The band
The Legendary Trainhoppers are an Americana rock band from Fort Wayne, IN. The band has released four albums of original music—Ramble On (2006), Family Tree (2016), Let It Breathe (2017) and Hard Times (2020).
The T-Hops have performed in venues from Embassy Theatre and Sweetwater Pavilion to Memorial Coliseum and The Brass Rail, and have shared the bill with artists from The Avett Brothers and Cactus Blossoms to Charlie Daniels Band and Ike Reilly Assassination.
The band performed at the first and tenth Down the Line concerts, and was a featured performer at the inaugural Middle Waves Music Festival and Allen County’s Bicentennial Celebration. The band’s full-album presentation of Graceland included a special performance at Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, MI.
In late 2025, the band will release its fifth album.
About the name…
The Legendary Trainhoppers formed in Fort Wayne, IN in 2005. The band’s members were each part of other popular bands on the Fort Wayne circuit—Brown Bottle Band, Definitely Gary, Go Dog Go and Matthew Sturm Band—and joined up to write and perform original music in a rollicking country-rock style that wasn’t the focus of each musician’s primary band. Soon enough, the new band became each player’s focus.
The band’s name was inspired by the photograph featured here; an image of band member Matt Kelley’s great-grandfather (William Lafayette Bacon (left)) and his own string band in 1905—an exact century before we got together.
Our band formed by asking, “What would these guys sound like 100 years later?”
We weren’t sure what Layf Bacon and his friends called their band, but they sure looked like they rode in on a hopped train. So we called ‘em The Trainhoppers.
Or, rather, given the clear timelessness of their style—The Legendary Trainhoppers.
The train keeps a-rollin’
After a hot and fast run from 2005–2007, The Legendary Trainhoppers re-formed in 2015, and have recorded three albums and more than 100 shows since. The band continues to perform and record today.
Today, the band is Casey Stansifer (bass and vocals), Chris Dodds (guitar, keys, harmonica, accordion and vocals), Dan Smyth (guitar, keys and vocals), Daniel Hogan (drums), Matt Kelley (guitar and mandolin) and Phil Potts (guitar, keys and vocals), and often features Cassie Beer on vocals.
Kevin Jackson once said, “It’s not whether you’re in The Trainhoppers or not, it’s only if you’re active or not.”
We’ve been blessed to play with such talented, funny and good-hearted musicians over the years, both in 2005–2007 and in the last decade. It’s been an absolute blast, and an honor.
Non-active members of the band include Kevin Jackson, Colin Boyd, Connor O’Shaughnessy, Jon Ross, Damian Miller, Matthew Sturm, Rick Weilbaker and Jon Gillespie. Go easy, DM.
