SF Chronicle story features steel player:

Gordy Hall · Post by **Gordy Hall** » 20 Dec 2008 9:23 am

When a musician who has worn many hats throughout his career finally finds the right one, it can be an emotional experience. Chris Haugen, a talented lap steel guitarist with cobalt blue eyes, knows he's found it with his CD "Seahorse Rodeo," and when he tries to define the moment, his gaze falters a bit.

"The big thing for me was really getting into the idea that I wasn't a genre musician," Haugen, 39, says in a cafe near Ocean Beach. "I had to accept my own musical inclinations, which tend to be a little unique."

He's not kidding. "Seahorse Rodeo," released in the fall, is a beguiling account of a creative process spun from Haugen's strings - mainly Weissenborn lap slide guitar but also pedal steel, lap steel, acoustic guitar and mandolin - with telepathic backing from bass, percussion and a smidgen of sampling.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 14Q60H.DTL

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 20 Dec 2008 10:30 am

Cool Gordy! Thanks. I never heard of this guy before and he lives in the Bay Area!

BTW, I'll be at Peri's tonight on the ShoBud with your pal Danny Montana. Stop in and say hello!

Happy Holidays
Dave

Gordy Hall · Post by **Gordy Hall** » 20 Dec 2008 10:43 am

See ya there, Dave!

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 20 Dec 2008 10:47 am

Likewise. Never heard of him and he lives in the Bay Area. I must start reading the Chronicle. I'm one of those cheapos who reads the Examiner as it's free.

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 20 Dec 2008 11:17 am

I better get off the forum and start re-learning three sets of material then!

See you then!
dz

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 20 Dec 2008 12:03 pm

I have seen Haugen play, and he is a very good musician.

And according to the article, he shares a preference along with Mr.Dave of weissenborn over dobro which is fine, different strokes for different folks.

But he doesn't care for the dobro because it sounds too "bluegrassy?" Well sure - if you're playing a bluegrass song, with other instruments around you that are typically found in a bluegrass band.

But that statement reminds me a little bit of saying that you don't care for the piano because it sounds too "classical musicky."

Henry Nagle · Post by **Henry Nagle** » 20 Dec 2008 7:51 pm

Like you said, "different strokes". There's nothing wrong with having an opinion about an art form.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 21 Dec 2008 7:30 am

That's why there are so many different art forms - people have opinions of which ones they prefer, and there seems to be plenty of room for all of them.

My point, wasn't about Chris' like or dislike of bluegrass (actually he doesn't even express an opinion in the article regarding bluegrass as to whether or not he "likes" it), but that he seems to have lumped the dobro into the bluegrass genre,and given it short shrift as to its value in other forms of music, which is about like saying "I don't care for pedal steel guitar - it always sounds too much like country music to me."

I used the piano analogy, because it's obvious that piano is at home in any number of genres of music.

When I listen to for example, Jerry Douglas playing Weather Report's "A Remark You Made" on the dobro, or the Allman Brothers "Little Martha," bluegrass doesn't even enter my mind.

Maybe it was just an off-the-cuff remark he made in the interview ...I guess someone could just as easily say "I don't care for the sound of a weissenborn guitar - reminds me too much of old Hawaiian music."

I don't want to hijack the thread about the man based on a comment he made regarding dobros, but if I run across him again in the future maybe I'll suggest some stuff for him to listen to so that he might give the dobro another chance.

Henry Nagle · Post by **Henry Nagle** » 21 Dec 2008 11:44 am

Well said. I know what you mean.