Music

As “1972” makes its world premiere in Cambridge, the Dispatch rocker talks women’s rights, freight trains, T Bone Burnett — and a new State Radio Tour.

By Lauren Daley

November 3, 2026 | 9:57 AM

5 minutes to read

Hopping trains and writing songs for social justice sounds like an era that died with Woody Guthrie. 

But that’s just what musician/activist Chadwick Stokes spent years doing.

The Sherborn native “started hopping trains in high school” and rode the rails in Zimbabwe, Canada and around the U.S. “until I had children, basically to 2011,” Stokes, 50, tells me in our recent phone interview.

He’s talking to me from a sanctuary of sorts, “holed up in the Milton library,” in the midst of the chaos of opening week of his rock opera, built around the world of train-hopping and women’s rights.

Since he was a kid loving The Who’s “Tommy,” he wanted to write a rock opera.  Once he rode rails, he knew half his subject. 

“It’s this world you don’t see when you’re on highways and truck stops. It’s its own thing — a transient underworld that stays hidden unless you’re looking for it.”

The full subject came into view when Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, says Stokes, who co-founded the non-profit Calling All Crows 18 years ago with his wife, Sybil Gallagher. It aims to “mobilize music fans and artists to fuel feminist movements,” per their website.

Now, the culmination: “1972,” his rock opera about abortion and train-hopping, makes its world premiere at Cambridge’s American Repertory Theater at Harvard’s Farkas Hall. Get this: The entire month-long run is already sold-out. 

With music and lyrics by Stokes, it’s directed by Jessie Nelson, who wrote the book for the Broadway musical “Waitress.” The book is co-written by Stokes and Nelson.

Per the synopsis: In 1972—just before Roe v. Wade legalized abortion— a pregnant young woman, Hannah, flees an abusive relationship to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Riding the rails, she befriends three outcasts “outrunning ghosts of their own.” Hannah eventually finds the Jane Collective —  a real-life underground network that operated in Chicago at the time to help women in need of abortions.

Sidenote: There’s some official artwork by multi-hyphenante artist/musician Nathaniel Russell. Russell fans: you can pre-order a “1972” tee or print online via Stoke’s store.

I called the Dispatch and State Radio rocker to talk train-hopping, T Bone Burnett, flower farming, coaching hockey — and why Stokes is headed out on the road with State Radio after more than a decade.

I know you’ve been working on this story for years. Now it’s your world premiere. How does it feel?

Right now we’re in the throes of it. In the last month, we’ve worked like nine-hour days with only Mondays off. Sybil and I have totally abandoned our children [laughs.] It’s intense.

[laughs] I bet. You previewed a version of “1972” in Somerville in 2024. How has it changed since?

In Somerville, it was me and my band with four people. Now there’s 12 of us. There’s more women in it now than men. Jessie Nelson came on in 2024; she’s been a huge help in focusing and revising. 

There’s no more narration between the songs. It’s much shorter. There’s been a lot of eyes on it, and we’ve played it so many more times, so we’re constantly getting [feedback]. Even in rehearsals, we’ll have people from A.R.T. giving notes.

And you worked with T Bone Burnett to record a track [for an upcoming project]. He’s amazing. 

Yes! We just did a version of this song “Cry Out” with Sarah Jarosz, a brilliant singer-songwriter. T Bone is a friend of Jessie Nelson’s. She passed the song along to him, and he really dug it. He’s such a trip. Such a cool guy.

Going back to the roots here. You told me you loved “The Wall” and “Tommy” growing up. But what drew you to the rock opera format as a kid?

I loved that each song was telling part of the story. Most of my career has been trying to write three-minute full stories, so here’s an opportunity to do [an 80-minute] full story, which is so fun because you can just really dive into the characters and have different voices singing lead. It’s amazing to hear these women sing — the chorus just f—ing nailing it. It’s fun to get outside of yourself in that way.

This started out years ago as a rock opera about liver donation.

Yeah. [laughs] But it was always in the freight train [world]. My experience jumping freight trains was where everything was grounded. It was just a matter of figuring the protagonist, and why she was out on the trains.

When Roe was overturned. I thought: OK, now I know where this young woman is heading. She needs an abortion. She’s fleeing an abusive boyfriend and falls in with this trio of guys hopping freight trains, heading West. That’s the family she finds.

Your brother, Willie Urmston, has a role.

Yeah, we’ve jumped trains together, had a bunch of adventures together out on the trains. We share a love for that. He plays a character called Pinto. 

He plays the banjo, too, and sings. He’s super shy. He’s a flower farmer on the farm where we grew up in Sherborn. So he’s out there harvesting dahlias with his headlamp at night, and then coming to play banjo and act and sing. [laughs] It’s wild.

[laughs] I love that. You play a character called Depot. 

I have my own history: I haven’t seen my own daughter in 20 years, and then this woman comes along, and she’s had a tough life, and empowers me to go find my daughter. At the same time, I welcome and encourage her. She’s unused to this kindness.

The entire run is sold-out. That’s pretty incredible.

It is!  And it happened right away [laughs.] My wife had an art opening in Brooklyn, and we were in a van full of her paintings and siblings. We were all trying to get tickets for our parents and couldn’t get tickets.

You told me Anais Mitchell’s “HadesTown” was an inspiration. Is Broadway a goal?

Who knows? That would be great. But we’re taking it one day at a time. I was so proud of Anais. I’ve known her through the years, and have always loved the idea of telling a story in a not-typical-musical way, which she did so well.

What are your plans after this run?

I think we’ll go to sleep.

[laughs] I bet.

Hang out with our kids. Get back to coaching hockey. 

You coach hockey?

Yeah, I coach Milton youth hockey. I love hockey. I grew up playing hockey on ponds, and then joined a faltering Dover-Sherborn hockey team when I was a junior in high school, and got my ass kicked.

[laughs] You’re headed out on tour with State Radio in January and February. You’ll play Boston Feb. 13. What sparked that return after so many years?

We had a great invitation from Tom Morello to do the Power to the People festival outside of D.C [on Oct. 3]. That sparked things. Like, “Oh yeah. Remember this part of our lives?” [laughs] It feels cathartic. At the marches we go to— and in doing this production— it’s wonderful to be in community with people who care. I’m anticipating that as well with the State Radio tour.

What do you hope people get from this performance?

I hope people are energized. We’re living in such a dark time, especially for women, where rights are being taken away. We’re flooded with despair. It’s cathartic for us to be telling this story. I hope people see it and feel:  “We can do this. We can’t give up. Let’s bind together and figure this s— out.”

Interview has been edited and condensed. Lauren Daley is a freelance culture writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1 and Instagrams at @laurendaley1.

Lauren Daley

Lauren Daley is a longtime culture journalist who covers music, books, comedy, TV, and New England life.

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