The Steel Wheels with Frances Luke Accord at King Arts Complex, Columbus, Ohio, Dec. 9, 2017
The Steel Wheels rolled out a drum solo early in their Dec. 9 set inside Columbusâ King Arts Complex.
This would hardly be noteworthy, except for the fact that the Steel Wheels are ostensibly a bluegrass band, and bluegrass bands rarely have percussionists and basically never do drum solos. Quirkier still, the groupâs new drummer, Kevin Garcia, doubles on keyboards - because every bluegrass band needs a quality keyboardist for pickinâ, grinninâ and snythesizinâ.
This fondness for the non traditional is what makes the Wheels - the core quartet of singer/songwriter Trent Wagler (guitar, banjo), guitarist/mandolinist Jay Lapp, bassist Brian Dickel and fiddler Eric Brubaker - so appealing. Lapp plays a resonator without a slide, fashioning leads that sound as if theyâre coming from a Stratocaster as a result, and bangs his head and makes rock-star poses with a tiny mandolin in his hands. Dickel, meanwhile, occasionally sets down his standup bass in favor of a four-string electric instrument.
The show marked the Virginia-based quintetâs second visit - and fourth overall - to Columbusâ Six String concert series since early 2016 and far surpassed their most-recent performance. Whether this was due to Garciaâs presence, an infusion of new material or the band simply having a really good night is unknown. And it doesnât really matter, because the Steel Wheels gave music lovers an early Christmas present made of memories.
The quintetâs exuberant, 90-minute show featured a significant swath of 2017âs Wild as Where We Came, a record that found the Steel Wheels further expanding their musical universe. Highlights included âScrape Me off the Ceilingâ and âTake Me to the Ending,â which feature Waglerâs clever wordplay and the bandâs uproarious arrangements. On the flip side, the tender âTill No One is Freeâ was a melancholy meditation on societal strife that employed brief snippets of silence as part of the songâs structure.
But for all their non-traditional vibe, the Steel Wheels also roll old-school.
Brubaker shone on his instrumental âMountain Quake,â which Wagler aptly described as sounding âancient.â And when the band abandoned their instruments and gathered around a single mic for a cappella gems such as âRain in the Valley,â the effect was stupefying; these were the moments that earned the band the handful of standing ovations it received.
Similarly, âRed Wing,â based on a traditional melody Wagler learned from his Amish grandfather and added words to, caused the full house to fall silent - spellbound applause didnât ring out until the last note had faded completely away.
Band members spent the show interacting with one another, each stepping to the fore when it was his turn to take a solo, sometimes facing off and grimacing with rock ânâ roll attitude in a decidedly non-rock ânâ roll setting. Despite the addition of Garcia - a wise choice as his work with mallets, brushes and hand-held percussion gives the group a fuller sound - Wagler still plays percussion with his boots, whether bashing his heels on the stage or employing stomp boxes that filled out the sound with pops and bashes.
All of which is to say the Steel Wheels are a band bluegrass fans and non-fans alike can likely get onboard with.
If Crosby and Nash and Simon & Garfunkel had a kid, it would likely come out sounding like Frances Luke Accord, a folk duo with a name that sounds like a solo artist and a style that sounds like the second coming of the Milk Carton Kids. Their low-key, 30-minute warm-up set showed a band thatâs strong on harmonies and instrumental interplay but thatâs still finding its way in the songwriting department.
Grade card: The Steel Wheels with Frances Luke Accord at King Arts Complex - 12/9/17 - A-
