It was the day before fall began, but summer was nowhere close to saying goodbye. When I pulled into Wilkesboro, NC, it was late morning, and temperatures were already in the upper 70s. A full day of music lay ahead, and I would emcee bands from the kickoff of the Carolina In The Fall Music & Food Festival to early evening, when I would switch gears and get this episode started with an interview of Trent Wagler and Brian Dickel of The Steel Wheels.

In this podcast episode, you will get to hear Brian, Trent and several others familiar with the band talk about bringing new life to songs close to a century old, the push and pull of wanting to make music but also wanting to address the massive divides between us and help build community, how some Southern stereotypes drive them nuts, how drums and percussion have found their way into their sound and have helped build upon rather than remove their foundations, what podcasts they listen to on their way to playing some 120 shows each year, as well as a lot of their live set from the festival. There is a lot to the music and the lives of The Steel Wheels members that I did not know before diving into this episode, and I bet there is a lot that you will discover here, too.

Thanks for being here, and thanks to both the Osiris Podcast Network and to Bluegrass Planet Radio for carrying the show. We encourage you to spread the word about this podcast and the artists we spotlight, and consider helping us by subscribing and commenting on our show, and by becoming a patron. You can find out more here on our Patreon site -- and you can keep up with us on our Facebook page, on twitter and Instagram. Plus, our podcasts are available on practically every platform there is.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it.