Out of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virgina comes a fine album of good Americana by The Steel Wheels. The Steel Wheels are a four-piece comprised of Trent Wagler (vocals, guitar, banjo), Jay Lapp (mandolin, guitar, vocals), Brian Dickel (bass, vocals), and Eric Brubaker (fiddle, vocals).
The Steel Wheels are generally compared to current artists like Langhorne Slim, the Avett Brothers, and Old Crowe Medicine Show. Don’t let the current names fool you though; over the fourteen tracks that make up Red Wing the boys take you in several directions from classical to the more modern, but remain consistently solid throughout.
For the most part Wagler writes the songs (Lapp and Brubaker added a few lovely originals as well) and he writes some wonderful songs on this release. His vocals are often soothing, yet show some country grit when needed. But while Wagler takes center stage for the most part, the chemistry between the four on Red Wing is wonderful. The fiddle, mandolin, and bass each seem to get just the right share of the sound and the harmonies are done well and are never excessive. Take a listen to “Surround Me” for a prime example of how well the group balances itself in this regard.
While you may not have heard of The Steel Wheels just yet, there is no doubt that they deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as artists like Langhorne Slim and The Avett Brothers. As long as they continue to keep putting out albums like Red Wing they will be as familiar as these artists in no time.
Hot Tracks: Love You Like I Should, Walk This Way For A While, Surround Me, Working On A Building
Kevin Kozel- Sr. MuzikReviews.com Staff
May 28, 2010
