Northwestern NJ: One of the hottest bands that played the summer festival circuit this year was Railroad Earth. The group played Telluride, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival and the High Sierra Music Festival, as well a slew of club and theater gigs. Not bad for an unknown band! Northwestern NJ: One of the hottest bands that played the summer festival circuit this year was Railroad Earth. The group played Telluride, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival and the High Sierra Music Festival, as well a slew of club and theater gigs. Not bad for an unknown band! The band has created an incredible buzz, which makes sense when you learn that it’s fronted by Todd Sheaffer from the underrated and sadly missed From Good Homes. In addition to Sheaffer, the band consists of five seasoned and incredible players, all from Pennsylvania and western New Jersey bands—Tim Carbone on violin and vocals; John Skehan on acoustic guitar and vocals; Andy Goessling on acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo and dobro; Carey Harmon on drums and vocals; and Dave Von Dollen on upright acoustic bass.

The players knew each other for years before forming the band, and after just one rehearsal, they knew they had something special. Railroad Earth combines elements of bluegrass, rock, country, jazz and Celtic into soaring improvisational-based music. Proving that the spontaneous things in life are often the best is the band’s debut album, The Black Bear Sessions (BOS), recorded mostly live with no overdubs, which was only intended to be a demo. “We started out jamming in a barn, playing the music we love,” said Todd Sheaffer. The end result was so good that the band decided to put it out as its debut, and what a gem it is. Aside from adventurous and inventive playing, it is Sheaffer’s songs and the band’s great vocals that grab your attention. If you took classic “newgrass,” a splash of Donna the Buffalo, a bit of String Cheese Incident and mixed it with sparkling, original tunes, a good-time vibe and an abundance of energy, you’d get a clue as to what this band sounds like. Expect big things from these guys. www.railroadeath.com or BOS Music, LLC 4938 Hampden Ln., #295, Bethesda, MD 20814

Fort Worth, TX: Concept albums used to be one of those nasty pretentious traits that (along with a battery of synthesizers, mellotrons and smoke bombs) belonged to progressive rock groups of the ‘70s. The Peach Truck Republic, a five-piece band that hails from rural East Texas, puts a whole new slant on that idea with the expansive two-disc set Fenceposts. The PTR formed back in 1993 and has subsequently developed a sound that it refers to as “progressive folk/blues.” That sound covers a multitude of textures from Delta and British blues (a la Clapton and Green), Southern rock, soul, gospel, folk, country, bluegrass and much more. The band’s music is all over the place, but somehow, the group makes it cohesive. It weaves a neat tapestry of guitars, banjo and keyboards around articulate, often poetic, lyrics. The band has recently been garnering a fair amount of attention with jamband fans, and it’s easy to see why. There are elements of the Allman Brothers in the PTR sound, but the group slips into sublime, pastoral textures at will. The band originally released its debut album, Come On In My Kitchen, in 1996. The group’s second album was a long time coming, but it’s an ambitious work that contains close to three hours of original. The music ranges from country and bluegrass to raucous blues, as well as encompassing short instrumental segues and 12-minute plus extravaganzas (the meandering “Greenhill” among them), along with spoken passages of dialogue. It’s reported that in concert the band often plays four-hour sets that also include choice cover material. The album’s concept, which is based and adapted from a poem entitled “Like Fenceposts Down the Row” by the group’s friend Oliver Reed (not to be confused with the actor), may seem a little pretentious—“a thematic collection that depicts tradition, experimentation, failure and reconciliation.” Surprisingly, though, it works and emerges as a highly original work by a band that shows much promise. www.peachtruck.com or write to Peach-Key Records, PO Box 471183, Fort Worth, TX 76147

Viersen, Germany: Schluff Jull is a German band that hails from Viersen, a town located in the northwest region of the country near the Dutch border. For 15 years, the group has been playing improvisational music inspired by its American heroes such as the Grateful Dead, The Band and the Allmans. These days, the band also listens to artists such as Blues Traveler, Widespread Panic and Phish. No Matter of Age is its third album and, although it was recorded mostly live in the studio, it has a very polished and sophisticated sound. This nine-piece band features a dynamite horn section, which helps give a new flavor to the odd cover tunes here, such as an interesting arrangement of the Dead’s “Friend of the Devil.” It’s the band’s original genre-jumping songs, though, that really stand out, such as the eight-minute “Road Marks,” a melting pot of sounds (jazz, roots, folk and improvisational) and the fourteen-minute “Take My Chance.” The latter saunters deftly through sophisticated jazz territory before slipping into some wonderfully fluid improvisations. www.schluffjull.com

Los Angeles, CA: Food is an engaging L.A. sextet with a broad-based sound. Since it formed in 1996, the band has become well known on the West Coast for its marathon live shows that encompass everything from African rhythms, buoyant pop, rock, jazz and avant-garde, to just about anything. Improvisation and spontaneity are integral to the band’s sound. Earlier this year, Mark Karan sat in with the group for an entire show. The band has also released its debut studio album, Living Rooms, which attempts to capture its experimental music in a studio environment. The band is currently getting 30,000 hits a month on its website, and the disc shows why. It’s a grower, with some great stuff from the Afro-space tones of “Saturn” to the quirky, out-there, funk/space improv sounds of the 14-minute “Ripit.” www.stupidclever.com or write to Stupid Clever Records, 2461 Santa Monica Blvd., # 420, Santa Monica, CA 90404

Washington, DC: Radio Mosaic (or “Radio Mo”), which contains former members of one of the earliest jambands, New Potato Caboose, is back with its second album, Roll. Doug Pritchett (acoustic guitar, vocals), John Trupp (drums, vocals), Mike Mahoney (bass) and Tim Pruitt (electric guitar and vocals) have put out an 11-cut set of original songs that are tight and strong in melodic content. www.radiomosaic.com

Seattle, WA: Singer/songwriter Alex Woodward and his band—Joe Bass (Sunny Day Real Estate, Posies, Sky Cries Mary) on bass, Phil Hurley (Gigolo Aunts) on guitar, Brian Young (Fountains of Wayne, Posies) on drums, and Abel Ames on guitar, with a few other Seattle musicians—show considerable promise on the album Nowhere Near Here. The disc offers up articulate, hook-laden pop-rock with hints of Springsteen and Dave Matthews, but with a sharper rock ‘n’ roll edge. www.woodshack.com

Pawtucket, RI: The Marlowes is a quartet with a gutsy guitar-driven pop-rock sound. In Nuclear Suitcase, its third album, finely-crafted songs are presented in an unpretentious fashion with plenty of gusto and infectious hooks. Kind of British invasion mixed with roots-rock. Simple, but undeniably refreshing. or write the Marlowes, 255 Rice St., Pawtucket, RI 02681

Durham, NC: Jon Shain, formerly of Flyin’ Mice, continues to develop his solo career with his new disc, Fools and Fine Ladies (Flyin’ Records), and a mighty fine disc it is. Shain’s storytelling songs are enhanced by stark country-folk blues accompaniments. Look for Shain locally, as he’ll be out promoting the disc with his regular sidemen, FJ Ventre on bass and John Currie on dobro. www.jonshain.com