By Scout Nicholson / The Jambar
With 12 years worth of friendship and collaboration, Rolling Boxcar International connected once again to release its self-titled fifth album Oct 9.
Based in Youngstown, the band is composed of bassist Tony Nigro, drummer Michael Estok and guitarists Angelo LaMarca and Richard Blair. All members are multi-instrumentalists and vocalists.
Blair said there is a deep but natural connection between the band members. The band started as a duo with Blair and LaMarca, who later added Nigro and Estok. Estok is the owner of Court Street Production, a recording studio in Canfield.
“It was just a natural outflow of artistic expression, [a] desire to play music to share our creative output,” Blair said. “As we started recording, we realized that we were actually working well together. So it was just a very natural flow.”
Blair said one lesson he learned over the years is the importance of the band’s friendship. While the band may have met because of music, it’s not what defines its relationship, but he said it’s the deep bond the band has formed.
“While we met because of music, that’s not what’s primary in our relationship with one another,” Blair said. “We’ve learned that music is a gift. It’s a gift for us, but it’s also a gift from us. It’s a gift for our community. That’s very much part of the mission of our band is to be connected to our community and to invite people in and share that with one another.”
While the band has been around for over a decade, it didn’t start recording music until 2023, when the band released three albums in one year — “The Beginning of Light and Movement,” “Shadowlands” and “Adeste,” a Christmas album.
Blair said the band decided to record singles during the coronavirus pandemic to later create an album.
“I’ve always been aware [of] and connected to the local music scene, just meeting people, going to shows and that sort of thing. So it just kind of rolled from there. All of a sudden, we had this catalog of recorded material, and we decided that it was time to assemble an album,” Blair said. “We saw that we had enough material really for two full-length albums.”
Blair said the band’s most recent album is more thought-out and cohesive. The album touches on grief and how to find hope in dark places. He said the songs create a full-circle moment from beginning to end.
Blair said the album’s first track, “Maybe (It’s You),” opens with the lyrics, “The road to the best things is often through the hard things,” while the final track titled “Finale,” closes with the lyrics, “Those of us who remain won’t grieve without hope.”
“What I like to say about this album is that it’s a complete thought, and that thought really focuses on loss, grief and how there’s hope within those ideas or these life experiences,” Blair said. “If you’ve lived long enough, you’re certainly going to experience grief in one way, shape or form.”
Rolling Boxcar International performs from 8-11 p.m. Oct. 30 at Westside Bowl for a Wilco cover band show. The band will perform the entirety of Wilco’s album “Being There” for the album’s 30th anniversary.
Those interested in listening to Rolling Boxcar International can check out its music on Spotify and Apple Music.
