Courtesy of The Steel Wheels
Steel Wheels was a 1989 Rolling Stones album that some may suggest was regrettable. On the latest episode of Load Out Music Podcast, however, we catch up with the frontman of a much-heralded Americana band from Virginia—also called The Steel Wheels—which has become widely known for its music as well as the annual Red Wing Roots Music Festival the band hosts.
Founded in 2005 as an all-acoustic string band playing around one microphone, The Steel Wheels initially embraced the simplicity of the wood, strings and singing in unison—as founder Trent Wagler told me. But the group progressed and evolved into something altogether more refined.
“As you continue to develop as a band, for us, I felt like you’re squeezing out every influence you had over the years over time,” Wagler said, noting he grew up on grunge and jam bands. “Being in Virginia, getting to see Doc Watson play…I went down that rabbit hole and I really wanted to sound as timeless as possible and, really inspired by Gillian Welch, and inspired by people who were making music that sounded like it could’ve been from the 1800s or 2005.”
Coming out of the pandemic, the band’s members had an appetite to explore and “get out of our way,” as Wagler described it. Thus, the music began to broaden and become more modern.
The Steel Wheels also experienced two events that shaped its collective outlook. In 2019, fiddle player and vocalist Eric Brubaker’s lost his young daughter to a rare disease. And during the pandemic, Wagler’s child faced a mental health crisis that left the frontman and his family feeling lost and frustrated. All of these emotions and inspirations led to the band’s new album, Sideways, its 13th. Produced by Sam Kassirer, it is The Steel Wheels’ most ambitious outing yet and has earned acclaim from the likes of Billboard, Relix, No Depression and more.
“We’re exploring our sound and we hope that our audience comes with us,” noted Wagler. “For us, it’s the way you keep a band alive. You just keep exploring and finding things that inspire you.”
Wagler also addressed the challenges of building the band’s brand while living in a remote region of the U.S., near Harrisonburg, Virginia, doing things like busking in front of the local ice cream store in the town’s center and at area farmers markets.
Courtesy The Steel Wheels
“I think in some ways we benefited from not knowing what we didn’t know,” said Wagler, noting they were unknowingly creating a network. “Had we been in Nashville or New York City, those weddings you were playing could have led to something fantastic. It definitely created the timing for us to start a music festival.”
This, of course, led to an opportunity for a broader platform—the annual Red Wing Roots Music Festival. It includes three days, five stages, and some 50 bands at Natural Chimneys Park in Mt Solon, VA, in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. And it’s become kind of a big deal. Over the years, it has featured the likes of Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen, Lucinda Williams, Old Crow Medicine Show, Brent Cobb, Kurt Vile, and of course, The Steel Wheels.
Wagler associates the idea with North Carolina’s MerleFest, and at one point it occurred to him, “Why don’t we have something like this? Why can’t we do something like this in the Shenandoah Valley?”
Why not, indeed. We discuss the evolution of The Steel Wheels, Red Wing and more on the latest episode of The Load Out. Enjoy!