For Trent Wagler ’02, lead singer and songwriter for the folk-rock band The Steel Wheels, music is a powerful way to bring people together.

“Anybody who’s been around music has had that experience,” he said. “Go to a music festival in some country far away, where you don’t speak the language, and listen.”

“The words don’t matter so much anymore. You’re not concerned about whether or not they’re on your side of the political aisle or on the team you root for. Instead, it’s just a rhythm we can all move to together.”

For more than 20 years, Wagler has toured with , performing about 100 shows each year across the United States, Canada, and Europe. During that time, the band has released more than a dozen studio albums, founded the annual , and earned several Independent Music Awards.

The banjo- and guitar-strumming frontman, who earned degrees in theater and peace, justice, and conflict studies (now peacebuilding and development), credits his 91´óÉń education with inspiring him to create music that invites people in, offers fresh perspectives, and leaves room for listeners to find their own meaning.

“Together, we create something special in a given night, on a weekend, and hopefully, over time,” he said.

That commitment to building community through music has earned Wagler 91´óÉń’s 2026 Alum of the Year Award. He shares the honor with fellow alumnus and Steel Wheels bandmate Eric Brubaker ’01.

“Being recognized for the work that Eric and I are doing, in bringing music that we believe in to people, it means a lot that people have noticed,” Wagler said.

At 91´óÉń, Wagler sang with the Chamber Singers and participated in the Washington Study-Service Year (now the 91´óÉń Washington Semester). For his intercultural experience, he spent a year in Gaza teaching English and guitar lessons in a refugee camp.

“I got to know quite a few really amazing young Muslim Palestinians who were primarily my peers as I lived over there,” he said.

That experience continues to shape his approach to songwriting and storytelling.

“These are people who love to play games, sing songs, enjoy the taste of fresh fruit, and joke, laugh and cry together,” he said. “To me, our job is to remember, even when it’s difficult or unpopular, that the basic human impulses, needs, desires, and joys are universal.”

Long before that formative year in Gaza, Wagler grew up in rural Indiana and later graduated from a small high school in south-central Kansas. The son of a Mennonite pastor, he remembers singing harmonies in church from an early age.

His parents, Howard ’71 and Cathryn ’71, met at 91´óÉń, but Wagler said it was a campus visit and conversation with Professor Emeritus Dr. Kenneth J. Nafziger, longtime director of the Chamber Singers, that convinced him to enroll.

“That one visit to campus made all the difference,” Wagler said. “There were a lot of little steps that brought me here. They may not be the reasons I value 91´óÉń most today, but I’m very grateful I ended up here.”

When he’s not touring, Wagler builds community through music in the Shenandoah Valley. He teaches at , a four-day strings camp for youth and adults held at 91´óÉń, hosts and performs at Red Wing Roots Music Festival, serves on the board of the nonprofit , and has taught in 91´óÉń’s music department since 2002.

He said he’s passionate about helping musicians of all ages grow and creating more opportunities for people to make music together.

“I think that makes a better community and a better world,” he said.

The Steel Wheels will perform a live show on campus at the annual Royal City Celebration from 4-6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, during Homecoming 2026.

Wagler will share his story at 91´óÉń TenTalks, held on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 2 p.m. in Martin Chapel, also during Homecoming. For a full schedule of Homecoming events and activities, visit emu.edu/homecoming.

Eric Brubaker ’01, fiddler and founding member of the folk-rock band The Steel Wheels, jokes that he owes his touring career to 91´óÉń.

The social work major performed in the 91´óÉń Orchestra and choir and toured Cuba with the Chamber Singers. Music had always been an important part of his life, but he never imagined it would become his profession.

When he and four other students formed a bluegrass band called Reuben’s Potted Ferns during his junior year, 91´óÉń’s Admissions Office sent the group on a 10-day recruiting tour during the spring of 2000. The band played 16 shows, primarily at Mennonite schools and churches throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio.

“So, I blame 91´óÉń for starting off my touring career,” Brubaker said with a laugh.

After graduating, he quickly realized that a career in social work was not for him. He returned to music, joining fellow 91´óÉń alumni Trent Wagler ’02 and Brian Dickel ’98 and Goshen College graduate Jay Lapp to form what would become .

More than two decades, two additional band members, and over a dozen studio albums later, Brubaker and his bandmates have carved out a successful career as musicians.

“I know that’s a hard thing to do, and 91´óÉń gave me a great starting place for that,” Brubaker said. “I was allowed to find myself here. I didn’t know what I wanted to do or who I wanted to be, and here I was able to study different things but also continue to play music.”

He said his time in the Chamber Singers under Professor Emeritus Dr. Kenneth J. Nafziger taught him the importance of listening to the people he performs with.

“You can’t have a band that lasts for 20 years without truly listening to each other: on stage, off stage, musically, and relationally,” he said.

Beyond performing, Brubaker uses music to bring people together and build community. He is a co-founder of the , hosted annually by the band in nearby Mount Solon, Virginia, which has featured artists including Old Crow Medicine Show, Lucinda Williams, and Steve Earle.

He also hosts , a four-day music camp at 91´óÉń that teaches roughly 140 students ages 5 to 19—adults joined the program for the first time this year—to play string instruments. Participants perform on stage with The Steel Wheels during the music festival.

“Music creates a moment where everyone is focusing on the same thing,” he said. “It’s not politics. It’s not religion. It’s just a gathering of humanity that wants to celebrate something beautiful.”

Brubaker’s commitment to connecting communities through music has earned him 91´óÉń’s 2026 Alum of the Year Award. The award recognizes alumni for significant achievements in their profession, community, or church and serves to inspire others to lead lives of service and vocational excellence.

“I’m honored,” he said. “There are so many people who have done amazing work, and so many people working hard behind the scenes who never receive acclaim.”

The community Brubaker has spent years helping build became especially meaningful in 2019, when he and his wife lost their young daughter, Norah, to a sudden illness.

“We were surrounded not only by our artistic community, the people who loved the band and the music we made, but also by the community surrounding 91´óÉń and the larger Mennonite community,” he said. “They were incredibly supportive.”

Today, Brubaker and his wife, Peggy ’00, are continuing their commitment to making music accessible. They recently formed the nonprofit Red Wing Academy Foundation, which provides scholarships for students to attend the camp.

“It’s been amazing to connect with people who want to help pass music on to a younger generation,” he said.

The Steel Wheels will perform a live show on campus at the annual Royal City Celebration from 4-6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, during Homecoming 2026.

Brubaker will share his story at 91´óÉń TenTalks, held on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 2 p.m. in Martin Chapel, also during Homecoming. For a full schedule of Homecoming events and activities, visit emu.edu/homecoming.