The Steel Wheels are based in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains and are a folk-rock and Americana roots band. Their sound comes from the mountains, but their creative lyrics have enabled them to continuously evolve. The band formed in 2005 with Trent Wagler, Jay Lapp, Eric Brubaker, and Brian Dickel as the founders, though the lineup has changed since then, as is common in performing groups.
They began as a traditional string band that played original folk songs that Wagler wrote, but have since expanded their repertoire to include touches of rock, country, pop, blues, gospel, and bluegrass. They adopted the “Steel Wheels” name when they released “Red Wing” in 2010.
They have remained proudly independent and self-produced and released albums from 2010 until 2015, until they joined producer Sam Kassirer for 2017’s “Wild as We Came Here” and “Over the Trees,” released in 2019. Their most recent album is 2024’s “Sideways,” and the current lineup is Wagler, Lapp, and Brubaker, along with Jeremy Darrow and Kevin Joaquin Garcia. A concert review says:
“Call them bluegrass, folk, country, jammy, roots or Americana. The monikers all fit The Steel Wheels, as they demonstrated they were quite worthy no matter the style.”
The Steel Wheels will be at the Ludlow Garage on March 9. When shows like this are scheduled, promoters often use poster printing to advertise them.