Creek Music Announces the Release of a New Live Album: The Steel Wheels, Live at Goose Creek
Online, May 3, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Multimedia music production company Goose Creek Music and Entertainment announces the release of a new live album, "The Steel Wheels, Live at Goose Creek," featuring the nationally touring Americana band from Harrisonburg, Virginia. The recordings are available for sale through Apple iTunes, Amazon.com, cdbaby.com, Emusic, and other online music stores. Music videos of performances from the show release can be viewed at http://www.goosecreekmusic.com.
The Steel Wheels are at the forefront of a new generation's take on traditional music. While their 4-part harmonies and string-band instrumentation draw on the rich musical heritage of Appalachia, their improvisational approach to composing, arranging, and recording brings to mind modern ensembles like The Avett Brothers, Nickel Creek, and even the Grateful Dead.
The four-piece band is based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where lead singer and primary songwriter Trent Wagler has been a scene staple for nearly a decade. Multi-instrumentalist Jay Lapp was touring with several successful Midwest bands when he and Wagler crossed paths in Harrisonburg, Virginia and a musical partnership began. The two joined with upright bassist Brian Dickel and fiddler Eric Brubaker to form The Steel Wheels.
Wagler's voice, which has been compared to that of Darrell Scott and John Fogerty, is accentuated by smooth four-part harmonies with the other band members. Brubaker's fiddle, both lively and evocative, suits the band exactly, and Dickel's upright bass grounds the outfit. Jay Lapp's signature mandolin style is remarkable and unmistakable.
The Steel Wheels Goose Creek Live recording session was captured in front of a live audience at the Franklin Park Performing Arts Center, a 19th-century barn that has been converted to a modern performance space in Western Loudoun County, Virginia. The intimate theatre, which seats 250, has acoustic properties particularly well-suited to recording small ensembles, and Goose Creek Music used its proprietary Recording, Mixing, and Mastering processes to recreate the sense of space and movement from the live show.
Stuart Martin, managing partner and technical director for Goose Creek Music and owner of Stonebridge Studios said, "The band performed with great dynamics and tight ensemble play that night. It's unusual for a band to play so flawlessly that every song can be published with a single take. When we started looking for things to cut, we couldn't find a single song we could live without, so we put the entire concert on the album." Goose Creek Music recorded the session with 4 microphones placed in and around the acoustic space of the performance, and did not edit or overdub any of the music. The recording is a crystal-clear representation of the session, with the ability to hear changes in position as the musicians move within the acoustic space. "Our hope is that you can follow the performance as if you're sitting in the first row," Martin said.
Combining concert events and audio/video capture, Goose Creek Music partners with local venues and Mid-Atlantic artists to create a published collection of live performance recordings by notable songwriters and musicians in Northern Virginia, Washington D.C. and Maryland. Goose Creek Music has recorded over 250 songs as live performances since 2008, and continues to release the best performances from their collections as audio recordings on iTunes and CD releases. Music Videos of Goose Creek Live performances can be viewed at http://www.goosecreekmusic.com. The next Goose Creek Live session features Naked Blue, Todd Wright, an ellen cherry on May 20, 2011 at 8pm at the Cultural Arts Center at Montgomery College, Silver Spring/Takoma Park Campus.
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