On The Verge

Steel Train (Relix Revisited)

Energy, motion, force, persistence, and determination are all distinct characteristics of the train in the children’s fable The Little Engine That Could. These same personality traits shine through in the music of New York based Steel Train, and the success at the end of the story is just as promising. Borrowing elements from folk music and southern rock, the band is planting new seeds in grassroots music and spreading those seeds excitedly nationwide. “When you see new places, when you meet new people, it renews your faith that this is not all there is to life: There is more than what you see every day,” guitarist-vocalist Mathew Goldman says of living for music. These feelings resonate deeply in the simple enough to follow, intricate enough to enjoy tunes on the band’s new Twilight Tales From the Prairies of the Sun. Hot from an action- and emotion-packed set at this year’s Bonnaroo, the Train is not to be missed.