An improvised, full ambient show performed & streamed live in a private room on the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited going from Chicago to NYC. This show was streamed live on Twitch over 5G between Chicago, IL and a little past South Bend, IN as a part of the Harvest Moon virtual music festival, while returning home from KnobCon 2025.

When I booked my trip to KnobCon, I knew I was going to be taking a lot of gear with me, and I performed a live set while there. When the organizer of the Harvest Moon festival, Mroovki, reached out to me about having a set during the event, I originally thought "no way," because I'd be traveling.

But then I cooked up a crazy idea: what if I streamed *from the train itself?* I checked 5G coverage and it was decent enough through the corridor I'd be in during some available festival slots, so I signed up. It's funny; the Twitch parlance for these types of events is a "raid train," so I joked that it was "raid train on a train."

The night of, I boarded Amtrak train #48, Lake Shore Limited, and I hauled my gear into my private room. I went to work setting up; I knew I'd want a camera pointed out of the window to see whatever could be seen in the dark night. I also knew I wanted to keep things very ambient, so I turned to the virtual modular synthesizer system VCV Rack and tweaked some patches I'd previously made. I also wired up my Roland SYSTEM-8 keyboard, placing it on the bench seating next to me.

After lots of bandwidth tests and tweaks, I went live and improvised this set. 

I believe it to be the first Twitch music stream done entirely on a train, though I might be wrong. It's definitely the first ambient music stream from a train, though!

Buying the album on my Bandcamp also include bonus content: the full stream video, as well as some photos from my trip.

I hope you enjoy it.

Album + Bonus Content

Goodbye, Illinois

The Hour Is Lost

I’ll Hold You (9-8-25 Train Ambient Version)

The Sleeper Car

Thesis (9-8-2025)

Starlit Rail

Walk the Train’s Halls

The Eternal Sorrow (9-8-25 Train Ambient Version)

We All Seek Connection

This set was born on a quiet afternoon where time dissolved on the couch and music became our only language. No plan, no script, only instinct and flow guiding us through the records we had gathered earlier that day. The spark came from a friend’s festival tale, where he spoke of discovering a hidden genre he called Anal House. Between laughter and curiosity it became more than a name, it became a portal and a feeling. What you hear is our homage to that moment, a freestyle journey that drifts between playfulness and depth, for those who like to listen between the lines.

Anal house Tim Boulie b2b WUTU

Music moves us past time and place. It connects us to ourselves and one another, and can transport us between dimensions and beyond. Through life, death, joy, and struggle, music helps us connect, move, and be.

New tracks tagged #Improvised