Shawn Busby has hosted several house concerts in recent years.

A couple of times, he said the performer received a standing ovation.

During a private show by The Steel Wheels three years ago in Seymour, it happened twice.

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“People loved the show in general, but they got one of the best responses that I’ve ever seen,” said Busby, a member of the Crossroads Music Team that focuses on bringing high-quality musicians to Seymour.

At 8 p.m. Friday, the Virginia-based Americana string band will perform upstairs at Rails Craft Brew & Eatery, 114 St. Louis Ave., Seymour.

Tickets are $20 and may be purchased online at facebook.com/pg/musicinseymourin/events or crossroadsacousticfest.com. Busby said there were initially 130 tickets available, but only around 30 remain.

“This is an opportunity to give Seymour the type of music that you might find typically in Indianapolis or Louisville. That for me is the big thing,” Busby said.

“They are a very professional group,” he said. “They’ll tell some stories along the way. It’s a very intimate type of performance. They are kind of a newer generation bluegrass band. They did recently add a drummer, so that’s a little different than you would expect from bluegrass, but it’s very tasteful drumming.”

Trent Wagler is the lead vocalist and also plays guitar and banjo, while Eric Brubaker is on fiddle, Jay Lapp is on mandolin, Brian Dickel is on upright bass and Kevin Garcia is on drums/percussion.

Wagler was born in Columbus and grew up in Beanblossom, so he’s no stranger to the area.

“I started my musical education under the tutelage of my aunt, Lorene, at Helmsburg Elementary School in Brown County, so I’ve been playing in Indiana since the day I was born,” he said.

Wagler, Dickel and Brubaker studied at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Wagler and Dickel were in a punk/alternative band until they were lured toward acoustic music.

Wagler then started crafting songs and learned flatpicking, and Dickel took classes on building guitars. They briefly played as a duo before Brubaker joined on fiddle. Lapp eventually came on board after getting to know the band from the local folk circuit.

“We first started playing some music in 2005, but the band didn’t really start touring until 2010,” Wagler said.

Going the Americana string band route felt “honest and real, less artifice and spectacle,” Wagler said.

“We’ve built on what we know and continue to make music that feels like us,” he said. “We never set out to be any certain kind of band. It just feels like this is the music that we make when we get together and get into it.”

In 2010, after putting out a variety of EPs and LPs, they officially became known as The Steel Wheels, which they claim is a “tip of the hat to steam-powered trains, industrial progress and the buggies of their Mennonite lineage.”

Their latest studio recording, “Wild As We Came Here,” was released in 2016 and incorporates percussion and keyboards for the first time.

“I think it’s nice to be able to pair it down to a very simple folky sound, but I’m also proud of this last record and the way we pushed ourselves to find something new in the studio,” said Wagler, who writes most of their music.

The band averages between 100 and 120 shows per year. They have played in 44 states, four Canadian provinces and a few countries in Europe, Wagler said.

In Indiana, they have played in Seymour, Goshen, Indianapolis, West Lafayette and Brown County.

“I was born a Hoosier, and although I have lived most of my life in Virginia and I draw a lot of inspiration from being in the Shenandoah Valley, I am always happy and hopeful about playing in Indiana,” Wagler said.

As for people attending Friday’s show, he gave some insight of what to expect.

“A short analysis of the Indiana University basketball team and their chances to make the Final Four this year, followed by various musical diversions designed to wow and consternate the audience,” he said.

“The band appears to be a Virginia string band with banjo, fiddle, mandolin, upright bass, and we deliver from that angle, but we also pair it down to a cappella four-part harmony singing and seamlessly transition into a full rock sound with electric guitar and strong percussion/drumming,” he said. “We are mostly interested in bringing songs to people, and we hope the vehicles we bring them in don’t get in the way of the emotive power of each song.”

Wagler said the band is excited to play in Seymour again.

“Hopefully, they can sit back and relax and feel a sense of peace and harmony,” he said of those attending the show. “I also hope there is some spark of inspiration for the audience that motivates them to be a little better at who they are as they leave.”

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What: An Evening with The Steel Wheels, presented by the Crossroads Music Team

When: 8 to 11 p.m. Friday

Where: Upstairs at Rails Craft Brew & Eatery, 114 St. Louis Ave., Seymour

Cost: $20 (tickets may be purchased online at facebook.com/pg/musicinseymourin/events or crossroadsacousticfest.com)

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