Old School Freight Train
Encyclopedia
Old School Freight Train (OSFT) is a Charlottesville, Virginia
-based band that combines bluegrass
, jazz
, Latin
, and Celtic
sounds to create their music.
magazine, included them in their "Artists Too New to Know" series in May 2005. Daniel Gewertz of the Boston Herald
called them: "The most talented young string band in the land . ."
Mandolin master David Grisman
heard their music in the Fall of 2004 and invited them record at his Dawg Studios in Mill Valley, California
. He manned the production and recording himself with the help of Dave Dennison. From these sessions came Run, OSFT's second CD and their first for Acoustic Disc
, Grisman
's acclaimed independent label. He says of the experience:
They have backed David Grisman
as his band on several tours in 2005 and 2006. They opened for Merle Haggard
May 3, 2006 at the Charlottesville Pavilion. They were co-billed with King Wilkie
at the Starr Hill Music Hall in Charlottesville, Virginia
November 15, 2006. They played at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on September 23, 2006.
The band's tour schedule has included the Newport Folk Festival
, MerleFest
, Wintergrass, the Strawberry Music Fest. They appeared at the Menokin bluegrass festival in Warsaw, VA for the third time. They were added to the 2007 Stagecoach Festival
in Indio, CA with a lineup including Lucinda Williams
, Willie Nelson
, Neko Case
, Alan Jackson
, George Strait
and many more.
Their latest effort, Six Years, was released officially March 17, 2009. The band has now broken up.
Relix
magazine, including OSFT in their "Artists Too New to Know" series in May 2005, described their playing as:
Daniel Gewertz of the Boston Herald
noted:
David Grisman
, who recorded their album Run on his independent label, said:
In his review of their new album (released March 17, 2009) John Borgmeyer said in C-VILLE:
stylings of Pete Frostic, the fiddling of Nate Leath, backbone upright bass of Darrell Muller, and drumming of Nick Falk.
Former members have included Ann Marie Calhoun
(née Simpson) on the fiddle
, and Ben Krakauer on banjo
, both of Walker's Run
fame. Ann Marie has gone on to further success performing with Jethro Tull
and Steve Vai
, as well as Ringo Starr
. She was also the "My GRAMMY Moment 2008" winner on the 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards, chosen to perform with the Foo Fighters
live.
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
-based band that combines bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, Latin
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
, and Celtic
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
sounds to create their music.
Successes
The band's self-named debut CD Old School Freight Train was met with considerable acclaim. RelixRelix
Relix magazine was launched in 1974 as newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded Grateful Dead concerts. It rapidly expanded into a music magazine covering a wide amount of artists...
magazine, included them in their "Artists Too New to Know" series in May 2005. Daniel Gewertz of the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
called them: "The most talented young string band in the land . ."
Mandolin master David Grisman
David Grisman
David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...
heard their music in the Fall of 2004 and invited them record at his Dawg Studios in Mill Valley, California
Mill Valley, California
Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge. The population was 13,903 at the 2010 census.Mill Valley is located on the western and northern shores of Richardson Bay...
. He manned the production and recording himself with the help of Dave Dennison. From these sessions came Run, OSFT's second CD and their first for Acoustic Disc
Acoustic Disc
Acoustic Disc is the name of the record label founded by mandolinist David Grisman, in 1990. This independent record label's focus is acoustic music from all genres of music....
, Grisman
David Grisman
David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...
's acclaimed independent label. He says of the experience:
They have backed David Grisman
David Grisman
David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...
as his band on several tours in 2005 and 2006. They opened for Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
May 3, 2006 at the Charlottesville Pavilion. They were co-billed with King Wilkie
King Wilkie
King Wilkie is an American music group formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2002 by Reid Burgess and Ted Pitney. While their early sound was commonly filed under bluegrass, the group has continually defied expectations, drawing from other influences, such as folk and Americana music...
at the Starr Hill Music Hall in Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
November 15, 2006. They played at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on September 23, 2006.
The band's tour schedule has included the Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
, MerleFest
MerleFest
MerleFest is an annual "traditional plus" music festival held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on the campus of Wilkes Community College . The festival, which is held the last weekend in April, is hosted by Grammy Award winner Doc Watson and is named in memory and honor of his son, Eddy Merle Watson,...
, Wintergrass, the Strawberry Music Fest. They appeared at the Menokin bluegrass festival in Warsaw, VA for the third time. They were added to the 2007 Stagecoach Festival
Stagecoach Festival
The Stagecoach Festival is an outdoor country music festival presented by Goldenvoice. The festival is located in Indio, CA, USA. It has various types of artists that attend, whether they be mainstream or almost unknown.-2007:...
in Indio, CA with a lineup including Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams is an American rock, folk, blues and country music singer and songwriter. She recorded her first albums in 1978 and 1980 in a traditional country and blues style and received very little attention from radio, the media, or the public. In 1988, she released her self-titled album,...
, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Neko Case
Neko Case
Neko Case is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers....
, Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...
, George Strait
George Strait
George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...
and many more.
Their latest effort, Six Years, was released officially March 17, 2009. The band has now broken up.
Sound
Tim Dickinson, National Affairs Correspondent, Rolling Stone said of the group's sound:Relix
Relix
Relix magazine was launched in 1974 as newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded Grateful Dead concerts. It rapidly expanded into a music magazine covering a wide amount of artists...
magazine, including OSFT in their "Artists Too New to Know" series in May 2005, described their playing as:
Daniel Gewertz of the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
noted:
David Grisman
David Grisman
David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...
, who recorded their album Run on his independent label, said:
In his review of their new album (released March 17, 2009) John Borgmeyer said in C-VILLE:
Personnel
Old School Freight Train is made up of the vocals and songwriting talent of guitarist Jesse Harper, the mandolinMandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
stylings of Pete Frostic, the fiddling of Nate Leath, backbone upright bass of Darrell Muller, and drumming of Nick Falk.
Former members have included Ann Marie Calhoun
Ann Marie Calhoun
Ann Marie Calhoun is an American violinist.- Personal life :...
(née Simpson) on the fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, and Ben Krakauer on banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, both of Walker's Run
Walker's Run
Walker's Run is an acoustic bluegrass band based out of Lexington, Virginia who also play New Grass and Jazz music.-History:In 1997 Brennan Gilmore of Lexington, Virginia started gathering musicians from his hometown and the University of Virginia where he was studying international relations...
fame. Ann Marie has gone on to further success performing with Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
and Steve Vai
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
, as well as Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
. She was also the "My GRAMMY Moment 2008" winner on the 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards, chosen to perform with the Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
live.
Albums
- Old School Freight Train (2002), Courthouse RecordsCourthouse RecordsCourthouse Records , Richmond, VA, is a genre-nonspecific, independent micro-label founded in 1987 by W. B. “Wally” Thulin to release On Time, an LP by a regional bluegrass band, Virginia Rail...
– ASIN: B000083GLJ - Pickin' on John MayerJohn MayerJohn Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...
: A Bluegrass Tribute (2003), Various Artists CMH RecordsCMH RecordsFounded in 1975, CMH Records is a Los Angeles based independent country and bluegrass label with several subsidiary labels, including Vitamin Records, Crosscheck, Dwell, and Rockabye Baby!, which release diverse styles of music including string quartet tributes, punk, metal, and lullabies,... - Pickin' on Wilco: Casino Side (2004), CMH RecordsCMH RecordsFounded in 1975, CMH Records is a Los Angeles based independent country and bluegrass label with several subsidiary labels, including Vitamin Records, Crosscheck, Dwell, and Rockabye Baby!, which release diverse styles of music including string quartet tributes, punk, metal, and lullabies,...
– ASIN: B000294ROE - Run (2005), Acoustic DiscAcoustic DiscAcoustic Disc is the name of the record label founded by mandolinist David Grisman, in 1990. This independent record label's focus is acoustic music from all genres of music....
– ASIN: B00080Z66K - Pickin' on ColdplayColdplayColdplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
: A Bluegrass Tribute (2005), Various Artists CMH RecordsCMH RecordsFounded in 1975, CMH Records is a Los Angeles based independent country and bluegrass label with several subsidiary labels, including Vitamin Records, Crosscheck, Dwell, and Rockabye Baby!, which release diverse styles of music including string quartet tributes, punk, metal, and lullabies,...
– ASIN: B00070Q886 - Pickin' on John MayerJohn MayerJohn Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...
Vol. 2 (2005), Various Artists CMH RecordsCMH RecordsFounded in 1975, CMH Records is a Los Angeles based independent country and bluegrass label with several subsidiary labels, including Vitamin Records, Crosscheck, Dwell, and Rockabye Baby!, which release diverse styles of music including string quartet tributes, punk, metal, and lullabies,... - Live in Ashland (2006) – ASIN: B000WGX6LM
- Six Years (2009) Red DistributionRED DistributionRED - An Artist Development Company is a Sony Music Entertainment-owned sales and marketing division that handles releases for over sixty independent record labels....
— ASIN: B001QWEE3A
Other contributions
- Live at the 9:30 Club (April 19, 2008) - Next to the Last True Romantic
Articles, reviews, interviews
- C-VILLE Issue #21.11 :: 17 March 2009 - 23 March 2009, "Freight Train jumps the track: Six Years; Old School Freight Train"; review by John Borgmeyer.
- "New Dawgs: Old School Freight Train" by Rudi Greenberg, posted May 27, 2008 ExpressExpress (newspaper)Express is a free daily newspaper distributed in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It is in a tabloid format and is printed every weekday and distributed at Washington Metro stations and other locations throughout the Washington metropolitan area. It is owned and printed by The Washington...
. - "Old School Freight Train: Not a 1-way ticket" Lancaster New Era published: Jul 26, 2007.
External links
- Official Website Old School Freight Train.
- MySpace Page Old School Freight Train.
- Sam Hill Bands profile.
- Acoustic Disc profile.
- Old School Freight Train collection at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
's live music archive. - Acoustic Disc official website
- Charlottesville Pavilion official website
- Menokin Bluegrass Festival official website
- Stage Coach Festival official website
- Newport Folk Festival official website
- MerleFest official website
- Wintergrass official website