Bluebird holds concert Saturday for large crowd

Saturday night at the Bluebird Nightclub, the self-described “Americana acoustic music” band Railroad Earth drew an energetic crowd. The opening act for the concert was the Stringtown Pickers, a band from Indianapolis.\nFirst-time listeners and regular followers shared in their passion for live music as they greeted one another with hugs. Many audience members danced and sang along with the performance.\nRailroad Earth fans are particularly devoted to the band, and many have followed them for the six years they have been together. A woman only known as Magi is a self-proclaimed “Jedi-Grandma.”\n“We don’t call ourselves fans; we’re family,” Magi said.\nDespite the sense of familiarity with the band, not everyone at the Bluebird was from the Bloomington area. Magi, for instance, said she drove from St. Louis to come to the show.\nEric and Cara McKinney, Indianapolis, said they first heard the band years ago in Florida, and that the Bloomington show was “going great.”\nAnother feature of the show was the recording equipment set up in the room. \n“We encourage people to tape the shows; people bring microphones and trade the shows. It’s instrumental in getting our name around quickly,” said Railroad Earth violinist Tim Carbone.\nMany recordings of past shows are available to download for free at www.archive.org, although “avid fan” Stacy Kalstrom sells the band’s albums and other merchandise at their shows.\nStacy and her husband Phil Kalstrom retired from their regular jobs two years ago to follow the band and hear live music every night.\n“It’s not a very glamorous life; most of us are not Sting,” Kalstrom said, in reference to the popular recording artist.\nBut the camaraderie at the shows makes the gas money and 80,000 frequent flyer miles a year worth it to Magi.\n“It’s another world. I love that world,” she said.