About Us

The Hoppin Boxcars is a primarily original musical performing group of bearded hobos who broke into the scene in early 2016 like a freight train chuggin’ on down the line. Immerse yourself in a musical adventure of nostalgic, toe-tappin’ songs that tell the tale of four hobos, some musical friends, a pinch of family, and last but not least, Mojo, the imaginary dog that only Ziggy and his brother Juggy can hear.

Grizz, the lead vocalist and chief composer, had been with Blaze and Reds on January 15th of 2016 when he placed a call to Ziggy, saying “Get over here with your mandolin and a B-flat harp, and be ready to do some recording.” Ziggy followed suit, and with this, the nucleus of the band was formed, and the first of many hits was upon us, entitled “Wishin’ We Were Walking”.

The Hoppin’ Boxcars stayed true to the storyline… chasing down this other band that was playing one of the Hoppin’ Boxcars songs and claiming it as their own. During the chase, five additional hobos would join the corral… Tazz, Fish, Edge, Jawz, Doobie and Juggy.

During the early growth of the group, the Hoppin’ Boxcars managed to partake in some incredible opportunities, with performances at the Ardmore Music Hall, Trocadero Theater, Sellersville Theater, The Tin Angel, The Millkboy and the Martin Main Stage of the 55th Annual Philadelphia Folk Festival in August of 2016. The band also headlined the Muddy River Festival in early 2017, and the band continued to march onward with performances at various venues and music festivals.

Ambitious leader Grizz decided there could be a much grander way to tell the tale of these hobos, and with this notion, Grizz went to work constructing and painting stage sets and recruiting actors and actresses, to produce what would become a musical stage production known as “A Dustbowl Opera”.

The first “Dustbowl Opera” took place at an indoor venue in June of 2017 to a sellout crowd. The following year The Hoppin’ Boxcars decided to do a second opera. The schedule was set for The Hoppin’ Boxcars to perform outdoors during a weekend festival. To achieve even greater success, the second opera featured newly constructed, larger stage sets.

A third “Dustbowl Opera” was scheduled to take place during September of 2020 in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, an historic railroad town situated in the foothills of the Commonwealth.

As time transpired, so did the band, and our sound has morphed a bit recently with the addition of Gordo and Muck, and we are sounding better than ever.

Please check us out and let us know what y’all think! (It’s hobo talk, ya hear?)

Many thanks to all of our amazingly awesome fans for the continued love and support of local, live, original music.

Click It Tee Clack !! (the sound you hear when The Hoppin’ Boxcars are in motion)