Video Premiere: Phil Gammage “Ride With Railroad Bill”

Phil Gammage’s latest music video from his album Used Man For Sale is “Ride With Railroad Bill”. The song is loosely based on the story of the famous American folk hero from the 1800s, Railroad Bill. Like other historical folklore figures such as Paul Bunyan, Calamity Jane, and Casey Jones, Railroad Bill is a larger than life legend whose story has been retold through the years from generation to generation.Gammage has taken Bill’s story and added a frightening edge.

In Phil’s version, Railroad Bill is no longer a happy go lucky hobo riding the railroad, but a feared killer who stalks the trains and hobo yards looking to murder and steal.The black and white music video combines actual film footage from the 1940s and 50s along with recently filmed scenes featuring Gammage. They combine to create a unique vibe that works beautifully with the music. 

Gammage had this to say about the video which you can watch below, “We first used the cinematic technique of combining vintage footage with new footage in a music video a couple of years ago from my album Adventures in Bluesland. With this new music video for “Ride With Railroad Bill”, we’ve taken everything a step further. It’s amazing to think I’m sharing screen time with people from the 1940s, whose story we’ll likely never know… but to me that’s part of the beauty about it. That enigmatic and unknown quality of it creates the mystique.”