Folk Alliance Band of the Day: The Steel Wheels

The Steel Wheels. // photo courtesy the artist

The Folk Alliance International Conference, presented by Folk Alliance International, has its 2024 iteration this February 21-25 at the Westin Crown Center Hotel. With well over 100 artists performing over the course of five days, “crossing a diverse array of genres including Appalachian, Americana, Blues, Bluegrass, Celtic, Cajun, Global Roots, Hip-Hop, Old-Time, Singer-Songwriter, Spoken Word, Traditional, Zydeco, and various fusions,” it can be intimidating to figure out where to start.

We’ve selected a few artists for whom we think you should make time to see, and we’ll be featuring one a day leading up until the conference kicks off on Wednesday, February 21.

Back at Folk Alliance 2017, Virginia roots band the Steel Wheels played a private show in the upstairs Rickenbacker Room at Tom’s Town Distilling Co., performing their upcoming album, Wild as We Came Here, in its entirety. Their full-band set in such an interesting location made for a fantastic introduction to this dynamic collection of players. It’s been a minute since the Steel Wheels have come through, making their FAI 2024 performances in support of the just-released Sideways can’t miss prospects.

“The Steel Wheels have long been at home in the creative space between tradition and innovation, informed by the familiar sounds of the Virginia mountains where the band formed, but always moving forward with insightful lyrics and evolving sounds. Their newest album Sideways, produced by Sam Kassirer, is out now.”

The Steel Wheels play Thursday, February 22, at 9:00pm in Century C.

New this year to the conference is that the public can get tickets to the official showcases. You don’t have to register for the conference to go for just one night. Individual evening tickets available here.

You can find out more information on the 2023 Folk Alliance International Conference at Folk Alliance International’s website.