Cosmic Railroad
Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States | SELF
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Band Of The Month
Cosmic Railroad
Web Site: CosmicRailroad.com
Published on 9/8/2005 6:28:51 AM :: comments
Cosmic Railroad
This original jam band hailing from southeastern Wisconsin was established in 1999. All the members of Cosmic Railroad have found themselves and their styles absorbed by the band. The band is known for putting the groove back in groove music with its shows. A sound that moves through uncharted water night after night never knowing what’s going to pop up next.
Performing regularly since the spring of 1999 Cosmic Railroad has become well known for it’s live performances particularly in the Milwaukee and Chicagoland area. They have appeared at such nationally recognized clubs as "The Brat Stop" and "The BBC". They have also been invited to play at several different festivals in the southeastern Wisconsin and Illinois area, as well as different colleges throughout the Midwest.
Cosmic Railroad shows no signs of slowing down, in fact, they are traveling more than ever and gaining more and more ground both from the family (fans) standpoint and the improvisational standpoint.
The band is also trying to release as many live recordings as possible as the demand for them continues to grow. The band tries to release a new bootleg every few months as well as downloadable music files on their web site. These bootlegs are intended for the Cosmic Railroad family (the people that come to the shows) so they can help spread the word. (Please feel free to duplicate recordings as long as they are not used for profits in anyway).
Cosmic Railroad hopes that their family (fans) enjoy the journey with them.
Tourdates can be found HERE.
Comments (9) - Page 1 of 1
:: Smokin Joe on 10/25/2005 9:30:38 AM
This band is wonderful! Everytine I see them live...they blow me away! Seriously rediculous jams! The drummers are too good!!!!! I love Cosmic Railroad!
:: Dead Head on 9/28/2005 2:40:54 PM
I think this band will be on top of the jamband scene in no time. The old school jamband sound is on! Its nice to see a real Jamband get some noteriety! The Grateful Web shows they ore on top of these fellas with this feature!
:: monica on 9/23/2005 9:52:09 AM
I love these guys!!!!
:: Emily on 9/16/2005 11:00:29 AM
I just was recently turned on to Cosmic Railroad this summer when I heard of them from some friends. I was able to see a live show and I was astounded by how good this band really is. The show was The Grateful Garcia Gathering in Black River Falls, Wi and there were some pretty good bands there. JGB, Fat Maw Rooney, Waterband and others. Although each band was very good it was ultimately Cosmic Railroad that stood out the most. They have that special aura that the others lacked! Ill be waiting for more shows to come to my area, or I guess ill have to go to them. I would easily be worth the travel
:: Ski Ski on 9/15/2005 9:23:12 AM
I saw these guys at Harvest Fest with Particle, the Big Wu, And alot of other bands. Cosmic Railroad didnt headline, but it wont be long for them now. They were so fuckin good it was just crazy! Im gettin on that train as often as I can. It will be too full before too long though so if you should see them asap cuz soon its gonna be too hard ti get tix!
:: Pockets on 9/13/2005 2:17:34 PM
Congratulations to Cosmic Railroad for this honor! There are plenty of bands out there that have adopted the "jam" style and sound - but you guys are sticking true-to-form. There is definately something magical that happens when you guys dive into the unknown, swim down to find the monster, and pull it out kicking and screaming for the world to see. In the spirit of the acid tests, Cosmic Railroad is most certainly on the right track. Cheers!
:: Ronni on 9/9/2005 12:21:02 PM
Cosmic Railroad rocks or STFU! : )
Waiting on pins & needles for them to make it out my way so they can rock my world live.
Great job guys! It's a well-deserved honor indeed.
:: elvis aron - Gratefulweb.net
Jam Band Improvises Every Show
Music is an adventurous journey for the members of Cosmic Railroad, a psychadelic jamband that transports listeners to delightful and unexpected destinations. If you are into exceptional musicianship and extended jams, climb aboard the Cosmic Railroad train, because youre in for an exhilarating ride.
"The same reason people are there watching it is the same reason we are playing it," said Greg Gierl, one of the bands three guitarists. " We love the improvisation, we love the unexpected," he said. "The highs and lows of improvisation are like a rollercoaster."
The Kenosha-based six member group formed four years ago by combining members from two bands- Strawberry Square and Uncle Rays Garden, Gierl said.
Cosmic Railroads influences include the Grateful Dead, Phish, and the Allman Brothers Band, all bands with lengthly instrumental jams during songs.
Jambands constitute a genre now, Gierl said." Ten years ago it was pretty much the Grateful Dead and Phish." he said. "Then if you go back 15 years it was just the Grateful Dead. Ever since Jerry Garcia passed away, Phis became huge- and that spawned a whole new genre of music.
Cosmic Railroad performs mostly original music and adapts songs like the Dead's "Sugar Magnolia" and Bob Dylans "Tangled Up In Blue".Guitarist Brandon Shilts echoed Gierls feelings about improvisation. "My favorite thing is the freedom and the flow of improv," Shilts said. "Sometimes you hit it and sometimes you dont. It's sink or swim, you know? It can be a good time or uhh-ohhh, I'm in a corner. It goes both ways- a lot of times during the same night."
Improvisation means variety, he said. No song is ever played the same way twice."I dont think we could play a song the same way twice," Shilts said with a laugh. " That means somebody would have to know it."
The band uses no setlist. Said Gierl. "When we get up there and start playing, we really dont have a clue about what we are going to do. Then we kind of concur, 'OK, let's do this song. That's basically a starting point and we go with it. It's like we really dont know whats going to happen, so its more of an adventure."
The audience wonders, too, what the band is going to play.
"It's kind of cool because it could be someone in the band pulling the music in a certain direction- a key, a chord structure, a melody." Gierl said. " Or it could be somebody in the audience yelling out a request for a song they havent heard in awhile and want us to play."
The jams involve often-intricate and layered lead guitar solos, as the musicians explore and stake claim to new musical territory.
A Bassist and two drummers lay down a solid and lively rhythmic foundation, and most nights the drummers will do a lengthly solo together. Songs can last a long time, and often are fused together so there is no break between them.
"We've weaved in and out of songs for an hour," Shilts said.
"But I'd say at least for 45 minutes. That's a blink of an eye. That's easy stuff."
The band has attracted a loyal following, playing bars, clubs, festivals and organizing their own all ages shows at bigger venues.
The group also performed at some of the more popular hippie festivals including the Grateful Garcia Gathering in Black River Falls, Wis., and Harvest Fest 2005 south of Minneapolis.
"We have a nice following," Shilts said. "People who come hang out with us haveslowly become our friends over 20 or 30 or even 40 shows. I would say the people who come see us are freaky people who want to enjoy themselves and have a good time digging the music. They are music lovers."
The unconventional, spontaneity-loving band hasn't recorded a studio CD, opting instead to record the live shows and market those.
When the band rehearses, it's only to learn the basic structure of the songs. "We don't practice all that much." Gierl said. "We take the theory that you can't practice what hasn't happened - Kenosha News/ Bill Robbins
Cosmic Railroad: Brilliant Live Improvisation
Cosmic Railroad is known for its live show experience, creating a conversation not only between musicians but with the audience. “We had a guy come up and tell us that the reason he likes our shows is because they don’t feel like there is a disconnect,” Brandon Shilts told HPR in a phone interview. “He felt it was like he was on stage with us.”
And for the band, the feeling is mutual. “The audience is there giving it to us whether there are 800 people or 200 people,” Shilts said. “We’re going to feed off that. That really is going to determine the direction that we go.”
And that is truly how the band operates. Though they have written songs with a set melody, chord structure, and lyrics, they move beyond that, giving the audience something more musically as it comes to them in performance.
The six-piece band is also unusual in its personnel. Though the band uses standard rock instruments, it boasts two drummers, three guitarists, and a lone bass player. One drummer concentrates on trap set, while the other uses toms, cymbals, congas, and a load of stuff he can pound. The rhythm section was beefed up because of the extra guitars. “We needed the two drummers because our harmony section was so thick and heavy,” Shilts explained. “That second drummer/percussionist really complements everything, balances everything out.”
But three guitarists could each vie for a place, especially when there are no set rhythm and lead guitar positions. “We are all well-studied as musicians,” said Shilts. “Peter Rallo and I were in a band together so we knew how to read each other. And the other guitar player, Greg Gierl, just knew how to listen. We trained just by the experience of being on stage...If one guy is on that night, we’re going to let him take it home, give it all to him. So we don’t consider it like rhythm or lead or anything like that. We consider that either you can play or you can’t play.”
All of this color on stage makes Paul Aceto’s place within the band that much more important. As the bassman for Cosmic Railroad, he has to keep everything on track, feeding the heartbeat to the drummers as they do their thing and as the guitarists experiment around that structure. “If he’s not solid in the pocket, we’re in trouble real fast,” admitted Shilts. “But he’s a solid-pocket bass player. He can hold it down. But he knows when to split, too. And when we start getting into jams, he can leave his realm and hang with us, then come back and make sure that everything is cool....It looks like straight chaos but there is some harmony and beauty in it.”
Cosmic Railroad creates a comfortable ride that usually lasts about four hours. They have recorded all of their shows for the past five years and distribute them as live discs. “What really captures the magic of us is the live show.”
Author: Janie Franz
- High Plains Reader
Discography
Cosmic Railroad is slowly releasing several "Live Archive" performances. You can find all of the latest releases at:
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/CosmicRailroad
Listen to complete concerts from Cosmic Railroad at:
http://archive.org/details/CosmicRailroad
Photos
Bio
A band, a show, a song………….This is how I’m going to try and explain “Cosmic Railroad” to you. Although, it is almost impossible to do so if you haven’t experienced the band for yourself.
A Band
First, “Cosmic Railroad” is a jam band based out of southeastern Wisconsin. The band was born sometime in 1999 (give or take a year or two in either direction). As the story goes, all the guys in “Cosmic Railroad” were involved with their own respected bands. These bands would book shows together from time to time. You know, one band opening the night and the other band closing the night. On occasion they would hook up at the end of the show for third set jam session. The jam session consists of everybody from both bands at once. Sometimes you would have four guitar players, two bass players, two drummers, a percussionist and a whole slue of singers all at once, on stage, throwing it down. This is when the idea of “Cosmic Railroad” was conceived.
As word got out about the two bands doing a third set jam session it started to grow. At first, the bands would cover a lot of tunes from “The Grateful Dead, Phish, Dylan, etc” (which is where some of the tunes that they do today came from). Then, as things started to take off even more the bands thought it would be a good idea to learn each other's songs, so they didn’t always have to play cover tunes when they got together. Over time, they did away with the other bands and started just to book shows as “Cosmic Railroad”. This is where we are today.
The band has settled in on three guitars players, two drummers and one bass player now and looks like they are having fun with that line-up. As Patrick Fineran from the Journal Times puts it “if you like the Dead, Phish, older Dave Matthews and bands like that, Greg, Mike, Pete, Paul, Brandon and Shawn may be what you looking for”. He also adds that “the Cosmic Railroad has been laying down the deepest hippy groove since 1999 and it doesn’t look like its going to stop any time soon”.
“Cosmic Railroad” is: Brandon Shilts guitar & vocals, Greg Gierl guitar & vocals, Pete Rallo guitar & vocal, Mike White drums & stuff, Shawn Laurence drums & stuff and Paul Aceto bass & vocal.
A Show
A “Cosmic Railroad” show is an experience in itself. No one, not even the band knows what’s going to happen next. They are a true jam band to say the least. The band plays from the seat of their pants night after night. As Mike Fillipane from the Other Side says, “it’s so nice to finally see a quote un-quote jam band that can actually jam”.
The show will usually start with a crowd favorite just to get everyone moving or at least thinking that they’re moving. After that, who knows? The band leaves up the moment to pick the next song. This is where you can see their mastery. As the night moves on, they continue to pick up steam, and things really start to roll. A “Cosmic Railroad” show usually lasts up to three or four hours straight so when they hit their stride, it’s gone.
Some where in he middle of the show the songs let the drummers take over (hope you packed your flashback). Once done, it rolls into a solo song section done by one of the guitar players. This gives the drummers a little break to regroup. After a song or two the remaining band members start to move back into position. - - - All Aboard! Back on the train we go to the final destination.
A Song
“Cosmic Railroad” is considered an original jam band. Mostly, the songs that you would hear at a “Cosmic Railroad” show are just that, original. The band uses these songs as a jumping off points, sometimes taking them into very different directions from the last time it may have been played. Other times, who knows?
This approach can be heard in some of these favorites: Rhythm (7:07) full song, Train Ride (12:04) full song and Mothers Dying (7:45) full song. The other songs that you may hear at a "Cosmic Railroad" show have been picked up by the band in countless other places. Like
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