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After a much talked about performance at Bonnaroo in a special midnight set on Thursday and the sonic stage on Friday afternoon, Steel Train seem poised to use that momentum as a stepping stone for a breakout year. Bonnaroo has proven to have an incredible ability to showcase up and coming artists to thousands of music fans who flock to Tennessee each summer searching for great music.
Just as Xavier Rudd, Norah Jones and Robert Randolph have done in the past, Steel Train will look to make their impact felt immediately as the band once again will hit the road touring in support of their first full length release, 'Twilight Tales from the Prairies of the Sun.' In recording Twilight Tales the band enlisted the producing skills of Stephen Barncard (The Grateful Dead, Crosby, Stills and Nash) and with a quick phone call had also brought in living legends David Grisman on mandolin and Gene Parsons on pedal steel guitar. Grisman, an old friend of Jerry Garcia and creator of 'Dawg' music, was the mandolin player on The Grateful Dead's classic album 'American Beauty' and Parsons is a legendary musician most notably with The Bryds and The Flying Burrito Brothers. We caught up with Steel Train's Jack Antonoff at Bonnaroo to ask him what it was like to be in such legendary company with musicians who influenced their lives growing up.
"We recorded the album with Stephen Barncard, who did 'American Beauty' and a lot of Crosby, Stills and Nash stuff. You know we were there and he called Grisman and he said he had a band that reminded him of The Dead. And he came down and it was the first time they'd been together since 'American Beauty' in the sixties. Same mandolin, same mandolin player and the same producer, it was just us and The Grateful Dead swapped and it was beautiful. It was really incredible to be respected by people that we have so much respect for. Gene Parsons was unbelievable as well. I mean these are guys that, no bulls**t, had a huge influence on what we do."
Already with shows supporting the likes of Matisyahu, Xavier Rudd and Paritcle under their belt, the band will be making an appearance at the Deleware River Music Festival on August 20th in Morrisville, Pa. On August 16th Drive Thru Records will be releasing "Listen To Bob Dylan" a tribute which features Steel Train covers "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" and "I Shall Be Released." The tribute album will try to give a newer generation of fans an appreciation of Dylans music through the bands they love. Steel Train also recently recorded a few tunes off their album for Sony Music's new website, Sony Connect. The band had an off day in LA, and stepped into Sony's studio and recorded different versions of a few songs. Check the band's website, www.steeltrainmusic.com for more details in what will undoubtedly be a busy year for the band.
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