Ronnie Miller w/ Charley Pride

[Chris LeDrew]

I had the pleasure tonight to see Charley Pride and the Pridesmen, compliments of award-winning steel player Ronnie Miller. Ronnie and I have known each other for a while now, and I have enjoyed his shows at the TSGC. A big congrats to him on his Steel Player of the Year at the Texas show.

I just want to say how great it was to hear Ronnie in his element tonight, backing up one of the greats in such a tasteful, toneful way. His tone was rich, his delivery assured, and his taste right on the money. Man, Ronnie can chime like no other I've ever heard. The other Pridesmen were great as well, particularly Billy Martin who's a veteran of country music, like Ronnie.

We hit a fish n chips place the night before and we had a ball, telling old stories and stuff. What a great couple of days.

Anyway, I highly suggest you check out Ronnie and his killer chops. Fabulous show. I'm crossing my fingers I'll get to Dallas again in 2012!

[Cliff Trent]

He's not only a great player, but a great person as well. One of the best!

[Bryan Knox]

A true gentleman and monster player!

[joe wright]

Charley...joe

[Chris LeDrew]

I guess I should mention that Ronnie introduced me, my father-in-law, and good friend to Charley before the show, and we chatted for a good while. It was great. Ronnie introduced me as a steel player, and Charley asked me, "Are you squirrely?"

[Darrell Criswell]

In Charley's biography, he tells a story about Joe Wright. Charley says it must be the nature of the instrument and what it takes to learn to play one, but steel players are flakier than pie crust and he claims that was true of Joe. He says Joe was putting on a show before Charley came on stage, and then he started doing the show behind Charley's back once he came on stage. Joe was getting applause from the auidience by hand signals once Charley got on stage with Charley thinking he was getting the applause.

I heard Joe say during his steel shows that he got so bored playing with Charley that he started using alternate fingerings to play the songs. He said Charley used the steel leads to help him remember the words of the songs and if something was played differently he wouldn't remember the words to the songs.

[Chris LeDrew]

He says Joe was putting on a show before Charley came on stage, and then he started doing the show behind Charley's back once he came on stage. Joe was getting applause from the auidience by hand signals once Charley got on stage with Charley thinking he was getting the applause.

I don't understand this. Why would you do this to a person you've been hired to back up, much less a singer who has touched millions with his voice? Bizarre.

[Ronnie Miller]

Hey Chris,
It was great to spend some time in St Johns, and visit, the fish & chips rocked.
We are in St John New Brunswick today, and just finished our last show, it was a afternooner, which works well, as we have to leave the hotel @ 3:30 am to head home, the good news is we will be back in Dallas at 10:30am.
I always enjoy the Canada tours, and especially the Maritimes. I have become friends with a lot of the steelers.

After 18+ years with Pride, I never get bored on the show, and still enjoy playing the steel parts, How could you get tired of playing all those great Lloyd Green sig parts, and also the couple of hits Gene Oneal did.
As for the flakier than pie doe thing, I know he was talking about Oneal in the book, but maybe Joe too. I can see that. He says Im pretty straight so far but he is still watching me.
Hope to see you in big D....cya...Ronnie

[Darrell Criswell]

this is what I could lift from google books on Pride referring to the flakiness of steel players:

"that particular instrument the brain has to work in weird ways.

A young guy named Joe Wright was with me for eight years and he was a case study."

would love to hear Charley's experience with Gene or other Joe Wright stories.

[Ronnie Miller]

First of all,Chris, Bryan and Trent Thanks for the kind words...I am blessed...
Darrell, I had not read the book for 14ish yrs, and hearing Pride retell these stories over the years, had made memory a little fogged..here is what it says in the book, page 240

"Except for his looks Gene O'Neal hadn't changed. I'm indebted to him for teaching me that, without question, steel guitar players are the squirreliest musicians in the lineup."

" Maybe to play that particual instrument, the brain has to work in weird ways."

About Joe pg 241
" We had a routine worked out for Joe to clown around and put a little humor into the act. After introducing him, I would turn back to face the audience and Joe would gesture for more applause or do something goofy to get a laugh behind my back. and of course I wasn't suppposed to catch him at it.
It was supposed to go on for a few minutes, but Joe would improvise and add a little to the routine. He got a lot of laughs and he loved it, but we had to keep a clock on him. he'd go on for forty minutes if we let him."

Maybe Pride got bored with that ???? Cheers.. Ronnie

[Chris LeDrew]

Ronnie, thanks for clarifying all that. So Charley knew about Joe doing the act. That makes a bit more sense. Anyway, it was a pleasure to have you and the boys in St. John's again. Can't wait for your return. Hope to see you in Dallas!