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![]() The Steel Wheels (from the album Over the Trees available on Big Ring Records) The sound immediately signals a change in the sonic weather when The Steel Wheels open Over the Treeswith “Rains Come”. The players remain the same as The Steel Wheels subtlety reshape the sound on their recent release, the group admitting that ‘we are a string band from Virginia, but we are evolving with this album, and we are embracing the future’. Starting with the initial percussive breaths of Over the Trees, The Steel Wheels add a wide array of instrumentation, accenting the stories with sound waves lapping against eastern rhythms and thick saxophone blasts. Over the Treesrattles the beat like a chain dragging across “Get to Work” and cradles “Time to Rest” with safe-at-home Folk warmth as The Steel Wheels put an urgency to the tone with ghostly harmonies and the haunted rumble of rhythm echoes in “Something New”. By pushing against the borders of Bluegrass and string band potential, The Steel Wheels weave sonic magic all around Over the Trees. Rolling clouds of sound freefall over the push/pull relationship that lovers live in “I’ll Be Ready” while the beat channels rock’n’roll ancestry for the anthemic inspiration of “Keep On’ and chases the slap of wheels for the groove of “Road Never Ends”. Moods are as much a part ofOver the Treesas music when The Steel Wheels create an edge to match the tension of the character in “Waiting in the Dark”, spark joy with the second line rhythms of “Under”, and let the beauty of their joined voices sing a family farewell as they close the album with the acapella “This Year”. Listen and buy the music of The Steel Wheels from AMAZON https://www.thesteelwheels.com/
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Keith May
2/8/2020 09:56:31 am
The Steel Wheels, one of the best americana bands out there, and they host a fantastic music festival in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. https://www.redwingroots.com/ If they are ever in your area, you should try to see them. You will not regret it!
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