Thoughts on music: New Music 2017 - Part 36 - The Railsplitters

Saturday, November 25, 2017

New Music 2017 - Part 36 - The Railsplitters - Jump In

Based in Boulder, Colo. The Railsplitters is a quintet and a string band that displays not only its independence of traditional constrictions within the genre - traditional bluegrass did not involve women; lead vocal here in the charge of Lauren Stovall, originally from Jackson, Miss. - but also its own ethos as to where it should head musically and therefore the sort of topics that the songs relate to follow likewise.
The band members are as follows:

Lauren Stovall - lead vocals
Dusty Ryder - banjo
Peter Sharpe - mandolin
Joe D'Esposito - fiddle
Jean-Luc Davis - upright bass

This is the band's third LP. Like the two that came before it, self-titled 'The Railsplitters' (2013) and 'The Faster It Goes' (2015), it has been entirely cloud-funded and self released.

Jump In - The Railsplitters (self-released, 10 November 2017).

The Railsplitters - Jump In:

Everyone She Meets
Jump In
Lessons I've Learned
Durango River
To Do
Somethin' Sweet
Citronella
Lemon Lime
Bay of Five
Baxes

This is a true touring band. As I write this their schedule shows that the next gigs are at the Woodside Folk Festival in Queensland, Australia between Christmas and New Year. An extensive tour of the UK follows early in 2018 and I am intending to see the band live. The dates for this tour are as follows:

Jan 25 Thu --- The Old Fire Station, Carlisle

Jan 26 Fri --- The Hippodrome, Eyemouth

Jan 27 Sat --- Letham Nights, Letham

Jan 28 Sun --- Birnam Arts, Dunkeld

Jan 30 Tue --- Celtic Connections, Glasgow

Feb 1 Thu --- Eastgate Theatre, Peebles

Feb 2 Fri --- Sage Gateshead, Gateshead

Feb 3 Sat --- The Greystones, Sheffield

Feb 4 Sun --- Taliesin Arts Centre, Swansea

Feb 6 Tue --- Helsby Bluegrass Club, Frodsham

Feb 7 Wed --- Musically Monstrous at The Three Horseshoes, Towersey

Feb 8 Thu --- South Holland Centre, Spalding