Going against the grain here- I’m highlighting a band that isn’t from San Diego and isn’t headlining this show. Whoops. Alas, the Steelwells’ sound has crawled into my heart and made itself a cozy little corner and I want to share that with anyone who will listen. I gushed about the band in a previous post after devouring their EP, Shallow On The Draft. Since then I’ve been impatiently waiting for new tunes and a chance to see the guys live. Recently, I got both.
Chatting with singer Joey Winter before their set at Soda Bar a couple weeks ago, I found out they’d be playing all new songs that night. For a moment I was wistful thinking of the tunes I’d grown to love off the EP but the show did anything but disappoint. My partner in crime that evening had made a comment that she knows “in the first 8 seconds” if she likes a band- I think The Steelwells won over an entire crowd in half that. Each song was on point, highlighted by enthusiasm from each of the guys- particularly Winter who looked at home as frontman and keyboardist Billy Kim who played with precision and passion.
The set came across as finely tuned and highly-impressive for a collection of new work. The Steelwells’ music is catchy- blending subtle folk influences and verging on pop at times. For the lyrically-driven fan, Winter’s words delivered with a palpable sincerity are sure to pull you into the Steelwell atmosphere. The vocals are powerful with a tender vibration at times with all the various pieces of the band coming together as a cohesive sound all from the first song to the last note.
Pretty please, come check them out for yourself this Wednesday at The Casbah- along with some of San Diego’s finest rockers: Blackout Party, Deadly Birds, and Crash and The Burn. For a sample of The Steelwells check out the teaser video below and keep up with the guys on their website and Facebook.
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