The Steel Wheels


The Steel Wheels are an American roots music, Americana group of folk musicians, based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

Biography

The Steel Wheels are an Americana roots band from Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Trent Wagler is lead vocalist, mountain banjo player, guitarist and the band's primary songwriter. Jay Lapp plays mandolin, guitar, electric guitar and sings. Brian Dickel plays upright bass, electric bass, and sings. Eric Brubaker plays fiddle and sings. Kevin Joaquin Garcia plays percussion and keyboards.
From their base in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, TSW have played the most prestigious festivals, listening rooms, and clubs in the world, cementing a reputation as one of the top independent bands on the scene today. While 2017's stunning studio album Wild As We Came Here was still ringing in the air, the band shone a light on their concerts with the release of two LPs of live music; Volume 1: Live at the Station Inn, and Volume 2: Live at The Jefferson Theater. Ever ambitious and not content to let moss grow under their feet, the Wheels returned to the woods of Maine and studio-retreat of Sam Kassirer, producer of Wild, to record another studio album, Over The Trees, to be released in July 2019.
The Steel Wheels have appeared at numerous Americana festivals, including The Bristol Rhythm and Roots Festival, the Kerrville Folk Festival, FloydFest, the Albino Skunk Music Festival, the Smoky Hill River Fest, the Folk Alliance and Appalachian Uprising. Other notable venues they have played include the NPR Mountain Stage, Eddie's Attic, the Ark, the Bluebird Café and the Calgary Folk Club. Trent Wagler and Jay Lapp have also played at the 'Ards International Guitar Festival in Ireland, with Peter Rowan.

''Wild As We Came Here (2017)''

The group brought in Sam Kassirer, known for his work with Josh Ritter and Lake Street Dive, to produce Wild as We Came Here in 2017. They recorded the album "in a week and a half" in the Fall of 2016 in Kassirer's "renovated farm house studio" in Maine. For the new album the band augmented their sound with drums and keyboards, which "expanded their sonic palette, adding a singer-songwriter element to their string band sound."
This change in instrumentation "contributes emotional textures that flesh out the deeper concerns in Trent Wagler's lyrics," while Eric Brubaker's fiddle is "a piece of inspired alchemy, as he almost single-handedly keeps the listener entrenched in the band's rural landscape even as the songs tackle weighty matters."

''Over the Trees'' (2019)

Released July 12, 2019 in concert with the group's seventh-annual Red Wings Roots Festival, their second studio album "is a bit of an experimental record at times, with new sounds and influences. We know where we come from. We are a string band from Virginia, but we are evolving with this album, and we are embracing the future," says Wagler.
The album is a collection of songs about surviving tragedy. Brubaker lost his 10-year-old daughter to a sudden illness earlier in 2019. "At times our human response is muted and resigned, at other times triumphant and steadfast. Over the Trees is an ode to the community that rises up to support those in need, and is dedicated to the memory of Norah Brubaker," he says. According to No Depression, the album's lead single "Keep On" is "a propulsive folk-rocker, a catchy track that would sound at home in a small venue or at an arena concert." The opening track "Rains Come", meanwhile, "takes a spooky melody that conjures up echoes of Tom Waits’ "Lowside of the Road" and adds a Mellotron and some Middle Eastern and African percussion." "Road Never Ends" is described as "a sonic companion of sorts to "Rains Come," utilizing African rhythmic textures to heighten the drama of the song's lamentation of coping with the grind of touring and of a life, in general, geared toward a transient existence."

The "SpokeSongs" Bicycle Tour

In step with the feel of their music, taking tradition and history and giving it a modern flavor, The Steel Wheels conduct an annual tour called "SpokeSongs". Different from usual tours, this one is done entirely by bicycle. They average ten shows and travel around 500 miles, and transport all gear on their bikes. The first tour, in 2009, featured The Steel Wheels Duo traveling through the Virginia countryside. In 2010, the duo moved the tour to Michigan. And in 2011, all four band members participated in the bicycle tour, again in Michigan. They maintain a blog about the tour on their website. The Michigan-based company Tree Fort Bikes is assisting in the tour.

Red Wing Roots Music Festival

Since 2012, the group has hosted the Red Wing Roots Music Festival at Natural Chimneys Park in Mt. Solon, Virginia. The two main stages in "the music meadow" take advantage of the "perfect backdrop" provided by "limestone rock formations towering more than 120 feet above."
The musical lineup for the sixth annual festival taking place July 13–15, 2018 includes: I'm With Her, John Moreland, Josh Ritter, The Judy Chops, Kuinka, The Secret Sisters, Steep Canyon Rangers, and Trampled By Turtles — in addition to The Steel Wheels themselves. Wagler says of the success of the festival so far:
The seventh-annual festival takes place July 12–14, 2019 with The Wood Brothers, Mandolin Orange, Peter Rowan, The Tim O’Brien Band, Gibson Brothers, and Della Mae headlining. Wagler says of the longevity of his group's festival, "Lucky number seven, can you believe it?"

Contributions

Wagler provides lead and harmony vocals on Goodbye Virginia written by Missy Raines tour mate Robbie Fulks. The song appears on Raines's sixth album, Royal Traveller, released October 5, 2018 on Compass Records Group.

Musical style

Honors, awards, and distinctions

The Steel Wheels received seven nominations from The Independent Music Awards in 2010. Their song "Nothing You Can't Lose" received the highest award of "Best Country Song" in the 10th Annual IMA Awards, and in the Vox Pop Awards. "Working on a Building" also won "Best Gospel Song" in the 10th Annual IMA Vox Pop Awards. Red Wing earned very high marks from critics and received airplay on radio stations across several markets. The album charted for 13 weeks on the Americana Music Association Top 40 radio charts, hitting No. 15. It also made its way onto the EuroAmericana charts, finding its way into the top 10. It was ranked number two across all independent releases charted by the Americana Music Association, and number 70 on the top 100 Americana albums of 2010.

Albums

Live albums