The Steel Wheels will release new album ‘Sideways’ on 9th February 2024 and they’ve just released new single ‘Yes I Know’.
Speaking about the song, The Steel Wheels’ Trent Wagler said, “‘Yes I Know’ dips into that feeling when you can see the moment you’re in with someone else as a beautiful moment, while simultaneously seeing the future-that no relationship is static. Is “forever” a useful idea to comfort our fears? Maybe, or maybe it can be inspiring to remember all relationships will eventually end. For me, there are times of year when forever feels more real than others: The heat of the summer, when the days last 16 hours feel full of forever energy, while the month or so of leaves changing in the fall always confronts me with change and the passage of time.
The video for the song started as more of a 2 week autumnal leaf study. I live in Harrisonburg, VA down the block from a beautiful city park. I wanted to try to film the changing of the leaves, so I started recording the same video every day for a couple of weeks in October/November. The video logs my small daily nature walks and the transformative show of the seasonal shifts.’
The new album comes nearly 20 years after the band debuted as an all-acoustic string band. The set is produced by Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter), and takes influence from psychedelic rock, pop, jam and more to expand upon their distinct, well-established sound.
Over twelve tracks, the LP covers heavy topics such as grief, loss, fatherhood and mental health. Many of the songs were penned in response to direct events in the band members’ lives. Namely, the sudden passing of fiddle player and vocalist Eric Brubaker’s young daughter to a rare disease. And during the pandemic, when Wagler’s child faced a mental health crisis that left Wagler and his family feeling lost and frustrated inside our country’s mental health care system.
The band has announced a special US Winter Roots Concert on 20th January, an offshoot of their highly successful and long-running Red Wing Roots Music Festival, featuring an album release show with Lindsay Lou at Wilson Hall in Harrisonburg, VA. Next year, the group will appear on NPR’s Mountain Stage, taping live on 20th February, and will perform at the Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City, MO on 22nd and 23rd February. Find a full list of tour dates at http://thesteelwheels.com/tour.
The Steel Wheels is Trent Wagler (vocals/guitar/banjo), Jay Lapp (guitar/mandolin/vocals), Eric Brubaker (fiddle/vocals), Kevin Garcia (drums/percussion/mallet keyboards), Jeremy Darrow (bass).
The tracklist for ‘Sideways’ is:
1. Wait On You
2. Baby Gone
3. Sideways
4. Hero
5. Enemy
6. Dissidents
7. Good Thing Now
8. Morning Before Long
9. Yes I Know
10. Past The Breaks
11. Easy On Your Way
12. Just Like The Wind
