Train songs have tickled the imagination of listeners – and performers – for generations, and for good reason. Like road songs generally, they speak of freedom, and the ability to move from one place to another with very little effort or expense, something that didn’t exist until the steam locomotives hit the scene in the 19th century.
Balsam Range has a new one to share with their latest release from Mountain Home Music, a song by Andrew Scott Corbin titled Life I Left Behind.
Bass player Tim Surrett, who also lays down reso-guitar and harmony vocals on this track, shares a few thoughts on the song.
“There has always been a connection between bluegrass and trains. It’s personal for me because my dad worked nights for 30 years on the Norfolk Southern Railroad. Sometimes he would take me to work with him so I could ride the trains all night. There is a mysterious romantic quality about the freedom of the rails, and I think this new song has a bit of that. There’s a conflict between the freedom of going, and the life left behind.”
Guitarist Caleb Smith sings the lead, with additional support from banjo player Marc Pruett, Alan BIbey on mandolin, and Stephen Hudson on fiddle, who also adds a harmony vocal.
Check it out.
Life I Left Behind is available now from popular download and streaming services online, and to radio programmers via AirPlay Direct.
