Todd Sheaffer of Railroad Earth Talks ‘All For The Song’, Andy Goessling, and More!

A New Jersey native with longstanding ties to the Jam scene, Todd Sheaffer made a name for himself as the front man for From Good Homes before founding Railroad Earth with Tim Carbone, John Skehan, Carey Harmon, and Andy Goessling in 2001. The band burst onto the scene immediately with a performance at Telluride Bluegrass the same year and hasn’t slowed down since.

Unfortunately Goessling passed away in 2018 leaving a gaping hole in both the sound of the band, and the hearts of the members but, to their credit, they pulled together reflected on their fallen friend and entered the studio to record a powerful album that was released in April, All For The Song. (Listen Here!) “Andy’s passing was very much in the center of our thoughts and our hearts in the writing and recording of this album,” Sheaffer reveals in the band’s most recent biography. He went on to expand on that and several other topics including a few ways he made the best out of the COVID era, what the album’s producer Anders Osborne brought to the table, and more during a recent conversation with us.

Please Note: The “Up On The Grass” event that Railroad Earth is headlining this Saturday that was originally scheduled for Levitt Pavillion has been moved to The Fillmore due to the looming late May snowstorm.

Listen Here!: I know you and Chris Thompson kind of seem to be on a never-ending tour of house shows, breweries, and makeshift venues all over the place. Man, I bet you’ve got some interesting stories.

Todd Sheaffer: That all started during the COVID era and really my only regret about it is that we didn’t film it because it was such an amazing time and such a unique time period, you know? And the shows are just incredible. The people were just so fired up to see us out and about and playing live music. And, of course, we went to some really off the beaten track places and had some great adventures and we’re still doing it.

Listen Here!: That’s really cool that you’re still doing it. You know, I think a lot of people probably would have said: “All right, that’s over. We’re back to real shows. We don’t want to do that anymore.” But I think that’s an important thing that has come out of this whole deal, that these intimate shows are a really special thing and worth continuing.

Todd Sheaffer: I feel like it’s almost come full circle, you know? I used to do that all the time, growing up as a kid and playing in people’s backyards, even just being the guy in the corner of a bar gig. Of course I’ve kind of grow into these bigger shows and big concerts and I kind of forgot about that whole thing. It’s really been kind of refreshing and fun! I’ve enjoyed hanging with Chris, we’ve become pretty good friends and that’s great. It’s more fun with someone else, you know? I still do solo stuff, but it’s more fun rolling around with Chris. We have a good time and plus it’s really a full show. He plays a set and he comes up and joins me in the middle of my set. So it’s a nice evening of music for people.

Listen Here!: And you guys just cruise around in a RV right?

Todd Sheaffer: Yeah, that’s what we did during COVID because it gave us a place to go keep our social distance. When we first went out during COVID we were we were kind of the first musicians out and about doing anything so we did it all outside. So that RV was like a rolling green room.

Listen Here!: That’s perfect. It was a genius idea.

Todd Sheaffer: It really was an amazing adventure. With all the pods and people keeping their distances it was a strange trip, a strange time. I wish we had a film crew, especially because it was so unique.

Listen Here!: You mentioned going to some really out of the way places. What were some of the places that you’re thinking of when you say that?

Todd Sheaffer: You know, I don’t think I’m even going to remember the town, but we went to a thing called the “Road to Riches” and there was this guy, Rich – he’s actually has passed since and he was sick then – he had this festival out at his property in New Mexico that’s like in the middle of an Indian reservation. It was just amazing, like “where the heck are we?” I’ve been everywhere a dozen times and so for me to find places like that is pretty wild. There was this gas station in Bozeman that we played at and this one guy had sort of a man cave barn somewhere in Boise that was just incredible.

Listen Here!: That’s great. I’m glad you guys got to do that and I’m wondering what other positive things came out of the pandemic for you?

Todd Sheaffer: I also did a series of streamed concerts from my house during the pandemic. I called it “Home for the Holidays” because I did them all on holidays. I did a show every Sunday when the holiday came up beginning with Easter, when the pandemic first started. I did it straight through and played every holiday for a year and I didn’t repeat a single song.

Listen Here!: Wow.

Todd Sheaffer: There was a great connection that happened with my fans. It was really, really heartwarming and I enjoyed the comments and the feedback. But it also was a challenge because I really had to put some effort into those shows and I tried to make each one unique, special, and thematically related to the holiday that that was at hand.

Listen Here!: Are they archived anywhere?

Todd Sheaffer: I think they’re still up on Facebook. I did them through Facebook Live and I think they’re still there. I’m not sure how that works, actually. [Note: We found them so you can Listen Here!]

Listen Here!: So, now that “real” shows are back, what’s it been like getting back to playing with the live band?

Todd Sheaffer: Oh, it’s been great. It’s refreshing to get to play again, you know, after having that break. Things feel new again and the band is playing great these days. It’s fun to play with these brothers. It’s quite a machine.

Listen Here!: The bio for the album describes the band as a quintet but I know Mike and Matt are with you when you guys are touring. So how would you describe how they fit into this operation?

Todd Sheaffer: I guess I would call them more or less permanent guests. I should add that we settled on Matt and Mike after Andy had passed away. It was kind of an impossible role to fill we didn’t really want to try and replace him because you can’t really do that, so we just wanted to keep the band moving in this new direction. We added the keys and we never had keyboards before so adding that was unique and then Mike is playing a lot of the instruments that Andy played but we’ve developed a kind of a new thing was with these two guys and we’re able to do, of course, the older stuff but we’re also getting into kind of a different sound now and it’s fresh.

Listen Here!: Yeah, it’s an evolution.

Todd Sheaffer: That’s a good word for it. It’s an evolution.

Listen Here!: You all just released a new album, All For The Song, in April but recorded back in 2019, is that right?

Todd Sheaffer: Yeah, I think so. The years get a little fuzzy. I don’t know what year it was exactly, but yeah, yeah, that sounds right.

Listen Here!: A lot of bands chose to drop albums during the height of, or shortly after the height of, the pandemic. Can you talk about why you let the release date on this record push a little bit?

Todd Sheaffer: Yeah. We didn’t want to just put it out there without having the opportunity to get out and play the songs for people and put the weight of touring behind the record. We’ve been playing a handful of the songs, but not all of them. In fact, we still have yet to play all of the record because we haven’t been out since it came out. So half the record is stuff people hadn’t heard live yet.

Listen Here!: I was going through some setlists from the past few months and noticed that there’s maybe one song from the new record every other show or something like that.

Todd Sheaffer: Yeah. I imagine we’re going to we’re going to start playing them playing them more now. But yeah, there was something like that.

Listen Here!: Are there any that really jump out as favorites of yours to play live already or how are they fitting into the setlist?

Todd Sheaffer: They’re all they’re all fitting really well and they’re really fun to play. It’s really is working out to be really good live material.

Listen Here!: Some of the new material definitely has a feel that dates back to the first album. And then there’s some that really feels like it’s evolved. I know you recorded in New Orleans and I hear some of that influence in there as well.

Todd Sheaffer: Yeah, there absolutely is. Some of that was brought in by our producer, Anders Osborne. He brought in some New Orleans cats to flesh things out a little bit.

Listen Here!: Your bio describes Anders as a “strong willed voice from the outside” and I’m curious what he brought to the table that you may have been expecting or may have completely surprised you.

Todd Sheaffer: I think Anders was really great at it picking a good take. You know, you need the ears of an objective listener to say “you’ve got it! That’s the one!” Because you have five guys and each one will have a different opinion. You can agree on it sometimes and sometimes you just know. But yeah, I think he was really good at that. I think for me personally, Anders is a singer and a songwriter and he was really focused on a great vocal performance and I trusted his judgment on that and that was a good thing to have. He was really cued into the emotional impact of the singing and the songs and really understood where this album was coming from with the passing of Andy. He was really focused on delivering that side of the record.

Listen Here!: Yeah, it’s interesting that you say that because when I think about Ander’s performances, it is that emotive vocal style – I mean, obviously he’s a beast on the guitar – but it’s that emotive vocal style of his that is one of the things that I love about his music.

Todd Sheaffer: Yeah. Yeah.

Listen Here!: So, other than the obvious element of Anders pulling in some of that New Orleans flavor, was there were there other things about the city that influenced the record? “It’s So Good” and “Come and Go Moon” (Listen Here!) both really seem to have that feel of, you know, walking into a club in New Orleans or just hearing something on the street.

Todd Sheaffer: Well, a lot of that is the horn section that Ander’s brought in. So I think that’s probably a big part of that feel you are hearing. I think that this record was a chance for the band to get together and break bread and have a little bonding after the real roller coaster of Andy’s health declining. Part of going to New Orleans was to get away. We wanted to get away from all the distractions of home and just get the five of us together and create some new music. That was part of the reason we went away to New Orleans.

Listen Here!: What was your relationship with Anders before you did this record with him? Did you know him well?

Todd Sheaffer: No we didn’t. He was recommended and suggested by our management who also manage him. It’s a connection through 7S; our management company.

Listen Here!: So obviously you’ve talked a lot about Andy through the course of this conversation and there are actually some instrumental contributions from him on this album, right?

Todd Sheaffer: Yeah. The song “Drifting” – which is one of my favorites on the record – has several tracks of Andy’s that we built the song and the track around after he was gone. We took what he had recorded and developed it in the studio. It was a song Timmy [Carbone] wrote with a friend of his and we used the tracks that they had done and then overdubbed on top of it, played with those tracks, and developed the song “Drifting.” (Listen Here!)

Listen Here!: Awesome. Well, it’s really nice to have some sort of actual participation from him on this album after he’s unfortunately gone.

Todd Sheaffer: Oh, yeah, it’s beautiful.

Listen Here!: Yeah, it is. I’m glad his spirit lives on into this one man. And he will live on forever in this band, you know? I mean, there’s no shaking that.

Todd Sheaffer: Yeah, we miss that guy.

Listen Here!: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely, man. I’m really sorry that you guys went through that.

Todd Sheaffer: Thank you.

Listen Here!: Well, I think there are a lot of people looking forward to your show this weekend at Levitt Pavilion. I really appreciate you making some time to talk Todd.