Steel Train was an indie rock band from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. They have toured with

The Juliana Theory The Juliana Theory is an American Rock music, rock duo from Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Greensburg and Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, United States. They signed to Tooth & Nail Records, and later to Epic Records for the release of the ...

Tegan and Sara Tegan and Sara () are a Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1998 in Calgary, Alberta. The band is led by identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin (born September 19, 1980). Both musicians are songwriters and multi-instrumental ...

Girl in a Coma Girl In a Coma was an American indie rock band from San Antonio, Texas, United States, formerly on Joan Jett's Blackheart Records label. The band consisted of Nina (vocals/guitar), Phanie Diaz (drums) and Jenn Alva ( bass). The name is a refer ...

Ben Folds Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, who is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., since May 2017. Folds was th ...

The Fray The Fray is an American rock band from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King. Their debut album, ''How to Save a Life'' released in 2005, was certified double platinum by the RIAA and platinum in Australia, ...

Silversun Pickups Silversun Pickups is an American alternative rock band from Los Angeles that was formed in 2000. The band is composed of Brian Aubert, Nikki Monninger, Christopher Guanlao, and Joe Lester. The band released their debut EP, '' Pikul'', in July ...

Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler), ringname of an American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English rock ...

The Format The Format is an American indie rock band formed by Nate Ruess and Sam Means. Their style can be considered a mixture of indie, alternative, punk and folk music, with elements of 1960s and 1970s pop music. Though Means and Ruess are the foremost ...

, Gomez,

O.A.R. O.A.R. (short for Of A Revolution) is an American rock band, founded in 1996 in Rockville, Maryland. The band consists of lead vocalist/guitarist Marc Roberge, drummer Chris Culos, guitarist Richard On, bassist Benj Gershman, saxophonist/guitar ...

Something Corporate Something Corporate (also known as ''SoCo'') was an American rock band from Orange County, California, formed in 1998. Their last line-up included vocalist and pianist Andrew McMahon, guitarists Josh Partington and Bobby Anderson, bassist Kevin ...

Jack's Mannequin Jack's Mannequin was an American rock band formed in 2004, hailing from Orange County, California. The band originally began as a solo project for Andrew McMahon, the frontman of Something Corporate. The band was signed to Maverick Records and re ...

Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reach ...

fun. Fun (stylized as fun.) is an American pop rock band based in New York City. The band consists of Jack Antonoff (of Steel Train and Bleachers), Andrew Dost (formerly of Anathallo), and Nate Ruess (then-former lead singer of the Format). Fun fo ...

and others. Other highlights include performances at

Bonnaroo The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in M ...

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey See also

* Coachell ...

, ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

'', and ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

''. The band played their final show at the

Bowery Ballroom The Bowery Ballroom is a New York City live-music venue located at 6 Delancey Street in the neighborhood of Bowery in Manhattan. The Bowery Ballroom holds something of a cult status among musicians as well as audiences. ''Rolling Stone'' magazi ...

in January 2013.

History

2002–2004: Formation and career beginnings

Steel Train met in the mid-1990s at The Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County, New Jersey. At the time,

Jack Antonoff Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. Antonoff is the lead singer of rock band Bleachers, and is the guitarist and drummer in the pop rock band Fun. He was pr ...

(vocals, guitar) and Daniel Silbert (vocals, guitar, sampler) were part of the hardcore band Outline and Evan Winiker (vocals, bass) and Matt Goldman (vocals, guitar) were in the punk band Random Task. After the dissolution of these bands, Steel Train formed in 2002. The band soon signed to

Drive Thru Records Drive-Thru Records was a California-based independent record label owned by siblings Richard and Stefanie Reines. The label was partially responsible for popularizing the pop-punk/emo merger sound of the early to mid-2000s. After facing financi ...

/ MCA and flew to Los Angeles to record with Jon Naclerio at Hans Zimmer's Media Ventures Studios. The outcome of this session was the band's first EP, 2003's ''For You My Dear''. In January and February 2003, the group supported

Finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

on their headlining US tour, followed by a support slot for

Rx Bandits Rx Bandits are an American four-piece band based in Seal Beach, California, United States. The band formed in 1995 in Orange County, California. They have appeared on the Vans Warped Tour, at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Valle ...

in July. In January 2004, the band played a handful of shows on the east coast and Midwest.

2005–2009: ''Twilight Tales From the Prairies on the Sun'' and ''Trampoline''

After months of touring, the band moved to San Francisco to record their first full-length record with Steven Barncard (

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member ...

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

). Released on April 19, 2005, ''Twilight Tales From The Prairies on the Sun'' features appearances by famed mandolinist

David Grisman David Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acoustic mu ...

, as well as pedal steel guitarist

Gene Parsons Gene Victor Parsons (born September 4, 1944, in Morongo Valley, California) is an American drummer, banjo player, guitarist, singer-songwriter, and engineer, best known for his work with the Byrds from 1968 to 1972. Parsons has also released so ...

(

The Flying Burrito Brothers The Flying Burrito Brothers are an American country rock band, best known for their influential 1969 debut album, ''The Gilded Palace of Sin''. Although the group is perhaps best known for its connection to band founders Gram Parsons and Chris ...

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

). In 2006 the band toured heavily and was also the beginning of Steel Train's festival career. They played a midnight set on the first day of the

Bonnaroo Music Festival The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in ...

in Manchester, Tennessee, as well as the

Wakarusa Festival Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival was a four-day music festival held annually in early June from 2004 to 2015 at Mulberry Mountain near Ozark, Arkansas. Named for the Wakarusa River, the festival was first held at Clinton State Park immediately ...

Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

, and another appearance at Bonnaroo in 2006. After two years straight on the road, original members Matt Goldman, Matthias Gruber left the band to pursue other careers. At this point, Antonoff and Winiker moved to Silverlake, CA to record the band's second full-length album, ''

Trampoline A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled spring (device), springs. Not all trampolines have springs, as the Springfree Trampoline uses glass-reinforced plastic rods. ...

'', with

Mark Trombino Mark Trombino (born May 23, 1966) is an American multi-platinum record producer, musician, and audio engineer. He has produced, engineered, and mixed tracks for many artists including Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, The Starting Line, Finch, Motion ...

. After recording, the band once again embarked on the road, this time recruiting three new members: Jon Shiffman, Justin Huey, and Daniel Silbert, who up to that point had been the band's tour manager. ''Trampoline'', released in October 2007, debuted at No. 10 on Billboard's Heatseaker Chart. In support of the album, Steel Train toured with

Ace Enders and A Million Different People Arthur Carl "Ace" Enders (born April 19, 1982, in Hammonton, New Jersey) is an American musician. Enders is the lead singer and guitarist of the band The Early November. He is also the lead musician, songwriter and co-producer in his band, I ...

, Socratic,

Kevin Devine Kevin Devine (born December 19, 1979) is an American songwriter and musician from Staten Island, New York City, who is known for his introspective and political themes. He is a contemporary member of the underground indie rock and indie folk m ...

The Starting Line The Starting Line is an American pop punk band based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that formed in 1999. History Early years (1999–2001) In 1999, the band that would become The Starting Line was initiated in Churchville, Pennsylvania via an e ...

, Paper Rival, Bayside, and

Forgive Durden Forgive Durden was an American indie rock band from Seattle, Washington, United States. They got their name from the novel ''Fight Club''. They were signed to Fueled by Ramen. Fueled by Ramen released Forgive Durden's first full-length album, ''W ...

, among other bands. They also played prominent spots at the

Lollapalooza Festival Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual ...

as well as their third appearance at Bonnaroo. In the summer of 2008 the band would make their national television debut on ''

''. Following the Late Night with Conan O'Brien performance and a tour with

The Hush Sound The Hush Sound is an American indie pop band from Chicago, Illinois, United States. Initially named "The Hush," the band later changed its name to "The Hush Sound" due to the discovery of a rapper with the same name. The band consists of Bob M ...

, the band headed back into the studio, this time to record their third full-length album with producer Steve McDonald (Be Your Own Pet, Fun). It was at this time that the band's relationship with their label, Drive Thru Records, fell apart. Steel Train decided to buy off the label and fund their record themselves.
In winter 2009, they opened for

on their US Tour and appeared at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Music Festival in

Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, Califo ...

2010–2013: ''Steel Train'' and disbandment

Once again the band hit the road, touring with

, and

Fun Fun is defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "Light-hearted pleasure, enjoyment, or amusement; boisterous joviality or merrymaking; entertainment". Etymology and usage The word ''fun'' is associated with sports, entertaining medi ...

, as well as playing 2010's

Coachella Music Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert ...

and making their 2nd appearance on National TV on the ''

''. The band released their third full-length album, titled ''

Steel Train Steel Train was an indie rock band from New Jersey. They have toured with The Juliana Theory, Tegan and Sara, Girl in a Coma, Ben Folds, The Fray, Silversun Pickups, Hanson, The Format, Gomez, O.A.R., Something Corporate, Jack's Mannequin, Bare ...

'', on June 29, 2010 through their own label, Terrible Thrills. The record debuted at No. 8 on Billboard's Heatseakers Chart, No. 4 on the New Artists Chart and within the top 50 on the independent albums chart. In early June 2010 the band announced that they would be releasing a companion album to "Steel Train" featuring female artists covering each of the 12 tracks. The companion album, entitled "Terrible Thrills Vol. 1," includes appearances by

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...

, Deradoorian of

Dirty Projectors Dirty Projectors is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. The band is the project of singer-songwriter David Longstreth, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The b ...

, Amanda Palmer, Anna Waronker of

That Dog That Dog (styled as that dog.) is a Los Angeles-based rock band that formed in 1992 and dissolved in 1997, reuniting in 2011. The band originally consisted of Anna Waronker on lead vocals and guitar, Rachel Haden on bass guitar and vocals, her s ...

Alia Shawkat Alia Martine Shawkat ( ; ar, عليا مارتين شوكت; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Old Man'', '' State of Grace'', Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom ''Arrested Develop ...

Charlotte Caffey Charlotte Irene Caffey (born October 21, 1953) is an American guitarist, best known for her work in the rock band the Go-Go's in the 1980s, including writing "We Got the Beat". Career Caffey began her musical career playing bass guitar in the ...

The Go Go's The Go-Go's are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboar ...

Rachael Cantu Rachael Cantu (born June 8, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter. She was born and grew up in Orange County, California.

Rachel Antonoff Rachel Antonoff is an American fashion designer based in New York City. She is known for presenting her designs in creative ways, including in the form of a murder mystery, as a "sock hop," and in a dollhouse. In 2015, director and actress Lena D ...

Holly Miranda Holly Miranda (born 21 September 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Besides being trained in piano, Holly is a self-taught guitar and trumpet player. In 2001, she recorded ''High Above The City'', a 20-track solo album available ...

, and

Greta Salpeter Greta Morgan Salpeter (born February 12, 1988), better known as Greta Morgan, is an American singer-songwriter and musician based in Los Angeles, CA. Her career began in 2005 as singer/pianist of the Chicago-based band The Hush Sound. She later ...

and Gold Motel. The band hit the road once again with appearances at ''

Yo Gabba Gabba! ''Yo Gabba Gabba!'' is a children's musical television series created by Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz. The series is about five costumed toys come-to-life and their friend DJ Lance Rock ( Lance Robertson). It is co-produced by Magic Stor ...

'', the hit children's show, as well as tours with

and

the Get Up Kids The Get Up Kids are an American rock band from Olathe, Kansas. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-1990s Midwest emo scene, otherwise known as the " second wave" of emo music. Their second album ''Something to Write Home About' ...

. In August 2010, Steel Train was a guest on ''

Anything Anything with Rich Russo ''Anything Anything with Rich Russo'' is a weekly two-hour freeform radio program that airs on Sunday nights at 9 PM in the New York City market. The program's weekly playlists range from deep tracks of known artists, punk, non album b-sides, bu ...

'' where they performed three songs: "Bullet", "I Feel Weird", and a cover of

's "Call it Off". On November 1, 2010 the band was the first musical guest on Conan O'Briens new show, '' Conan'', in a joke episode titled "Show Zero". The band, along with actor

Jim Parsons James Joseph Parsons (born March 24, 1973) is an American actor. From 2007 to 2019, he played Sheldon Cooper in the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory''. He has received various awards, including four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead A ...

(''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on CBS ...

'') performed one chord off their new record, ''

'', in a short version of the show. In early 2011, the band performed on NPR's World Cafe with David Dye as well as NPR's Free at Noon. On January 11, the band returned to Conan O'Brien's ''Conan'', performing their single "You and I Undercover." Steel Train appeared at Sunfest in West Palm Beach Florida as the opening band for MGMT on April 30, 2011. On November 13, 2012, Jack Antonoff announced on his tumblr that "there are no immediate plans to get things up and running again," and that the band would have a final show at the

on January 5, 2013. They returned for the Shadow of the City festival in 2016.

Band members

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Compilation albums

Singles

* ''Bullet'' (2010) * ''Turnpike Ghost'' (2010)

References

External links

Steel Train
on Myspace {{Authority control American folk rock groups Indie rock musical groups from New Jersey Musical groups established in 1999 Drive-Thru Records artists 1999 establishments in New Jersey Musical groups disestablished in 2013