Within the jam-band scene, there is a remarkable amount of genre and stylistic diversity. That explains how a band like Railroad Earth, which started out with a traditional bluegrass sound, can be embraced as part of a community alongside artists including Gov’t Mule, Leftover Salmon and The String Cheese Incident, all of whom have been Railroad Earth collaborators. The ethos of jam bands is more important than individual musical styles, with all members of the community embracing improvisation, collaboration and experimentation and focusing on live performance as the primary mode of expression.

For Railroad Earth, which formed in New Jersey on 2001, that’s demonstrated on their 2006 live album Elko, named for the band’s song about the titular rural Nevada town. Elko is the band’s most popular release, a double-disc collection featuring numerous jams that stretch to 10 minutes and beyond. Those epic jams succeed thanks to the solid songwriting from frontman Todd Sheaffer. “Our M.O. has always been that we can improvise all day long, but we only do it in service to the song,” multi-instrumentalist John Skehan says on the band’s website. That makes Railroad Earth a jam band with a vision and a purpose.

Brooklyn Bowl at The Linq, 7 p.m. Feb. 28, starting at $20 plus fee, 18+. 702.862.2695