Railroad Earth*
Black Bear*
I'm A Mess* 

CD 2

Set II:

Waterfountain
Quicksand
Mourning Flies
Sing For Me
Saddle of the Sun>
Elko
Carrying Coal to Newcastle
Mighty River

CD 3

Raindance
Peace on Earth 

Encores:

Smilin' Like a Buddha
Catfish John
Little Rabbit 

Notes:  * with Barry Sless on pedal Steel & guitar

I was updating my Railroad Earth statistics just now and found some interesting things. First, we’ve now seen Railroad sixty one times. Sure, that’s nothing compared to the Brothers Ronquillo or Sapia or other Old School folks, but that isn’t too shabby for five years.

Among the stats, we’ve seen 141 different songs played, and a total of 981 songs. We average a little over 16 songs per show, with the longest being a couple shows clocking in with 22 songs, and the shortest being 5 songs in length (one, opening for Hot Tuna at the House of Blues in Atlantic City – the band didn’t really get a soundcheck, and the other at the Beacon, also opening for Tuna).

Below is the list of songs played, in order of the most-played to the least. Times played is after the song title. A whole bunch of those tunes in the single digits are ones I’d love to hear a whole lot more…  And missing from the list: In the Basement and ‘Neath the Stars. One of these days…

Long Way To Go, 25
Bird in a House, 23
Elko, 23
Head, 21
Like a Buddha, 21
Peace on Earth, 21
Seven Story Mountain, 21
Mourning Flies, 20
Old Man and the Land, 20
Crossing the Gap, 19
Warhead Boogie, 19
Mighty River, 18
Storms, 18
Waterfountain Quicksand, 18
420, 16
Dandelion Wine, 16
Little Rabbit, 16
Magic Foot, 16
Railroad Earth, 16
Saddle of the Sun, 16
Stillwater Getaway, 15
Colorado, 14
Luxury Liner, 14
Ragtime Annie Lee, 14
Reuben’s Train, 14
Old Dangerfield, 13
Sing for Me, 13
Fiddlee, 12
I’m a Mess, 12
Mission Man, 12
The Cuckoo Bird, 12
The Good Life, 12
Everything Comes Together, 11
For Love, 11
Lordy Lordy, 11
Shockenaw Mountain Breakdown, 11
1759, 10
Bread and Water, 10
Dance Around Molly, 10
Hunting Song, 10
Loving You, 10
Black Bear, 9
Butterfly & The Tree, 9
Came Up Smilin’, 9
Cold Water, 9
Give That Boy a Hand, 9
Goat, 9
New Lee Highway Blues, 9
Raindance, 9
Carrying Coal to Newcastle, 8
Cuckoo Medley, 8
Dover to Dunkirk, 8
Just So You Know, 8
The Forecast, 8
Happy Song, 7
Hard Livin’, 7
Acadian Driftwood, 6
Chains, 6
Donkey for Sale, 6
Little Bit O’ Me, 6
Lonecroft Ramble, 6
Mountain Time, 6
My Sisters and Brothers, 6
Right in Tune, 6
Been Down This Road, 5
Bringin’ My Baby Back Home, 5
Daddy-o, 5
Drag Him Down, 5
John’s Jig, 5
The Wheel, 5
Walk Beside Me, 5
Where Songs Begin, 5
Any Road, 4
El Cumbancharo>St. Anne’s Reel, 4
Fire on the Mountain, 4
Fisherman’s Blues, 4
Keep Moving On, 4
Lois Ann, 4
Mississippi Half Step, 4
Moonshiner, 4
RV, 4
Said What You Mean, 4
Soul of a Man, 4
The Green Roofs of Eirann, 4
Wayfaring Stranger, 4
All Alone, 3
Birds of America, 3
Chapel Waltz, 3
Dixieland, 3
Fruitful Acre, 3
Real Love, 3
A Day on the Sand, 2
Bowling Green, 2
Brown County Breakdown, 2
Duncan & Brady, 2
Genesis, 2
Gone to the Fields, 2
Hobo Song, 2
Jerusalem Ridge, 2
New Jam, 2
Peggy-O, 2
Waggin’ the Dog, 2
Walk on By, 2
You Never Know, 2
All You Need is Love, 1
Because, 1
Big River, 1
Big Sciota, 1
Black Clouds, 1
Bluegrass Breakdown, 1
Bonaparte’s Retreat, 1
Cakewalk, 1
Carrick Fertus, 1
Catfish John, 1
Cocaine Blues, 1
Desolation Row, 1
Do the Dog, 1
Down to New Orleans, 1
Flowers Between the Stones, 1
Hardwick Road, 1
Harvest Moon, 1
How Sweet It Is, 1
I Still Want Her, 1
Jellyfish, 1
Josephine’s Waltz, 1
Juliet, 1
Melodius Thunk, 1
Midnight on the Water, 1
Missouri Waters, 1
Old Plank Road, 1
Pack a Day, 1
Powderfinger, 1
Rocky Road Blues, 1
Shine On, 1
Standing on the Corner, 1
This Blue Earth, 1
Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You, 1
Wade in the Water, 1
Walls of Time, 1
Way Downtown, 1
Whiskey River, 1

I’ve had in the back of my head a series of CDs culled from Railroad Earth’s archive.org catalog called, “Essential Covers.”  Over time, I’d add a CD to it including various covers the band has done over the years, so there would be a Volume I, Volume II, etc.

This will be very objective subjective [Ed. - thanks, Grubb] — my favorite versions of songs.  Folks are more than welcome to suggest things, as I’m by no means exhaustive in my knowledge of every version of every song the band has played since 2001.  Some caveats, though: no songs from the From Good Homes era, so that means no Head, no Hunting Song, no Old Man, and even no Warhead.  But I will take songs like Gretna Green, since Todd didn’t write them.

So here’s an incomplete list of songs from the top of my head:

Magic Foot (Russ Barenberg)
Luxury Liner (Gram Parsons)
For Love (Robert Earl Keen)
Jerusalem Ridge (Bill Monroe)
Bluegrass Breakdown (Bill Monroe)
Old Dangerfield (Bill Monroe)
The Cuckoo (Peter Rowan)
Catfish John
Cold Water (Tom Waits)
Walk Beside Me (Tim O’Brien)
Fisherman’s Blues (The Waterboys)
My Sisters and Brothers
Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodle-oo
The Wheel
Terrapin Station
Bowling Green (Everly Brothers)
Fire on the Mountain (Bill Monroe)
Brown County Breakdown (guessing this is a cover)
Ophelia (The Band)
Acadian Driftwood (The Band)
Desolation Row (Bob Dylan)
Dover to Dunkirk (Jack Hardy)
Gretna Green (Jack Hardy)

If you have others, feel free to add them in comments here. I know I have probably twenty-plus more lurking in my head that I’m not recalling at the moment.