The Steel Wheels roll back into Bend

Published 12:45 pm Thursday, November 21, 2019

Many fans over the years have asked Trent Wagler, frontman for Virginia string band The Steel Wheels, his favorite venue to play at in the U.S.

Of course, when you’ve been touring for close to 15 years with the same band (counting the group’s early days before 2010 as Trent Wagler and The Steel Wheels), the places and the clubs start to blur together.

“Part of the reason (my mind) goes blank is because you’re like, well jeez, let me try to take stock of every place I’ve played over the last whatever, 10, 15 years,” Wagler said from a recent tour stop in Colorado.

But recently, he had an answer to the question.

“One of the first places that popped in my mind was Volcanic Theatre for whatever reason,” he said. “I think the combination of funky decor and cool vibe, plus a nice surrounding in a town you want to be in, and a good, receptive crowd that was up for listening and maybe dancing a bit. To me, I’m really excited to get back and make sure that I was right the first time.”

The Steel Wheels’ return to Volcanic Theatre Pub on Thursday will mark its third year in a row performing in Bend and second in a row at Volcanic (the band played the Domino Room in October 2017).

Guitarist/banjoist Wagler said he and the rest of the band — guitarist/mandolinist Jay Lapp, bassist Brian Dickel, fiddler Eric Brubaker and newest addition Kevin Garcia on percussion and keyboards — are looking forward to returning to the West Coast in general. This area of the country seems more in-tune with the band’s particular brand of genre-busting newgrass and Americana, whereas bluegrass purists will often ding the group’s experimentation back home in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Wagler said.

“I always find the West Coast to just be really open in many ways — I mean, it sort of has that reputation in general,” he said. “… I’ve always really appreciated the kind of no-boundaries take on acoustic and the derived music that comes from acoustic music. Where I feel like sometimes that can be a real problem when it comes to the true-blue — it happens in every genre, but I think bluegrass particularly can be kind of stodgy in some cases — and I’ve never felt that as much in the West, where it just feels like they are taking you in as a band.”

The band’s seventh full-length album, “Over the Trees,” goes even further afield from the acoustic roots of earlier releases such as 2010’s debut album “Red Wing” or 2013’s “No More Rain.” Released in July, the record reunites the group with Maine-based producer Sam Kassirer, who helped open up the sound on 2017’s predecessor, “Wild as We Came Here.”

“It may be hard to get us out of that studio, I think,” Wagler said. “It was just such a great experience collaborating with him the first time, and this time, we were able to build on the comfort that we built in the first record (we made together) and maybe stretch ourselves even a little bit more. I know Sam himself talked about wanting to push some things a little bit more.”

This adventurousness permeates the album’s 11 tracks, with the band folding elements of country, rock, African and Indian music and more into its formula. The songs “Rains Come” and “Something New” stand out in this regard thanks to Garcia’s almost tribal drumming, which locks in with Wagler’s banjo lines to create a loping, world-music feel. “Over the Trees” marked Garcia’s first recording with the band after he stepped in to tour behind “Wild as We Came Here.”

“I feel like we still hinted at a number of things earlier in other albums, whether it be with funkier rhythms or playing around with a rock ’n’ roll or bluesy vibe,” Wagler said. “And now to have percussion to be able to fully flesh out some of those ideas has really made for a fun final product in the new album. But also for us to be able to then explore that onstage and still play the old stuff and still really pare it down in some ways at times, but just be able to build a show where you have all of those tools is really fun on tour.”

“Rains Come” also finds main songwriter Wagler in rare political form — although in his mind, the issue isn’t particularly political to him. The song uses a Noah’s Ark metaphor to deliver a warning about climate change.

“Yes, it’s been made into a political issue by certain folks who want to put their head in the sand and claim that it’s not happening,” Wagler said. “But the reality is that we really have some serious issues that currently I feel like we’re overall distracting ourselves from in many ways, but also, we’re losing ground on. I think for me, that is something I keep coming back to. If you’re writing songs right now, I feel like you’re gonna have to at least wrestle with that a little bit.”

Press materials describe the album as “a collection of songs about surviving tragedy,” a concept that hit close to home for Brubaker in particular. Following recording sessions, his 10-year-old daughter, Norah, died of a “sudden illness,” according to the news release.

“It’s not an easy time for any of us, but definitely, especially for Eric and his family, and so that’s always gonna be a part of this season; it’s gonna be a part of this record,” Wagler said. “We did dedicate the album to the memory of Norah. … It’s a reminder that … as we’re passing through each other’s experiences, we don’t know what each of us have just come from. We don’t know the bombshell that just fell in someone’s lap before they come to a show of ours; we don’t know what the checkout person at the grocery store is going through at home. So I think there’s an element that just kind of shakes you, and in its best moments, maybe it enables you to be a little more empathetic with other people.”

What: The Steel Wheels

When: 8 p.m. Thursday, doors open at 7 p.m.

Where: Volcanic Theatre Pub, 70 SW Century Drive, Bend

Cost: $15 plus fees in advance

Contact: volcanictheatre.com, 1988entertainment.com or 541-323-1881

GO! listen to The Steel Wheels’ latest album, “Over the Trees”