When it comes to musical inspiration, it doesn’t get much better than the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. Dozens of artists, including the Grateful Dead, John Denver, Fleet Foxes, Dolly Parton and Townes van Zandt have all paid tribute to the location in some shape or form.
One band that knows all about the magic of the area is The Steel Wheels, who call it home.
Vocalist, guitarist and banjo player Trent Wagler said that part of what makes the area so special has to do with its history and the settlement of people from all different cultures creating ‘an identifiable mountain music.’
“That history really helps to inform what makes it a special place now and a great place to be. It is also just a beautiful area. The mountains are really wonderful landscape to be around,” Wagler said. “They just have a little bit more of a subtly to them. It is a beautiful place. We are really happy to be based here and be able to come back to it.”
The Steel Wheels know all about mixing sounds and genres to create their own version of ‘mountain music’, so much so that it is difficult to classify their sound. They are often described as being Americana, bluegrass, folk, roots, country and everything in between.
Wagler said that they are happy to be able ‘to continue to ride that line’, with each song having ‘its own life.’ Some songs are inspired by Cajun music while others he said feel like they are a version of the delta blues or even quasi gospel.
“We love to be able to immerse ourselves in all of these different mediums and keep our own experiences, thoughts and emotions and have this new sound that comes out of it. I think creatively it is really great for us to not feel limited. I think typically, for people who enjoy our music, they don’t want to go to a show where it is one thing all night but there is a lot of variety and movement to what they are seeing on stage,” he said.
That variety can be found on The Steel Wheel’s upcoming album, Leave Some Things Behind, set to be released in April, but available for purchase at their Canadian shows.
Wagler said when they started putting the 14 songs together for the album they realized that there was a theme of transition and exodus, songs about leaving in one way or another. He described the songs as having a variety of different voices and different takes of the ‘pros and cons of going forward’ and that ‘inevitable change that is always happening.’
Being travelling musicians, that constant change and movement is their reality, according to Wagler, although he said not all of the songs are about being a travelling performer.
“We have a very transient culture. There is a lot of movement that we all experience in our lives. That is a big part of how we end up forming our identities over time. I think once we identified that theme it became a very exciting process to put the songs together and create a movement and a flow to the album that really made sense for us. We are really proud of the way it sounds,” said Wagler.
Another project The Steel Wheels have taken pride in over the last three years is the Red Wing Festival they have put on in Natural Chimneys Park in Virginia. The festival takes place over three days and has an average of 4,000 attendees.
Wagler said they wanted to start something in their own community where families could go every year and learn about music from the local area and beyond. He said it feels good to give back to the musical community in the area, taking on the roles of both the facilitator and beneficiary of the event.
“It’s been a phenomenal experience to be able to start something like that and be able to help manage a three day experience not just a two hour concert experience. It’s a beautiful setting. It’s been a really amazing experience for us and we hope it be a legacy project for years and years.”
You can catch The Steel Wheels at the Alliance Church for the Cochrane Valley Folk Club March 7.
Visit cochranefolkclub.com for more information.
