The Gospel Train: Journal

A visit to our calendar page will tell you that The Gospel Train is on hiatus for the summer. Michael is busy with the Ramblin Jug Stompers (www.jugstompers.com) and he is also playing a few solo shows. Tom is busy working on his nature photography.

In the past two months we have played for four Historical Societies, and seen four of the best audiences we've had!

Thanks go out to the folks in New Scotland, Colonie, Berne & Poestenkill for hosting such great events. Thanks also to everyone attended, clapped, sang, bought CD's, and hung out to chat after the program.

These shows were a blast!

Our new live CD, "Museum Piece," is now available at all Gospel Train performances. It features 13 tracks recorded in front of a lively crowd at the New York State Museum in November of 2007.

We’d like to thank our friends at Bender Studios in Delmar NY and A Gentle Wind in Albany NY for their help in putting the disc together. We think you’ll enjoy it.

It's the one year anniversary of Gospeltrainmusic.com and we'd like to thank all the folks who have visited us to check on upcoming performances and news, to download music and to leave a note on our guestbook. We've had virtual visitors from around the world and it's really helped us get word out about what we do.

If you're a regular visitor, please tell your friends about our site.

We'd also like to our friends at CD Baby and Hostbaby for making our existence on the web possible (and easy to use!).

Well, here’s some exciting news! The Gospel Train has entered into a partnership with The Loar, a division of The Music Link.


If you’ve been out see The Gospel Train in recent months, you might have noticed that Tom and Michael have been sporting some snazzy new guitars with matching sunburst finishes. Those instruments are made by The Loar, which is creating wonderful new products in the style of the Golden Era guitars and mandolins of the 1930s.

Tom plays The Loar LH-500, a beautiful arch top model reminiscent of the guitar associated with Mother Maybelle of The Carter Family, from whom we draw so many of our songs. Michael -- when he’s not playing mandolin, dobro or banjo -- picks on The Loar LH-200, a flat-top model similar to one played by classic bluesman Robert Johnson.

We feel these are great instruments, and we’re proud to endorse them. They look, feel and sound just right for us.

The Gospel Train is also now featured on The Loar company website. Please visit them at www.theloar.com. You can find us in the Artists section.

You can also see our new The Loar guitars (in color!) on our photos page!

If you get a chance, come see us on February 23rd at Historic Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY. You won't find a more intimate music venue in all of upstate New York.

It's a benefit show, and we'll be opening for our good friend Frank Jaklitsch. See our calendar page for all the details.

Well, we just can't thank you enough for making 2007 such a good year for The Gospel Train. We've now played 25 shows since our public debut on January 12, 2007, and we're busy adding new dates to the calendar for 2008. We're also in the studio editing a new live album, "Museum Piece," appropriately recorded at the NYS Museum in November of 2007. See you soon!

The Gospel Train would very much like to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas.

We've had a great first year, thanks to our fans and friends, like you.

In more recording news, we just might be secretly at work on our second live album - already! Watch this space for more news.

The Gospel Train is proud to announce the release of a new live album, "Sow Good Seeds!" It’s a ten track disc that was recorded at a variety of recent shows in Albany, Schenectady and Saratoga counties. It includes Gospel Train classics such as “I Am The True Vine,” “Let The Church Roll On,” “Say No To The Devil” and “The Gospel Plow.” "Sow Good Seeds!" will be available for sale only at Gospel Train performances, so please keep an eye on the calendar and see us live -- who knows, maybe you'll end up on our next album!

Fall brings four public shows for The Gospel Train, kicking off with an October 19th return to a great "independent" coffee house, Samuel's of Alplaus.
Check our calendar page for more fall dates.

What a great, funky little place hidden away in Averill Park. We had a great time playing at Slow Jed's and we look forward to performing there again in September. The staff made us feel very welcome and we met some new friends and made some new fans. Thanks to Casey and Dave from Almost Awake for booking us, too.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers brought the spirituals to the attention of the world. Check out our music page for a brief audio history of this pioneering vocal group.

A good time was had by all at Samuel's, and we can prove it! Check out our photo page while listening to "When The World's On Fire" from our music page.

Check out our music page for an audio history of the original Carter Family. There's a great 5 CD box set available from JSP Records (check our Sources page for a link to JSP).

We had a great time on our first visit to Diamond Ridge. Thanks for listening, and thanks for singing along! Check out the music page for a live recording of "Needed Time". Check out our photo page for a picture of Tom at the piano.

From time to time, we will be posting brief audio histories of our favorite
artists on our music page. Check out the recently posted Uncle Dave Macon audio file.

We have posted three new tunes for your listening (or downloading) pleasure. We have listed two new public shows, and we have added a new "sources" page to help you find the early recordings that have inspired us.

As promised, we've added a new photo and a new song from our recent performance at Beta Sigma Phi's 76th anniversary.

We had a wonderful time performing for your 76th anniversary; we hope you enjoyed the music we chose from the era of your founding.

Check back soon, we'll post something from the event on the Photos page later this week.

Welcome to the new Gospel Train website. Please visit frequently for news, updates and information about public performances. Also watch this space for postings of new music.