Pedal Steel Is Dead

[John H. McGlothlin]

I agree with Mike 100%. The steel guitar is a musical instrument and not just a country music instrument. Listen to the job that Paul Franklin did on the all time favorite jazz tune "All The Things You Are" and Doug Jernigans version of "Jesu The Joy Of Man's Desiring" and so many many more songs of all kinds done so beautiful on the steel. Now this alone is why the pedal steel guitar is going to be around for all times. It fits in with every kind of music. I am no professional musician but I am always trying out different kinds of songs because it is interesting to hear the steel guitar do music of all kinds.

[Barry Blackwood]

Mike Perlowin said:

It may be true that the role of the steel in country music is diminishing, but it is finding homes (at last) in those others genres

As wonderful as it was, I don't know if I would refer to Mike Johnson's performance with Jimmy Webb, or Joan Baez introducing steel to the Boston Pops, as the steel "finding a home" in other genres. It would seem to me that even in this day and age, (musical) occurrences like that are more like cool "one-offs" than anything else.

[Jim Hoke]

When I came to Nashville in '85, you never heard steel on radio hit country songs.It was a shlockey period for country and you had DX7 keyboard, electronic drums (remember?) and worst of all - sax. And I'm a sax player and love the instrument, but not in country. Then, more recently steel has come back in the picture - tho in a marginalized way. You hear this one move alot and it's pretty predictable. Paul does get his moments of real featured stuff, like on Leanne Womack songs. He's carrying the banner for trad country steel and hopefully the trend will continue and we'll hear great kick-offs and turnarounds again. Steel is also popular with young roots-folky bands and while the players aren't too accomplished, they're keeping the steel in the current music. I think the future of steel is looking good.

[Mike Perlowin]

Jim Hoke's better-than-excellent CD "Otto" (I'm not sure whether that's the name of the CD or the band) is another example of somebody taking the steel in a new and direction.

I like this CD so much I bought 2 extra copies to give to the other musicians in my chamber music trio, and we are doing one of the tunes from the CD.

[Duane Reese]

When the original cassette of my Firebird Suite CD was released, the first review in Steel Guitar World acknowledged that it was really good, but said that it "didn't serve the needs of the steel guitar community," and ended with the words: "Michael, go back to playing country."

Sounds to me like one ignorant review.
What the heck are "the needs of the steel guitar community"? I don't see how someone taking steel to another genre — be it rock, ambient, jùjú, funk, minimalist, classical or anything else — fails to serve my "needs".

Conversely, exposing the steel to new territory is not something that anyone should expect to be a group effort. Many prefer to stay inside the "box", and doing so doesn't fail to serve anyone else's "needs" either.

What are these "needs" anyhow?
If it's about ensuring instrument, equipment and accessory supply, I'd say we are sitting better than ever.
If it's about having a community of players that is unanimous in its recognition of all things steel guitar...that's not really a "need", is it?
If it's about having the general public know what the name of that string-table thingy is which you are playing...again, not really a "need".
If it's about preserving history and tradition, I think we have enough interested people to pull that off.

That's my take. What does everyone else think?

[Josh Yenne]

Steel... although not prevalent around these parts, is alive and well...

every show I play someone comes up and asks me "what is that thing your playing?" but it lights up the room... I am currently playing in two groups where I take ALL the leads... they are small 4 piece bands.. but around here there are a lot of good, wanking guitar players (me being one of them) but just not a lot of steel players...

The sound does something to people.... almost in a religious way sometimes...

[Guido Hausmann]

The steelguitar dictated my path of life, from relationships, love, house, friends, money, knowledge of music and taste.
It can't be just a hobby, for that, the instrument is to complicated to master.
What turn should my life have taken without it?

...you migh have become rich!? thanks god you chose the right way!
your talent is a gift and i'm glad to take part on it in leraning from you when time allows...!

[Franklin]

Guys,

Lets be careful, I would hate to see this train jump its tracks........

Hopefully, "Here", we are able to read opinions based mostly on "personal gig experiences" to see what's happening with the instruments acceptance in the workplace. So far, with a few exceptions, everything posted here is based on personal experiences..........I believe "your" individual gig experiences, says more about what is actually happening with the instrument, and its future. For new steelers, your experiences also provide a window into what's needed to survive as musicians.

Somewhere on the forum, Buddy said he always heard the sky was falling, I've heard it all my life: obviously the sky is still there. Some folks love to warn there is a storm coming......Others grab their umbrella and off they go........Living a musicians life means you need to prepare yourself for a few storms......

Someone voiced a concern about the next generation..........I see young players everywhere......Robert Randolph, and the many sacred steel youngsters, Eddie Dunbar, Randle Curry, Bryan Dixon, Austin Tripp, Jonathon Cullifer, are players whom I believe have all of the goods......I feel like the next generation already has its giants in the making.......

Paul

[Dave Ristrim]

I agree with Jim Hoke, and Paul's last statement. I see more and more younger players finding work. There was a point where I thought I knew most of all the working steel guitarists in Nashville. Now, new names keep popping up that I don't recognize. As slow as work seems here in Nashville, I guess it isn't. Some day, these new young players will be the "older" guys that the next generation may look up to.
Steel guitar has been around in other styles of music for some time. It will continue to make appearances in recordings and live performances in the future. I'm a big fan of some of the rootsy folk-rock jam bands that are out there. Sometimes the steel players are not technically advanced but it seems to fit the music better than a seasoned ultra pro player. What would the Ramones or Nirvana sound like if Steve Lukather was their guitar player? Maybe it's not the best analogy, but I tried.

[Kenny Martin]

Randle Curry is the next "Young Gun" that is absolutly killing it on steel these days but one of very few!

From a personal experience i have played up and down the east coast since i formed my first band in 1971!
A rock band that played Black Sabbath, Blood Sweat & Tears, Stepenwolf, James Gang and you get the picture!

I was playin a 1970 Gibson SG thru a Marshal with Four 4X12 cabinets! I thought i was going to be the next Jeff Beck!
Funny thing is i would set up my daddy's 1969 Emmons PP and play it on some of the stuff we played.

Sat in with Mother's Finest at a local club in the mid 70's and play steel on "Mickey's Monkey"! That was cool! Played steel with Skynyrd in the early 70's before they hit it big!
This all happened from when i was 12 until i was 16 or 17! The point is yes, it cross's all the lines and young and old love it! During this time i was chasing all the licks you guys played. I recorded Paul Franklin on VHS when he did the Tillis show on Austin City Limits! "Heart Over Mind" and i still have the tape! It was and still is a lead i always play and when i learned it as close as i could, it was done live everytime my steel was set up!
Tommy White with the Whites i also recorded playin "If It Ain't Love Lets Dont Even Let It Start" and i still play it everytime i can play live!

The point is those type shows and leads are hard to find on radio, tv and even live unless you catch one of the pro's out playing!

While i think the sacred steel guys play well and Robert Randolph in his style does as well, to me its not steel, its distorted slide which i have played on guitar all my life! Duane Alman was one of the best at it! Today's distorted steel slide sounds the same as slide guitar has all my life!
I recently did a session in a studio in Nashville and the producer ask me to play a distorted slide lead on my steel. I ask him to allow me to do it on guitar after i played it on steel. He liked the guitar better! I know its one case!

He didn't like a clean steel sound! He ask me if i knew how to record a steel and i said no! He said "when you through it in a dumpster you record it as it hits the sides going in"! Good thing i got paid!

Today i work studio's, fill in jobs and with two other bands when they need me! I still work the day job!

I guess i can accept steel played anywhere but keeping in alive in "Real Country" has and will always be my feelings right or wrong!

I'm nobody but hearing Paul Franklin play "Song For Sara" Hughey playin "Look At Us" Tommy White on "Backroads" i just feel its some of the best steel there is!
Watching the clips of Paul Franklin with the "Time Jumpers" is priceless! He is having so much fun and it shows in his playing and the grinning as he pulls off a ride we all dream of playing in "Real Country"!
You don't see or hear that to me in any other music!

I like all music and still sit in and play in a 80's big hair band sometimes and have fun! I just think there should be a "Real Country" section that keeps country steel clean! At 51 maybe i'm just old, sorry!

thx Paul for all you do!

[Jonathan Cullifer]

My own experiences are similar to what everyone else has already said. I would continue to play the steel guitar even if there was no place for it in country music, because I love the instrument (and its players).

Some of my most gratifying experiences have to do with introducing the instrument to people who have never heard it played a certain way, especially in church, and also in areas outside country music. I love showcasing the versatility of the steel. People often have a limited idea of where the instrument can be used, and it's fun (and a challenge) to sway that.

I don't know where the opportunities will come from, but as far as I can tell, there will always be opportunities for the steel guitar in music.

[Pete Burak]

Another use for Steel.... A leader of a local Big Band told me, "Wow, I didn't know that thing could replace an entire horn section", after hearing me scoobie-doobie doo'in it up with some fatty 6th chord rakers on a swing gig a few years back.
As Sinatra would say... Spread those Gossamer Wings and fly, Bay-bee!

[Danny Bates]

Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout Pete!

[Greg Youngman]

Remember when the Linn Drum came out? Drummers were afraid they would soon be out of work. How about the synthesizer and samplers? String players... out of work? I don't think so.

The PS is not dead by any means. I think some people may be tired of hearing it used in traditional ways. I know I am. It always seems to be mixed as a focal point of a song instead of being incognito.

The music business has that Baskin-Robbins "flavor of the week" mentality. I don't think the PS has fallen victim to that yet.

[Johan Jansen]

For 15 years I recorded on a Greek album, I think it will still have future in all kinds of music.
http://soundcloud.com/steeljj/07-hidden-desire

[Twayn Williams]

For 15 years I recorded on a Greek album, I think it will still have future in all kinds of music.
http://soundcloud.com/steeljj/07-hidden-desire

Nicely done!

I think asking if PSG is dead is like asking if Hammond B-3 is dead or if accordion is dead. Some folks might wish they were

As for the D10 debate, I prefer an S10 myself. Too much option anxiety with D10. Heck, I get dizzy just looking down at my S10!

I think the next project I play PSG in will be a metal band. I've been really inspired by Chas Smith!

[Phil Ajjarapu]

I grew up in Chicago before my folks high tailed it to the burbs when my brothers were born, and I wasn't really aware of country music and certainly not of pedal steel guitar.

Bass was the motive power in my life, from Paul McCartney to Larry Graham to Les Claypool and every stylistic point in between, and it still is. I loved how my instrument was rhythmic, i loved how it controlled how harmony was perceived and how i could change the inversion of a chord, and that I could do it melodically, all at once.

I think i first became aware of pedal steel in college when i was listening to Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend" album, tracks 5 and 9 had that sound. Couldn't be a guitar, by this point i was a good enough guitarist to understand that what I was hearing, it just wasn't possible on guitar. Read the liner notes, discovered Greg Liesz. I'd always been a devourer of liner notes. Then I went on an active hunt for steel credits in albums I had loved. Zeppelin I, track 5, "Your time is Gonna Come". The pedal steel credit was George Marino, the engineer!

And the list goes on, and the obsession grew. Here was another instrument that scratched my itch in the same way that bass did intellectually, but with a completely different physical response from me.

Steel is all around, in many contexts. I like good steel playing, and I like good music, regardless of the genre, and I'm very grateful to the older members of the community who are generous with advice and knowledge.

I think that as long as there are good songs being written that have honest intentions, there will be room for almost every instrument to survive and flourish in its own way.

[Phil Ajjarapu]

accidental duplicate.

[Jon Alexander]

Several decades ago a prominent blues musician(I can't remember who) was asked if the blues was dying and his response was that blues in a live setting was as good as it ever was.This was before the emergence of SRV,Robert Cray and others.Pedal steel is more widespread,I think than it has ever been.In live settings people are fascinated by the sound and these are often people who have not listened to country or may not even like it.If they hear outside a country context and then hear it in a country song,they often appreciate it more.Marty Muse' observations with regard to the Hammond B-3 are dead on.I have seen the look on musicians faces when these two instruments work together(the looks were complimentary).Josh Yenne is right.The sound does something to people.Pedal steel creates its own dimension in any setting due to its tonal flexibility.Big fancy chords,one note or harmonics(along with every thing else PF is great at this)steel expands the space between instruments that musicians and the audience responds to it.It ain't goin nowhere thanks to the greats and the people on this forum.Great discussion.

[Steve Hotra]

I occasionally record with Neil Zaza. I'm playing on this cut; WARNING! Not country. Melodic Metal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBFS8ruUo18

Very nice, John!

[Bob Hoffnar]

My most lucrative gigs these days have been playing dance halls in Texas. I am replacing a keyboard player and being a 2nd guitar with my steel. I add texture and color with reverse looping and stuff like that. I also play country pedal steel licks when the song call for it. Its the same way I made a living playing steel in NYC. Its a fantastic instrument to orchestrate with.

Check out this little bit of genius from 1969:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1IGxuugztM

I'll bet anything that Pete Drake is playing the organ part on the steel.

[Mike Perlowin]

For 15 years I recorded on a Greek album, I think it will still have future in all kinds of music.
http://soundcloud.com/steeljj/07-hidden-desire

Very cool. This is exactly the kind of thing that will keep the steel alive.

[Joe Naylor]

The forum did go over 10,000 this past weekend.

I have people ask me if I can stay busy building steelseats. Even the guy that makes my name plates was surprised when I ordered my second order of 20 name plates when I was getting started. His comment was "I figured that 20 would be a life time supply" -- he now laughs all the way to the bank and delivers my name plates 50 or more at a time and if I order 50 he says "I ran a few extra ---- YOU WILL USE THEM SOON"

I find that steel players are ever where and many times right in someones neighborhood that asks the question.

The other question is where are all the young ones? (usually asked at a steel show) - I say "on the road making themselves a name like you were trying to do 20 or 30 years ago"

I ship a couple seats and get a couple orders so thanks for the orders and keep them coming.

Good thread.

Joe Naylor
www.steelseat.com

[chas smith]

I realize that not everybody likes power chords on the steel guitar, but they do have a place and they open up other genres and venues. Not to mention that I'm not going to be 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th or... call for country gigs in LA.

Last year, we were playing in a rock club in Coeur d'Alene and the owner came up to me, after the set, and was very excited because they had never had a steel guitar in the club, before. The steel guitar in a "metal" setting, gets a lot of attention and a 12-note power chord makes an impression.

[Jerry Tillman]

I have been playing a lot of reggae type music on my pedal steel and dobro ,slide and tele for quite a few years now.The people I,m working with look at each instrument individually and will mix pedal steel,lap steel, dobro all in one song even on the same verse of a song as backup.They build it up in layers.It is very interesting.I will put a sample up if I can figure out how to do it.Not looking to get flamed.I also play regular and hightest country on my pedal steel.I steeled my whole act from Mr.Emmons,Mr.Green and Mr.Franklin. Paul would you reccount your playing on the live Mel Tillis song,I got the horse.Did you play an Emmons PP on that cut? Also what steel did you play on Nervous Breakdown.It is still one of my favorites.Thanks lakeshrk