If it hadn’t been for love: The SteelDrivers to play MerleFest
The SteelDrivers will play Merlefest April 24. File photo
Standing on the precipice of their 20th anniversary, The SteelDrivers aren’t looking over their shoulders at the road to the here and now. Quite the contrary, where the Americana/bluegrass icons are aiming headlong towards the unknowns of tomorrow. And with one simple, yet powerful, thought permeating throughout — what’s next?
“Very early in the game, we were determined to do our own original music. And we stood by it, where now we’re reaping those rewards,” said fiddler Tammy Rogers. “The sound has been really unique, because nobody’s expected to play like somebody else — everybody has their own individual voice.”
Cultivating that deep sense of self — and of the independent, freewheelin’ spirit residing at the core of The SteelDrivers since their inception — the band’s latest album, “Outrun,” is an ode to the trials and tribulations of life itself, where certain undeniable truths about love, lore and legacy come to pass as the clock keeps ticking.
“And you can’t outrun a broken heart that gives into a gun,” the ensemble howls and rumbles through the title track. “And you can’t outrun the Grim Reaper once the deed is done.”
“Outrun” not only underlines the immense talent and storied prestige within the Grammy-winning group, it also celebrates The SteelDrivers latest partnership with famed Memphis, Tennessee, label Sun Records.
“We like to think of albums as having their own space, slant, and story,” Rogers said. “And ‘Outrun’ really encapsulated the whole album. I think the secret of why we’ve been able to keep going is not getting too far ahead of ourselves — aiming to be content in a moment, and to let it unfold, to invest and enjoy it.”
Related Items
This must be the place: ‘And that same black line, that was drawn on you, was drawn on me’
Americana, folk at Mountain Layers
Get ready to celebrate
This must be the place: ‘I’m young in eternity, I’m old in my father’s face’
Reflecting on the last two decades at the helm of The SteelDrivers, bassist Mike Fleming can’t help but harbor genuine gratitude and appreciation for his longtime bandmates and also those who have entered their tightly-knit musical circle in recent years.
“It’s a partnership — of people, and of collaboration,” Fleming said. “That element of creativity and having new material, it keeps you on your toes. We have to have that spark, that something which drives us forward.”
Beyond the evolving musical nature of The SteelDrivers, this seamless ebb and flow between intricate bluegrass and the hardscrabble blues, another key element of “Outrun” is this underlying tribute to late founding member Mike Henderson. And though Henderson passed away in 2023, his memory and presence is still profoundly felt by the group, onstage and in the studio.
“I lovingly refer to Mike as the architect of the band,” Rogers said. “Because he’s the one in the beginning that called us all together. Everybody respected everybody else, and that’s what created our sound and what makes it so unique.”
Within the tracks featured on “Outrun,” The SteelDrivers cut two of Henderson’s numbers, including “Painted and Poison,” which the group would play live but never recorded and “Prisoner’s Tears,” a selection Henderson recorded on one of his country records.
“Mike’s greatest influences were blues and bluegrass,” Rogers said. “And he intentionally put people together that he knew would understand those influences. He allowed us to just play how we played — that’s always been the way we’ve approached it.”
With the 20th anniversary celebration underway for The SteelDrivers, the bandmates are each taking inventory of where it all began, where it stands at this juncture and where it may go from here.
“It’s not about any one thing,” Rogers noted. “It’s about the whole band. Everybody’s important. And, at this point in the game, the songs have taken on a life of their own, where [the audience] is singing every song — there’s nothing more gratifying than that.”
“Our crowd wants to hear songs from every album, and we try to cram in as many as we can into a 90-minute set,” Fleming added. “But, we also want to give’em new stuff to hear that’ll hopefully become one of their new favorite songs.”
Memories of The SteelDrivers early days at Nashville’s famed Station Inn, onward to big stages underneath bright lights from coast-to-coast and beyond — it’s all one whirlwind trajectory, experienced together and in real time.
“What’s kept me going all these years is the fact that we’re still pushing, still exploring musically,” Rogers said. “Different sounds. Different grooves. Different songs. We’ve got incredible material from all of our albums to pull from during our [live] set.”
“We don’t want to be a cover band of ourselves,” Fleming added. “If there’s no creativity and new material going into it, then it becomes laborious. And we’re fortunate that we do this because we like and we want to do it.”
Now with “Outrun” hitting the ground running, The SteelDrivers are gearing up to hit the road and do what they do best — and have done at the highest of levels for years and years — which is hop up in front of a microphone and radiate a true tone of melodic beauty and artistic integrity for all to hear within earshot.
“It’s being onstage with these incredibly talented people and playing to crowds who love to see you and hear you,” Fleming said. “I’m just a lucky person to have that in my life at this time.”
“We’ve done all this work, and we’ve had all of these amazing things happen through the years,” Rogers added. “And, truly now, when we step onstage, more than any other feeling, it’s joy and gratitude.”
Want to go?
A beloved Western North Carolina musical tradition, the 37th annual MerleFest gathering will be held April 24-27 on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro.
Leftover Salmon. File photo
Headliners include Bonnie Raitt, The Avett Brothers, Watchhouse, The SteelDrivers, Leftover Salmon, Sam Bush, Asleep At The Wheel, Peter Rowan, The Dead South, Wyatt Flores, Stephen Wilson Jr., I’m With Her, The War & Treaty, The Lil Smokies, Tony Trischka, Brent Cobb, Donna The Buffalo and many more.
For more information, a full schedule of artists and/or to purchase tickets, visit merlefest.org.
