Folk Alley Sessions

The Steel Wheel's genesis dates back to 2004, when lead singer/guitarist/banjo player Trent Wagler, standup bass player Brian Dickel and fiddler Eric Brubaker were college students in Harrisonburg, Virginia, which sits in the Shenandoah Valley, an hour's drive from Charlottesville. As undergraduates, Wagler played bass and Dickel guitar in a punk-leaning alternative band, but over time they developed an interest in acoustic music, as Trent learned flatpicking and began writing songs, while Brian studied guitar making at a school for aspiring luthiers. They began performing casual gigs as a duo, and it wasn't long before Brubaker began playing with them, expanding the nascent group's sound with his fiddle and bass voice, which enriched the harmonies. Once Wagler crossed paths with mandolin player Jay Lapp on the local folk circuit, the lineup was complete" although none of them realized at the time that these four like-minded friends had begun the process of becoming a going concern. After making an album toge