Come on, Ride the Train...

They have been called “The Next Big Thing” by the Boston Tribune and their songs have been called “accessible but uncompromising in their creativity” by David Royko of the Chicago Tribune. They were recognized by and invited to the studio of bluegrass legend David Grisman and have performed on the same ticket as well-known and established artists like Sam Bush, Josh Ritter, Allison Krauss, Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson, Alan Jackson, Medeski Martin and Wood and George Strait. Though they have toured on and off for the past seven years, this Charlottesville-based five-piece still has a soft spot for the hometown crowds of Virginia and this Wednesday, February 20, they will be sharing the love with Harrisonburg and JMU.
Old School Freight Train will be performing this week at Rocktown Bar and Grill with Eliminator Jr. in a show organized by the recently established and locally run concert production and promotion company, Blame it on the Train Productions. Doors open at 8pm and everyone ages 18 and up is welcome to see and hear the band that impressed even Grisman, himself enough to give them an invitation to his house and studio in California.
“After forty years of recording acoustic music, it’s not very often that a new band catches (and keeps) my attention,” says Grisman. “Old School Freight Train has done that and more.”
College buddies, Pete Frostic (mandolin and mandocello), Jesse Harper (vocals, guitar, percussion) and Ben Krakauer (banjo) began playing together in Williamsburg, Virginia and were later joined by Darrell Muller (upright bass) and Nate Leath (fiddle). The group took off after sending a demo to David Grisman, who invited them to a show at the Birchmere in Washington, DC where OSFT met him after the show and the boys were met by Grisman’s immediate interest to help the band record and promote their material.
Since teaming up with one of the most accomplished bluegrass musicians in the business, who has performed with artists including Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead, OSFT recorded and released Run in 2005 on Grisman’s Acoustic Disc Label and self-released the album Live in Ashland. Later in this week on February 22, the band will be filming a show at the Gravity Lounge in Charlottesville and news about their next release, due to out in April, can be found online.
But for those left unimpressed or unconvinced by reviews and endorsements, the best way to appreciate OSFT is to see the band live. “Our shows are very energetic,” says Frostic. “Anyone who comes can expect to see high energy musicians who are taking a chance. We play songs that are catchy, some covers people already know and we jam, so each show is different.”
The group plays an eclectic style of music fusing jazz and bluegrass with Celtic and Latin hues and thoughtful lyrics. The vocals of Harper also lend themselves to an easy comparison with Ben Harper, smoothly coating intricate melodies and arrangements composed through the group effort of the band. “We all write together,” explained Frostic. “We’ll sometimes put chords in a hat and pull them out and then we each go away and take 15 minutes to come up with something. Then we reconvene and pick the best or combine them.”
OSFT’s influences range from Van Morrison and Brad Mehldau to artists covered on Run including Stevie Wonder and Randy Newman, though their unique combination of styles can most accurately be described as the probable future of bluegrass.
“We wanted to play everything,” said Frostic. “But it eventually coalesced because some things felt natural and other things we were terrible at. The training we’ve had has been with each other.”
Regardless of musical preference, the show is guaranteed to deliver a quality performance, as OSFT has proved to be an influential contemporary bluegrass group and emphasize the best part of performing is the energy of the crowd. “I love taking a risk musically and hoping it works,” says Frostic. “When it does, it’s great, when it’s bad it’s awful. But that thrill of trying new things is probably my favorite.”
This will be OSFT’s second appearance in Harrisonburg after performing at The Little Grill Collective several years ago and more information on the show can be found online at www.osft.net or on the Old School Freight Train MySpace page. More information and tickets can also be found at www.blameitonthetrain.org,
For more on the band, check out YouTube.com for video blogs of the touring and recording process.

Check out the Monday edition of the Breeze to see this article in print!