STEEL WOOL is Acoustic Rock Reborn upbeat and happily serious Inspired by CSN, the Eagles, and Paul Simon, these 4 players breathe fresh life into deep grooves cut by time and experience, bringing Acoustic Rock into the 21st century. STEEL WOOL is a harmony loving, acoustic rock band spinning on the edges of funk, rock, folk and traditional Zimbabwean mbira music. Family friendly, too Featuring Tim Mueller as songwriter, lead vocalist and guitar player; TR Kelley on bass and vocals, Nel Applegate on mbira, djembe, percussion and vocals, and Randy Hamme on drums, this Eugene, Oregon band moves the heart and soul with stories of truth and joy and love and loss, and catches fire with three part harmonies, the haunting mbira, inventive bass lines, danceable grooves and world beat percussion. Tim Mueller has been performing and writing music since 1965. A featured acoustic act during the Vietnam protest era, he performed at many venues in the Midwest before relocating to New York where he opened for major acts including the Byrds, Sugarloaf and Ted Nugent. His guitar style is reminiscent of Steven Stills, with songs drawing inspiration from many genres including the Blues, World Beat, Folk–Rock and Rock. After transplanting to Oregon 25+ years ago, Tim has performed at many local clubs and events in Central Oregon and has done much volunteer work with the Autism community as a Founder and board member of KindTree.org. Tim writes heart tugging songs of truth and joy and love and loss, and delivers them with a voice resonating with the power and wisdom of a life's journey and the sonic feel and warmth of rich, dark, melted chocolate. His approach to the guitar incorporates driving rhythm and out-of-the-box chord voicing producing a solid rhythm guitar groove for the rest of the band to build upon. TR Kelley's knowledge of stage, music, theory, and bass guitar spans 40 years. She has played with many popular Northwest acts including ‘Babes with Axes’, ‘The Raventones’, and the Laura Kemp Band. TR's bright hard-driving presence on both fretted and fretless basses is reminiscent of Jaco Pastorius' work with Joni Mitchell. TR brings a dynamic and soulful approach to her harmony vocals, and an uncanny ability to meld her voice to bring the correct feel, timbre and tone needed to convey the message of the lyric on an almost instinctual level. TR’s confident and empowering stage presence captivates, entertains, and bring inspiration to each audience she encounters. Nel Applegate is a regular on the Eugene music scene performing in the marimba band “Jenaguru” and the mbira ensemble “Mudzidzi Mbira”. Nel is a strong, solid and capable harmony singer who’s warm amber voice rounds out STEEL WOOL’s powerful vocal triad. Nel has studied with many Zimbabwean master musicians over the past decades and uses various percussion instruments, djembe and mbira to bring a world beat edge to their sound. Randy Hamme grew up loving music. Randy's background as multi-instrumentalist, professional sound engineer, song writer and his love of arrangement brought on by the music of the "big band" and "prog rock" era bring depth to his drum and percussion playing role in STEEL WOOL. Randy and TR, the "RTR Rhythm Section" have performed together for many years as the popular duo "The Raventones" and have developed the uncanny tightness, feel, and instinct of a veteran rhythm section. Randy brings a snap and vibrancy to his playing and to the stage with his 60's era sparkle red drum set. From rich harmony on "Just Maybe" to world beat rhythm on “Rainbow” to tender love songs like “All the Love in the World” and "You're My Flower" to activist anthems like “Love is the Power” this music will get you off the couch!