BONUS TRACKS: Silkroad’s “American Railroad” Tour Set to Hop on the Mainline

Silkroad Ensemble has announced this week that it will be taking its new program “American Railroad” to ten cities this fall on a sort of whistle-stop tour (figuratively speaking), packed to boxcar ceiling with train songs. Granted, the ensemble won’t actually be on a train. But when a crowd of musicians led by a hardcore folkie like Rhiannon Giddens tackles the train song oeuvre, it’s hard not to spin into a twister of railroad slang.

Silkroad is a collective comprised of musicians with a vast array of backgrounds and a “social impact organization” focused on shifting culture toward what artistic director Rhiannon Giddens says their common aim, “humanity, peace, and love for all.” Further, “American Railroad” is a project that focuses on the deep musical and cultural history of the form of transportation that turned a mostly agrarian society to a network of cities, towns, and space in-between, where goods could be moved more rapidly and people could explore more readily.

“American Railroad” began in 2020 and is supported in part by the FreshGrass Foundation (of which No Depression is a member of the family). This is the second installment of the “American Railroad” tour and will include some of the same material from the previous iteration, as well as plenty of new tunes. A full explanation of the tour is available on Silkroad’s website and see the roster below.

2024 AMERICAN RAILROAD TOUR – ROSTER:

Rhiannon Giddens, banjo/vocals
Mike Block, cello
Layale Chaker, violin
Pura Fé Crescioni, lap-steel guitar/voice
Sandeep Das, tabla
Maeve Gilchrist, Celtic harp
Mario Gotoh, violin/viola
Yazhi Guo*, suona
Balla Kouyaté, balafon
Edward Pérez, bass
Shane Shanahan, percussion
Francesco Turrisi, frame drums/accordion
Kaoru Watanabe, Japanese flutes/percussion

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO

John Moreland – Visitor
MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks
Field Report – Trust in Movements Made [EP]
Amyl and the Sniffers – “U Should Not Be Doing That”