Choo Choo! Gravy Train is steaming into Ed’s Saturday!

What’s that I hear? It—it—it sounds like a TRAIN! CHOO CHOO! It’s Gravy Train! (Winona’s happiest band!) Comprised of seven men, all born musicians—each half gravy, half train, this band is guaranteed to make you move. And get out the way, they are steaming to stage this Saturday the 18th 9:00 PM @Ed’s! You won’t be able to keep your boots from stomping.

If you haven’t heard them yet, it’s time. Drawing from many streams of musical currents, Gravy Train is a sluice of sound that opens the floodgates of joy. With a backbone of blue grass, these merry men enchant banjos, mandolins, ukuleles, guitars, fiddles, stand-up basses, and (of course) harmonicas with their upbeat mastery that is smooth as gravy, powerful as locomotion. They will pour out their hearts to melt yours. So be there! Eds! 9PM! Saturday!

Full Interview Below:

Twigz: How would you describe your band? What is your story? How did you come together, how did you find one another? When did each of you begin your musical journey?

Gravy Train: Basically what it comes down to is that we are good friends who all love to play music together. Our musical interests brought us together as friends first, then we began to write and play songs together. We have just as much practicing and playing together in our free time as we do on stage. The love of music is something that is ingrained into ones personality from birth. We all share this love, so that was the beginning of our journeys. We like to look at our band as a well-organized party on stage. Having 7 people in the band brings a constant flow of energy to our shows, and keeps things moving. We try to be the happiest band in Winona, and I think that positive energy translates to the crowd and creates a great atmosphere at our shows. The people that come out to our shows are fantastic too; we rely on their energy just as much as each others’.

Twigz: Tell me about your sound? Who do you emulate/who is your big brother, who is your grandfather in world of music?

Gravy: Our sound comes from a vast array of influences, being that there are 7 people in our band. Everything from classic rock, jam-bands, jazz, and blues are things we listen to and try to emulate on stage; the biggest thing that brings us together however is our love for bluegrass and folk music. Not sure if that’s the answer you were looking for.

Twigz: Why do you call yourselves Gravy Train?

Gravy: In the dorms Jay and I (Connor) had joked around that we were going to start a band called Gravy Train, because for some reason we were saying that phrase all the time. In any event, we met some amazing friends along the way who happened to be great musicians, and all of a sudden we started a band, and Gravy Train became a real thing.

Twigz: Give me some of your favorite lyrics. What is the song about? What do you think people might miss about it?

Gravy: I think a song that might be overlooked or misinterpreted is Wasted Girls. To some, it might come off as a misogynistic drinking song about a man “rolling in the hay” with an inebriated woman. I certainly hope that when listeners hear the tune they appreciate it for its melody and banjo rhythm. The lyrics came second. At the end of the song there is an overlap of lyrics from two voice parts, similar to a persons Id and Ego going back and forth with each other. The first voice, “I was feeling so lonely and all the girls were wasted”, suggests the singer is considering, not taking advantage of, but allowing the woman to seduce him as he gives in to her wishes. While the second voice sings, “Why you gotta be so wasted? You’re making this too easy. Why I gotta be so lonely? I’m making this too hard.” This is the more rational part of the mind telling the male to take a step back and realize what’s going on: one random night of drunk sex with a complete stranger you meet at a bar or party is not gonna make the pain go away and it will certainly not make you feel anything but loneliness.

Twigz: Can people fall off the Gravy Train? If so, what does that look like?

Gravy: Well, that’s a valid point, because the Train sure gets going at high speeds and takes a lot of sharp twists and turns. But our bass player Doug recently installed handrails along the passenger cars of the Gravy Train and we haven’t had any trouble fitting plenty of bluegrass fans safely aboard. Still, we highly recommend you keep stompin’ your feet and grooving to the music—this seems to be the most foolproof way to keep from falling off the Train.

Twigz: Have any of you reached musical enlightenment? What’s it like? What do you imagine it would be like?

Gravy: We all have an absolute blast playing music with each other. Some would consider this reaching a state of enlightenment.

Twigz: Why do you play music? What do you hope to achieve with your music? What don’t you?

Gravy: We all play music because we simply love music. Whether we are listening to it, or playing it, music has become an integral part to our personalities and lifestyles. Luckily, we’ve had the opportunity to be in a position where we can create the thing we all love and even luckier that other people enjoy listening. We aren’t trying to become famous or get rich or anything like that, we just want to put on a good sounding show for our friends. Hopefully everyone in the audience is having as much fun as we are.

Twigz: When is your next show? Why should I come?

Gravy: Our next show is this Saturday, the 18th as a part of the Wintergrass concert series at Ed’s No Name Bar. We’ll be playing at 9pm before the band Beet Root Stew. It’s pretty cool because we’ve seen them play a few years ago and they introduced us to the local bluegrass scene here in Winona. It’ll be a great night with some great music.