A Brief History of Enoch Train

by Clive Romney

In the late summer of 1997, after I returned from a performing tour of folk festivals in England, France and Spain, Jeff Simpson (President of Joyspring Records) challenged me to do a collection of instrumental arrangements of hymns and children's songs in a way that had never been done before.

Well, that stumped me initially. But reflecting on my summer experience, it finally occurred to me to form an unusual ensemble of outstanding musicians who could blend old musical styles with contemporary ones to create a new one — American folk music with a passport.

I started with what I know best-American folk music, using acoustic instruments like guitar, fiddle, mandolin and bass. I knew almost immediately the musicians that would be perfect for this band-people I had worked with in the studio for years, and whose personalities and musicianship I knew intimately. So we got together and began experimenting.

Most of these musicians had lived, traveled and performed all over the world. This, in addition to the tremendous influence that world cultures have on our popular and religious culture, led us to incorporate international musical elements and instruments into our music.

Still we lacked a name for our group. After lots of brainstorming, Scott Simpson (Excel Entertainment Group) suggested Enoch Train, the name of a ship that carried religious immigrants from Europe to America in the nineteenth century. The name embodied everything that this group was about-people from all over the world coming together in a new land in the name of religious freedom, sharing their cultural heritage, and creating a new one in the process.

And so we in Enoch Train have begun our exploration of both the roots and the branches of familiar tunes-where the tunes have come from, and where they might be going. And as our cultural heritage is deep and ever-expanding, we have a lifetime of exploring to do.