Virginia’s The Steel Wheels have been making American roots music for over 14 years, releasing 9 proper albums and several live recordings. They have their own music festival which has featured veteran artists such as Old Crow Medicine Show, Gregory Alan Isakov, Tramped By Turtles, and The Lone Bellow and also snagged  up-and-comers that would one day blow up in the scene, like Sierra Ferrell, Billy Strings, and Colter Wall. They tour relentlessly. And for some reason, they haven’t yet broken out into the mainstream. They are Americana’s best kept secret.

Their latest album Sideways continues the direction The Steel Wheels have been going in over the last several albums which is more rock forward. Many songs feature electric used to good effect and incorporate rock style drumming. They explore anthemic pop hooks without feeling like they’re selling out their roots or their base audience.

In doing so, they aren’t sacrificing traditional musicianship. All members of the band are proficient in their instruments and know how to play in traditional roots style. They’re not a rock band stealing roots style for a quick stomp-clap novelty. The Steel Wheels are the real deal, raised in tradition yet not beholden to it.

Sideways has a triumphantly melancholic tone. They explore relationships, loss, grief, fatherhood, and the mental health crisis in America.

The album was inspired in part by several tragic events in the lives of the band members over the last year. Fiddle player and vocalist Eric Brubaker lost his young daughter to a rare disease. And Trent Wagler’s child faced a mental healthy crisis that was exacerbated by the country’s broken mental health care system.

“Easy on the Way” is a great example of the this. The song sounds victorious. But the message is hardship, as Wagler laments “I don’t have a song to sing” and “Life is hard and it makes no sense.” Many would echo these same sentiments in the world today. The coda brings things full circle when he sings, “Lift your voice when I am gone, if you ever have to sing this song easy on the way.”

Likewise, “Yes I Know” wrestles with the ever changing reality of our lives and the deep desire to be able to freeze a moment in time. And “Sideways” grapples with being out of control but wanting so much to be able to control. The message is both timeless and timely.

Sideways still manages to include more traditional tunes. One of the most moving tracks on the record is the all-instrumental “Dissidents.” The fiddle tells a story of loss and hope in a way that doesn’t need words. It’s truly beautiful piece.  

This record feels like the band stretching their wings and grasping their musical vision in a way that is satisfying to them and pleasing to listeners. If you’ve never heard The Steel Wheels, this is a good place to start. Stream the album HERE. Follow them on Instagram. And catch a show in a city near you.