"Spanish Steel" by Mike Perlowin----you gotta hear

[Charles Tilley]

Everyone knows that I am from Texas and have associated steel guitar and western swing as one in the same. Classic country just isn't classic country without a steel guitar. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with that because I once thought that that was what steel guitar was all about.

Well, enter Mike Perlowin and his new CD "Spanish Steel". Who would have ever thought that steel guitar belongs in spanish music? Not me until now.
He makes us know that steel guitar has no limits. It takes some getting used to but his new CD is a great production of talent very few folks have.Taking some 2 to 3 years to complete, I think it opens a whole new world that most of us will not attempt to follow.
Who in the world in TEXAS would drive down the street with Spanish Steel playing rather than Bob Wills? I for one will and not feel one bit bad.

Thanks Mike for the great project that reveals to all who listen a new world that very few players will ever enter-----but it is a real world. Just be ready for it when you buy his new CD. I just wish I had his permission to put a sniffit here for all to hear.

That in my 2 cents worth and I am proud to be able to say it.

[Mike Perlowin]

I just wish I had his permission to put a sniffit here for all to hear.

Thanks Charles. It's gratifying to know that people like the CD despite it's being totally unlike any kind of traditional steel guitar music.

You absolutely have my permission to post a link to the selection from it that you put on your excellent web site. In fact, I wish you would.

This is SO different, even from my previous work, that I think it would be a good idea for everybody to have a chance to hear some of it.

I'll be posting some links to some MP3s myself after I get them set up.

[Rick Hulett]

Can't wait to hear it

[Ken Lang]

Mike. Ditto what Rick said. I think I have most of your CD's and when it's ready I want this one as well.

[Jody Sanders]

Once again, Mike has opened up new territory for the steel guitar. Another great project. Thanks Mike. Jody.

[Mike Perlowin]

Ken (and everybody else) the CD is available from me right now.The price is $17.00 ($14.75 for the CD and $2.25 for mailing expenses.)

b0b will be adding it to hos catalog shortly, and Scotty will be selling them after the convention. Sometime in the fall, it will be available at Amazon.com and CD baby as well as several other retail outlets.

[Charles Tilley]

I have one of his selections on my steel guitar player's web site located at www.etsga.org/steelguitarplayers.htm

Go give a listen

[Rick Hulett]

Mike,

I'll put a check in the mail today. How many individual tracks did that tune on Charlie's site take to record?

Rick

[Mike Perlowin]

How many individual tracks did that tune on Charlie's site take to record?

I don't remember Ric, but the piece called "Capriccio Espagnol" builds in intensity through the last half, and last minute or 2 required 109 tracks to complete.

Recording the parts was relatively easy. The hard part was the editing and mixing. I spent more time doing that than I did laying down the tracks.

Speaking of which, I want to thank and acknowledge our fellow forumite Mike Brebes who taught me how to use the software (NUENDO) that we both use. Many is the time I called him in a panic because I had screwed something up and needed his help to undo my mistakes. Mike didn't actually play on this CD, but his contribution to it is immeasurable. It might not even exist had it not been for all his help.

Mike also authored the Curly Chalker DVD and the Reece Anderson reissue CDs. In both cases I financed and supervised the productions, but he did all the work.

I consider him to be my personal Godsend, and I can never repay him for all that he has done to help me with these various projects.

[Roy Ayres]

I have a copy of Mike's Spanish Steel, and just finished listening to it all the way through. I would not have believed a steel guitar could have created such an authentic sound on musical works written primarily for the Spanish guitar. Every steel guitarist should have a copy, even if classical and Spanish music is not your bag. It's worth the price just to have around to play for the next person who calls our beloved instrument "hillbilly."

In my mind, it is highly doubtful that any other steel guitarist will come along who has the natural talent, knowledge of music and old-fashioned tenacity and patience to put together such an amazing album.

My copy will go on the same shelf with my vinyls of Andres Segovia and John Williams.

[Rick Hulett]

I don't remember Ric, but the piece called "Capriccio Espagnol" builds in intensity through the last half, and last minute or 2 required 109 tracks to complete.

Mike, you are one truly obsessed individual. I love it.

[Billy Wilson]

As fun as a barrel of monkies!!

[Alan Brookes]

Can't wait to hear it

You won't be disappointed. It's an excellent piece of work. I've played it five times so far, and I hear more in it each time.

[Joe Goldmark]

Mike is one obsessed hombre. The detail that went into this CD is incredible. He's fit whole symphonic scores into many of the pieces. You'll hear many Spanish melodies that you recognize, but never heard on the steel. I know that Mike is showcasing the steel as a legitimate interpretive instrument of classical music. However personally, i wish he mixed in the traditional steel sound a bit more, and backed off of the electronic sound. Hey Mike, maybe on the next one?

Joe

[Charlie McDonald]

That's a lot coming from Joe Goldmark, who has so many fine albums.
But there's still the pitch that maybe Mike's next album could be--what, just a little more country? I know it's said with a wink and a nudge, but....
I grew up with the music on Spanish Steel, so it's country to me, and not electronic at all.
The excitement is hearing these pieces arranged in a different context, including very original percussion tracks that throw out preconceived notions of the scores. Once I'm into it, the comparisons fade and I'm in uncharted territory, hearing the pieces for the first time--and that's where it differs from country standards that one hears over and over. Mike recognizes the wealth of music that there is and applies himself to that instead of Waiter Serves Five.

It's similar to Walter Carlos' impact on the music scene, which was more novelty at the time of the introduction of synthesizers. But synthesizers come and go, and pedal steel remains unchanged but for the music.
So obsession? I'm sure that's required, but I think of it more as destiny. I'd have to know Mike better than I do to see how this complex personality could have moved from his musical roots to what he does now. If I could see inside, I think I'd see that it just had to be done.

Whatever it is, it wawrms my heart to hear this dedication to music that has survived the test of time.

[Mike Perlowin]

It's true. I do get obsessed with these projects.

What happens is that I begin them without realizing just how much work would be involved, and then once I start, I don't want to quit.

This 3rd CD may be my last. I want to concentrate on live performance for a while. I may do another at some future point, possible even 2 more. But right now I'm thinking in terms of trying to do concerts, not make more recordings.

I'd have to know Mike better than I do to see how this complex personality could have moved from his musical roots to what he does now.

The answer to that is simple. I heard Johnny Smith's recording of Debussy's "The Maid With The Flaxen Hair" and fell in love. I HAD to learn that piece.

Once I get started down that road, there was no turning back. I just kept going further and further.

[Roy Ayres]

Mike,
In the 50's I had the pleasure of sitting through a full evening of Johnny Smith at the Blue Note in New York City. In fact, I have an 8" X 10" black and white photo of him and me. He was unbelievable -- could cover a span of about 6 or 7 frets when making close-harmony triads. His amp was on four legs with the speaker pointed straight up at the ceiling. One of the most memorable evenings I ever spent.

[Joe Goldmark]

Hi Charlie,

My point was not to make it more country, I love that Mike plays outside the box. It's just that personally, there are many passages in his music that I feel would benefit, or that I would enjoy more, if a nice steel guitar tone were there, instead of what I call electronic, or more processed sounds. Mike and I are old friends, and I say this only from my perspective, and it in no way reflects on this amazing body of music that he's produced.

Thanks for the nod to my CDs, also.

Joe

[Charlie McDonald]

The answer to that is simple. I heard Johnny Smith's recording of Debussy's "The Maid With The Flaxen Hair" and fell in love.

I love a simple answer.

Joe, I shouldn't have misinterpreted you so freely. I just wouldn't change a thing about Spanish Steel.

[Mike Perlowin]

Actually, there was very little electronic processing or use of effects on this CD. Less than on my others. The different sounds that appear on the CD are the sounds of the 30 or 40 different instrument I used.

The only effects I used were distortion in a few spots, and chorusing on the autoharp. Where the steel sounds like it was played through a chorus, I doubled the part. Where it sounds like it was played through an octave multiplier, I used my custom made 14 string lap steel with 7 pairs of strings tuned in octaves.

I did use my Fernandez guitar with the built in sustainer a lot though.

I have a George L 12-5 pickup in my steel and I alternated between different sounds from the pickup.

Roy, I think Johnny Smith is one of the most elegant and tasteful guitarists I've ever heard. His sense of what to play, and more important, what NOT to play is one of my major influences.

[Rick Hulett]

When I heard the original version of Walk Don't Run by Johmmy Smith it was a total revelation. It reminds of what Bach would play if he were a jazz musician.

[Charlie McDonald]

Man, I gotta get with the program. I've never even heard of Johnny Smith.

[Alan Brookes]

...It reminds of what Bach would play if he were a jazz musician.

Wouldn't you love to put Beethoven, with all his diverse talents, in front of a pedal steel and see what came out ?

[Al Marcus]

I have Mike's new CD, and after hearing it, thought it was an ASTOUNDING recording. It really shows the versatility and expanded possibilties of the steel guitar in the right hands. I think this was Mike's best one yet, although they were all great and worthwhile recordings.....al.:)

[Bobby Caldwell]

I also have Mike's CD. It is something else. A lot of hard word, not to mention talent, went in to this project. Mike good luck with sales and I for one think everyone should have it in their collection. My best, Bobby