Ever-evolving Railroad Earth makes a stop Thursday in Beaver Creek

For over 20 years, Railroad Earth has captivated audiences with its own brand of songwriting, bluegrass, soul and rock ‘n’ roll.

“The key is we never knew what we set out to do, and we remained open for it to evolve,” said percussionist and vocalist Carey Harmon.

Named after a phrase in the title of a Jack Kerouac poem, Railroad Earth took its roots in rock — both progressive and traditional — as well as classical jazz and bluegrass. As the band members gelled, they explored musically more and more, adding electric bass, a Hammond B3 and other acoustics. They’ve also headed up the annual Hangtown Music Festival in Placerville, California, and Hillberry: The Harvest Moon Festival in the Ozarks for over a decade and paired John Denver’s lyrics with music on their 2019 “Railroad Earth: The John Denver Letters.”

The band’s latest album, “All for the Song,” explores its journey and opens a new chapter after one of the founding members, Andy Goessling, died of cancer in 2018.

“Andy’s passing was very much in the center of our thoughts and our hearts in the writing and recording of this album,” lead vocalist and guitarist Todd Sheaffer said.

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The band had already started the record before they lost Goessling, and his passing shook the band up.

“He was as irreplaceable as an individual can be,” Harmon said. “He played five instruments — he was the Swiss Army knife; he could do anything.”

The remaining members decided to make a destination record, traveling to the Big Easy to bond.

“After that many years of playing together, it could have been the undoing of the band, but we did what Andy would do: We came together instead of pulling apart,” Harmon said.

By the time they were ready to release it, the pandemic had taken hold, so they decided to stop pushing the album until they could tour. They packaged it up and didn’t touch it. Now, they’re touring with a newfound spirit. They’re revisiting the songs from the different perspective of not just time passed, but also the struggles the entire world went through.

“We want audiences to connect to the album,” Harmon said. “We hope they’re as moved by the music as we were making it.”

While some of the songs are still very directly about Goessling, the last few years have resulted in a more universal rendering of music — and the overall story of a band that “took off for the circus” on a two-plus-decade journey.

“New chapters have been added, and the songs have taken on a new life because of the (new) lineup,” Harmon said.

Matt Slocum had filled in for Goessling in 2018 and now joins in on keys. Mike Robinson came in on the banjo, pedal steel and acoustic guitar in 2019. And, the band celebrates the one-year anniversary of its new bassist, Dave Speranza.

“He completes the sound we have right now,” Harmon said. “We have a big variety of material and sounds — there’s just such a palette of instruments that we have on stage.”

Within the band members’ shifting perspectives, they hope to change audience perspectives through their live shows — as if the audience just saw a great movie that made them walk away feeling better.

“After 20 years, it’s feeling like we’re coming into our stride,” he said. “We’re opening up more on stage and improvising more. It seems like we should have been able to do that in a couple years, but it took a couple of decades. It’s exciting, and hopefully that translates on stage.”