Hello there!

If you’ve been with us for a little while, you’ll notice the eighth issue of Train Songz is a little different.

For the first time, someone’s on the cover:

INSTAGRAM INTERRUPTION

Okay but before I get into the story of how this issue came to be and what’s inside, it’s time for my quarterly appeal for a comment, like, and a share on our Instagram launch post. In order for print media to prevail, we must wrangle the wily algorithm. Thanks! Sorry! Bye!

G. ROYAL MASAT: THE TRIO TOUR INTERVIEW

You know when you read an interview and you’re clinging onto every last word, hoping it doesn’t end? Speaking for myself, this is one of those interviews.

We hope you read this interview and revisit recordings of the Trio Tour with a deeper appreciation and understanding of what you’re listening to. The zine-team sure did.

We reached out to Royal to do an interview about his time on the Trio Tour with Bryan Sutton and Billy Strings. Royal, a Train Songz reader himself, did not only kindly agree to the interview — he blew us out of the water with the depth and thoughtfulness of his responses. We loved what he shared so much, in fact, we set aside all but the first three of 44 pages of this issue for this interview. Oops, all Royal. (Hope you’re into that sort of thing.)

This interview — exclusively available offline — takes us inside Royal's experience on the Trio Tour, from exactly how he was entrusted to be the steward of John Cowan's legendary "Whitey" bass to opening up about how he felt when Billy asked him to join the tour. Royal also takes us deep into his preparation for the tour, what it's like locking in with Bryan Sutton, the shift from arenas to intimate (and mostly seated) venues, a certain moment at the Ryman, and even drops a recommendation for his current favorite Sicilian red wine. When appropriate, we also take a quick break from Royal’s interview for a quick history lesson with Promontory Paul’s Olde Tune Revue.

Though we dedicated the entire issue to an interview, the interior is very much still Train Songz. It looks less like a shiny magazine interview and more like a children’s book — our amazing crew of artists brought Royal’s words to life with their unique illustrations, and the marriage of art and Royal’s words are a neat manifestation of how our little team has learned to make a zine together. Always learning, one zine at a time.

Did you see that Royal decided to leave behind his copy of Train Songz #7 as a memento at Billy Strings’ NPR Tiny Desk appearance? So kind, so cool.

HOW TO GET THIS ISSUE

• Subscribers: Your 2000 numbered copies will mail out next week. I’ll email you when they do! Thank you. I love each and every one of you, and we could not do this without you.

• If you’d like to subscribe: You can do so here. We have sliding-scale pricing of $33 to $99 for four quarterly issues per year.

  • If you subscribe today, and you’ll also get issues 5, 6, and 7 from earlier this year. And you’ll automatically get all four issues from next year, too.

  • Your payment for 2026 will renew on the date that you subscribed in 2025, which means you are technically getting 7 or 8 issues for the price of 4 if you decided to cancel right before it renews next year. Please don’t do that, but you theoretically could.

• If you want to buy a single issue: You can grab one here for $11.

If you’re not in a good spot to pay, you can apply for a free issue. No questions asked. We give one away for every 10 sold, which means we typically have about 2,000 to give. They always go!

ZINES IRL: AUSTIN & ASHEVILLE

You can also find members of the zine-team with the issue:

• Tonight in Austin at Sam’s Town Point at 8 PM for a Billy Strings pre-party concert we’re hosting with Valley Flower

• Sunday in Asheville at Third Room at 7:30 PM for a Billy Strings watch party they’re hosting.

A few of us will be in Austin, and a few of us will be in Asheville. Within the constraints of our limited budget, we are experimenting with in-person events. I’d say our first in New York was a success. We’ll see how the rest go!

THANK YOU, ZINE-TEAM!

All my praises to Promontory Paul, Brakeman, and Liza for their endless collaboration on and dedication to the zine. Mr. Paul has been around since the very first issue, and Brakeman + Liza the third. Issue by issue, we’re learning. This “little project” has become more and more like a second job since they first got involved, and they’ve all risen to the occasion.

Promontory Paul stays keeping us anchored among all things ancient and dusty, and his “Olde Tune Revue” comes through in a really unique way this issue. Brakeman, a bassist himself, orchestrated and edited Royal’s interview masterfully. Liza directed the heck out of the art and channeled her best 80s fanzine impression with her cover art debut.

Special thanks to each artist for bringing their talents and individual styles and interpretations to this issue:

• Ben Bingham

• Sara Dennis

• Zak Fowler

• Kazoofinds

• Allison Is My Hero

• Leonard Mangano (Uncle Wally)

• Ian Perkins

• Morganne Allen

• Glow_worm93

• Emily Eubank

• William T. Vennes III

• Favorite Vegetable

• Noelle Voglewede

• TOON

• Inky Pete

• Logan Walker

• Ian Lape-Gerwe

THANK YOU, READERS!

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again a million times. I’m very, very grateful to have your support, and we work our tails off on nights and weekends to earn it with each issue. Thank you for reading. Thank you for subscribing. Thank you for sharing the zine with a friend. Thank you for sending me a photo of your cat sitting on the zine. Thank you for proving that print isn't dead — it just needed the right community. I’m very excited for y’all to listen to the Trio Tour shows with fresh ears.

DIGITAL EXTENSIONS

In a little while, we’ll have a Royal-centric playlist from @love.andsound, who is now making official playlists for nugs. No big deal.

We’ll also have our typical merchandise store pop up in a week or two. I’ll email when that happens.

Your moment of zen

Issue 3. Don’t let your memes be dreams…

–The Conductor