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SteelDrivers adapt to change and continue to thrive

The SteelDrivers (Facebook.com photo)
The SteelDrivers (Facebook.com photo) The SteelDrivers (Facebook.com photo)

If you go

› What: The SteelDrivers› Where: Walker Theatre inside Memorial Auditorium, 399 McCallie Ave.› When: 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1› Admission: $24.50 and $34.50› For more information: 423-757-5580

There’s an old saying that states the “only thing consistent about change is that it changes.”

That’s a concept the SteelDrivers know all too well. Throughout their career – one that encompasses five acclaimed albums and a number of awards and accolades – the band has demonstrated its ability to adapt to change with unwavering persistence.

That’s been the case since the beginning, when fiddler Tammy Rogers, multi-instrumentalist Mike Henderson, bass player Mike Fleming, banjo player Richard Bailey, and singer/guitarist Chris Stapleton first united after a series of songwriting sessions between Henderson and Stapleton. What began as a casual get-together to jam in 2005 became a band that signed with Rounder Records in 2007.

The SteelDrivers released their debut album at the beginning of 2008, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals for “Blue Side of the Mountain.” Two years later, they received two more nominations for “Reckless.”