Railroad Earth Busts Out ‘Terrapin Station’ Cover At Higher Ground

Railroad Earth dusted off their cover of the Grateful Dead classic “Terrapin Station” on Sunday at Higher Ground in South Burlington, Vermont. The 13-minute rendition came as the penultimate song of the jamgrass act’s second set.

Higher Ground marked the third show for Railroad Earth’s winter tour, the band’s longest excursion since the pandemic began. The group dug in on “Mission Man” to start Sunday’s concert. The career-spanning set continued with “Drag Him Down” off 2002’s Bird In A House, the title track from 2010’s The Good Life and a cover of the traditional “The Cuckoo.” It was then back to The Good Life for “Goat.” An adventurous “12 Wolves” featuring stellar keyboard work from Matt Slocum and Amen Corner standout “Hard Livin'” capped the set.

Railroad Earth opened the second set at Higher Ground with a “Luxury Liner” that sailed into “Give That Boy A Hand.” The pair of oldies was followed by “Runnin’ Wild,” a recently released single featured on the band’s forthcoming All For The Song album. Next came nicely extended takes on “Black Bear” and “Colorado” before fiddler Tim Carbone shined on “Long Walk Home” and the band expertly pulled off complex instrumental “1759.”

The final notes of “1759” paved the way for “Terrapin Station.” Audience members cheered in delight as frontman Todd Sheaffer sang the beginning of the title track from the Grateful Dead’s 1977 studio album. Sunday’s performance marked Railroad Earth’s first “Terrapin Station” since December 30, 2018. Mike Robinson’s pedal steel was a nice addition to the song. RRE helped JamBase celebrate the album’s 40th anniversary in 2017 by contributing to a “Terrapin Station Medley.”

Sheaffer thanked the crowd for attending after “Terrapin” ahead of a set-closing romp through “Peace On Earth.” The band went with the eponymous and reflective “Railroad Earth” to put an exclamation on the evening as the encore.

Railroad Earth next takes the stage at The Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina tomorrow night. Stream an audience recording of Sunday’s show taped by Brett S. below:

Setlist (via RRE Facebook)

Set One: Mission Man, Drag Him Down, The Good Life, The Cuckoo, Goat, 12 Wolves, Hard Livin’

Set Two: Luxury Liner > Give That Boy A Hand, Runnin’ Wild, Black Bear, Colorado, Long Walk Home, 1759 > Terrapin Station, Peace on Earth

Encore: Railroad Earth