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The Steel Wheels at West Theatre. Photos by Jill Fisher.

Mondays are nearly always good evenings for local music, given the regular appearance of Saltydog at Bent Paddle Brewing. But this past Monday, Feb. 26, I had to miss that gig since The Steel Wheels were rolling into town for a concert at West Theatre.

A photo of this five-man band – showing them with banjo, fiddle and standup bass – made me think I was in for an evening of good ol’ bluegrass, maybe even some “fast grass.” (Typically I don’t listen to performers online before an upcoming performance, preferring to see them first in the flesh.) This concert reminded me that first impressions can be deceiving.  

The Steel Wheels band is based in Harrisonburg, Virginia; after admitting they were surprised that Duluth is on Lake Superior, the audience failed at knowing anything about Harrisonburg!

The Steel Wheels are: Trent Wagler (lead vocals, banjo, guitar), Jay Lapp (mandolin, guitar, electric guitar, vocals), Eric Brubaker (fiddle, triangle, vocals), Jeremy Darrow (bass, vocals) and Kevin Joaquin Garcia (drums, percussion, keyboards).

The genres attributed to them include the overarching category of Americana, plus folk, bluegrass and rock. Based on this concert, I’m not sure about the rock label. One could add roots, country, and fusion to the descriptors. I guess I’d call it “soul grass.”  

The band is on an extended album-release tour for Sideways and I’d say it was lucky the West got this band for a Monday night gig, sandwiched between Milwaukee and Minneapolis. The concert started out with what I thought was a pretty laid-back country number, “Easy On Your Way.” Sort of John Denverish; good solid country, folk music. It didn’t blow my socks off but it did alert me to lead singer Trent’s God-given talent. That man has the kind of sweet voice you can listen to forever. He plays the banjo like a guitar, allowing it to be in the background as much as up front on any given song.  

The remaining band members aren’t half bad either. Throughout, Brubaker’s fiddling was masterful, hot at times but mostly subtle and nuanced, providing soulful interludes along with spot-on confident solos. He also played a mean triangle when his fiddle was set aside. Lapp on mandolin brought a folky, rootsy flavor without being prominent on every single song, thereby ensuring diversity in sound. Bassman Darrow synthesized the rhythmic and melodic elements of each song, besides adding some funk into the mix.

The Steel Wheels sing.

What really puts this group of musicians over the top is their vocals. Trent and these three backup vocalists with their complementary vocal ranges gave beauty and depth to the band’s performance.  

This band is not your typical bluegrass band. My take is that the drums make the difference. Garcia deserves accolades in this regard. Throughout the concert he created varied rhythms using a range of percussion instruments and evoked musical influences far beyond bluegrass. “Something New“ and “Rains Come” from their 2019 Over The Trees album are examples with exotic polyrhythms. His steady beats gave the ballads needed backbone to keep them from being overly sentimental. He played a melodica (a wind/reed instrument with a small keyboard) that introduced a wonderfully strange undertone to at least one number.  

Three of the songs performed during their first set were from Sideways (released Feb. 9), including the title track. One of the livelier and more bluegrassy numbers was “Broken Mandolin,” which had folks up and dancing. As the concert went on the energy rose and the music became increasingly entrancing. The last number before the break was a gospel piece sung acapella, showcasing the vocalists’ pitch perfect four-part harmony and Brubaker’s deep baritone.  

The instrumental “Dissidents” from their new album began the band’s second set, smoothly morphing into an exciting performance of “Something New” with its middle-eastern vibe. Another earlier tune, “Scrape Me Off the Ceiling” (Wild As We Came Here, 2017) was bluegrass, upbeat but not excessively so. Then they launched into four songs from Sideways: “Hero,” “Wait On You,” “Baby Gone” and “Past The Breaks.” The latter two numbers proved the tremendous range of genres they blend together for a distinctive sound.

“Baby Gone” went funky with great atypical banjo riffs; “Past The Breaks” spun an Oriental mood. “Long Way To Go,” the last song of the set, went blazing into bluegrass and country.   An encore was mandatory; the first of two songs, “Just Like the Wind” with the line “ …don’t want to be anybody else” seemed apt for this original band.

The grand finale was the deal maker: the acapella soul-searing gospel tune “Rain in the Valley” in four-part harmony with the rhythmic accompaniment of a rain stick. By quittin’ time, The Steel Wheels had played two eight-number sets plus two encores and I was sold. I even purchased their Over the Trees CD and have been enjoying it multiple times already. You can be sure I will endeavor to see this group again if ever they return to Minnesota.     

It was a crazy Friday evening, March 1, when the Curmudgeon and I made it over to Superior for a triple treat of music beginning with Boss Mama at Cedar Lounge. She was joined by Jeff Gilbertson on standup bass and Caleb Anderson on keyboards (both play with her in the Holy Hootenanners). We were only able to stay for their first set but got to hear a favorite Boss Mama original (“Slip Away”) and an older one of hers that was new to me, “13th of July.” Jeff took lead vocals on the Pop Staples’ “Somebody Was Watching” and Caleb had his turn with “Stealin’.” So great that it was hard to leave.

But then we were on to VIP Pizza where Cowboy Angel Blue entertained us for three hours with tunes by Dylan (we requested “Times Have Changed”), Neil Young and Rolling Stones as well as some good ol’ surfin’ numbers. And just to round out the night, we moseyed on over to the Main Club to hear Darling Danger. Quite a change of pace, but well worth it to hear some loud rock and roll. Gotta love Susie Q’s rendition of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit!”  

Charlie Parr

The next night, Saturday, March 2, was special too with Charlie Parr’s Little Sun album release concert at Sacred Heart Music Center. As always, Charlie can pack ‘em in – such a great thing for SHMC to have a sold out show and with people of all ages in the audience. It felt special to be there.  

Opening for Charlie was Jon Edwards, who sings and plays a 12-string acoustic guitar (as well as a standard 6-string). Although a young man still in high school Edwards already has an album on CD to his credit, Songs from the Bottom Shelf. He’s also been on the SHMC stage before with the #indianheadband during the Duluth Does Trio benefit back on September 23, 2023. Edwards said it was a special thrill for him to solo in this venue and have the honor of opening for Parr, whom he met when he was age six and has been a key influence in his musical journey.

He began his set with a classic folk tune, “John Henry” and continued playing his 12-string on “Heavier.” An instrumental he composed for his grandparents, “Crow Wing County,” followed. After a couple other numbers he switched to his 6-string acoustic guitar for another original instrumental plus a cover of John Prine’s “Paradise.” He has some growing to do as a new performer. His nice voice and early compositions show much promise. The audience responded warmly to him.  

When Charlie Parr came on after a short break the crowd cheered loud and long to welcome him. Although this concert was billed as an album release gig, Charlie began with “817 Oakland Avenue” ( with the lyric “…spread it around do”) from his 17th album Last of the Better Days Ahead released in 2021.

Starting the concert solo, he followed up with “Stray” from Little Sun which, like many other of his songs, provides close observations of the hardships people face these days. Charlie’s original lyrics are known for his unvarnished social commentaries, with him playing his resonator guitar and wailing as is appropriate to these thoughts.

On the lighter side, “When I’m Dancin’ this is how I Dance” expresses his admiration for the free-spirited among us.  

Being the self-deprecating person he is, he amused the audience between songs with comments about his problematic seeing with bifocals, forgetting lyrics to his own songs and then not being able to read the written lyrics he found. His easy-going manner charms the audience and then he hits us straight on with harsh characterizations, such as in “Cheap Wine” in which a proprietor of a liquor store rails against his customers.  

After several solo numbers Charlie was joined by his “soul brother” Dave Hundreiser, who was ready for whatever key a song called for, with his tackle box full of harmonicas. I’ve seen them together before and the two of them are terrific. And adding salt and vinegar to the mix, percussionist Mikkel Beckmen completed the trio, giving us strong rhythms on his foot pad drum and enthusiastic washboarding. Beckmen has played off and on with Charlie for the past couple of decades (you can view them together on YouTube) and this is when Parr’s music bumps up to a lively danceable sound.  

The title track of the Little Sun album is dedicated to the late Tony “Little Sun” Glover, who was renowned for his harmonica playing in the legendary folk-blues group Koerner Ray & Glover. Charlie gave a touching tribute to his friend from their West Bank days in Minneapolis in the 1980s. Then it was onto a gospel-sounding number “Jubilee” (“Are You Ready for Jubilee to come?”) from his 2007 album of that name and a cover of “St. James Infirmary Blues” that Charlie explained was recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1927 and Cab Calloway the following year.

He finished up this concert with “Lowdown” from his first album Criminals and Sinners (2002), the hilarious “On Stealing a Sailboat” (2020 – check out the official video of this song on YouTube) and a mashup of “Mobile Line” and “Downtown Blues.” Jon Edwards joined Charlie’s trio for a couple encores the titles of which I didn’t catch.

Mikkel Beckmen, Dave Hundreiser and Charlie Parr .

From here Charlie is headed for a gig at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago on March 9. Those lucky Chicagoans!  

Earlier this past week I managed to watch the movie Bob Marley One Love which was worthwhile both for its soundtrack of reggae music and for the social-political context out of which Marley’s music arose. If it’s still playing when you read this, I highly recommend it. (A preview of the Amy Winehouse bio-pic to be released in May looks to be interesting.)  Another music movie recommended to me was The Greatest Night in Pops (1985, on Netflix), which was a great watch too, about the making of the “We Are The World” song to benefit famine relief in Africa. Seeing the top stars of the era (native son Bob Dylan among them!) gathered for that cause was heartwarming and a fascinating inside peek at the 80s music scene.  

Upcoming: Two Harbors Community Radio’s “Cabin Fever Reliever” variety show to benefit station KTWH-LP in Two Harbors is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, March 10, at the Two Harbors High School. John SonofMel will be presiding as Emcee, which should be fun. Performers will be David Huckfelt, The Oshkii Giizhik Singers, Michael Laughing Fox Charette and Edward Ojard. For further enticements, details and tickets go to http://KTWH.org.