There Are NO Fans Of Steel Guitar Music

[Mitch Ellis]

Everyone defines success differently.

Exactly. I agree. I'm not trying to become rich and famous with my steel guitar by pleasing large crowds of people. I don't have the time or the talent. For some of us, maybe even most of us, it comes down to two choices....
#1. If you want to enjoy your steel guitar, play what you want to play, and when you want to play.
#2. If you want to make money with your steel guitar, sell it.
Sad but true.

Mitch

[Franklin]

I believe individuals have to pursue what they envision for themselves with their perspective instruments. They only succeed when they market their skills to those with a desire for their abilities and with a little luck they could cultivate an audience for what they love to play.

Paul

[Barry Blackwood]

7. I would think it necessary to require a venue worthy of such an endeavor, say something along the lines of what Caesar's built for Celine Dion or Shania, replete with circus acts, and levitating steel guitars, etc.

[Allen Kentfield]

Thanks for "chiming in", Paul.
Yeah, I was just thinking about how steel has a ready market in the traditional country ensembles; but there are obviously fewer or those than there used to be. I love the old western swing standards, but that's mostly heard and appreciated at steel guitar conventions. The original fans of those classics are in their 80's and their numbers are dwindling.
The E9 is a well thought out copedent with a very unique timbre, developed by country musicians, but I've always believed it's not the axe, it's the player that makes the music. I love the burst of creative energy that Franklin and others showed with country singers in the 90's, building on what had come the generation before. It just shows that it hasn't all been done yet.
People like to hear stuff they know, but I like it when they say, "I never heard a steel do that before."
It's not a job, it's a mission.

[Eddie Cunningham]

As far as I know Jerry Byrd has the only active steel player fan club still going after 70 years !! He set the bar high for touch and tone that no one else has ever reached !! When Jerry came on the scene in the 40s his sound on a six string steel was such that nobody could come close and hasn't yet !! You knew when Jerry was playing !! Many of todays star steel pickers worshiped at Jerrys feet !! To my old ears all pedal steels sound pretty much alike and you can't really tell who is playing !! This is just one olde guys opinion but I'm stickin to it !! Eddie "C" AKA - the olde geezer

[Niels Andrews]

Eddie you are wrong I belong to a lot of active fan clubs! Reece Anderson, Paul Franklin, Zane King, Mickey Adams to name just a few!

[Norman Boling]

When you think about which female vocalist has won everything lately that should tell you where the music mindset lies today.

A good example of extremes would be to listen to todays winner sing about when her pet gerbil saw it's first rainbow or listen to Dawn Sears and the time jumpers do sweet memories.

One is what music should sound like and most steel players guess it right the first time.

I've come to think of the steel as not really belonging anywhere in particular but as a unique instrument that produces an amazing array of sounds that can fit any genre of music.

I've also stopped trying to sound like someone else and this has probably helped me more than anything. I've stopped analyzing the mechanics of the instrument and now I just play it and songs come out and surprisingly some are pretty good.

The pedal steel certainly has a place other than facing the bedroom wall and it's up to those of us that love the instrument to see that it's heard publicly in all kinds of music..

[Zane King]

Hello Norman from Paragould! I grew up just south of there in White County. I agree that it is largely upon us that love steel guitar to promote it every chance we get. My purpose for starting this thread and for many other things I do is to motivate people. Let's adopt a "can do" attitude!

By the way folks, the title of this thread is "There Are NO Fans of Steel Guitar Music".....come on now....get with me here and CLAIM YOURSELF AS A FAN!!! I will get us started....

I AM A FAN OF STEEL GUITAR MUSIC BECAUSE....

1) Zane Beck
2) It is the most expressive instrument in the world
3) It makes people smile, cry, laugh and scream!
4) Lloyd Green

I have many more...but I will leave some for you all!

[Alan Tanner]

I have not played the steel guitar for years, but my observation is that it is still considered a "country music" instrument, and also an old man's instrument.(I ride a Goldwing motorcycle and it is looked upon as an old man's bike too) I know that most of the bands around won't pick up a steel, and would actually rather have a piano as a fifth instrument, if they can find the work. I love steel guitar instrumentals that are played well, and love to pick (guitar) with good steelers. But I have no suggestion as to how to promote it any better. We have a local steel guitar show here once a year. There is almost NO ONE under the age of 50 that attend these, even tho' attendance is pretty good. I have been to every single show since it started, but I gotta say it is starting to wear off. How many times can you listen to "We Could" or "Danny Boy" and pay attention?? It's like the cat chasing his tail. Older folks like the steel guitar because older guys play older music. Older guys play older music because older folks like it, and so on. What is REALLY noticeable is that many of the pickers AND crowd die off every year. Some us go also for the social aspect too, seeing old friends and so forth, and to get the news on who has passed on.The show here also has too many singers, again older individuals, some who sing the same off key tune every year. They have also passed their prime. Many of you point to Randolph. O.K. That's ONE guy. Who else?? There is another steel jam in the area where some good pickers show up. It always turns into an "I can play louder than you" fest, interspersed with some very loud singers who have little pitch control. These types of get together's do little to promote anything, and you rarely find anyone there "just for the music'. Most are there because they pick, or are related to a picker. Awhile back during another of these threads, I asked all my nieces and nephews (there are a bunch) and their kids to name me a steel guitar player. NOT ONE, and many even asked "what is that?". So....I dont know the answer.....and I think only time will tell us, if we live that long.

[Rick Collins]

Zane King, I'm a huge fan of steel guitar because it is the most expressive instrument of all.
No other instrument comes close.

[Ken Metcalf]

A band used to be a big deal for entertainment.
Now we have 1000s of things at our finger tips to entertain us with 100s of channels to watch.
"Video killed the radio star"
Rock died and merged with country.
Pop music is always hated buy the previous generation.
Elvis would have never been a talent if he would have been a fat bald middle aged old man..
I love to play steel because it makes me feel good and has advanced my knowledge of music.
I started a steel club inspired by Ozark Assco and the guys who helped me get started hoping to give some back.
Few people have the wherewithal to learn any instrument and we should give ourselves a big pat on the back and smile because we have something very special...

Go out and learn something new, create a situation that you enjoy.
I have turned off my facebook account and taught my cat to fetch a ball. Ha!

[Mike Perlowin]

I've come to think of the steel as not really belonging anywhere in particular but as a unique instrument that produces an amazing array of sounds that can fit any genre of music.

I agree 100%.

So why do 99% of players only play country? Why don't more people play pop or soft rock or classical or jazz?

I once saw a car with a bumper sticker that said "If it ain't country it ain't music." I think that attitude within our community is killing our instrument.

My chamber music trio performed for the Mozart-Beethoven crowd. These people don't listen to country music, and most of whom had never seen or heard a pedal steel guitar before, but they loved it when they were exposed to it.

After each performance, people would come up to me and ask questions, and I'd have to stay and show them how it works, and occasionally let somebody try it.

The key is that I played the kind of music they already knew and liked.

[Earnest Bovine]

I guess what I'm saying here is....can someone please tell me why I have literally hundreds of steel guitar recordings from the 70s and 80s and yet my collection over the past 20 years is almost non-existent?

This is a marvelous thread. I can't figure out what it's about and the more I read it the more confused I get. I guess what Zane is saying here is that he wants us to tell him why he stopped buying steel guitar recordings 20 years ago.

[Gene Jones]

I offer this post only as informational, not judgemental.

Me,and many other steel guitarists from the 1940-50 era, did not have the option of any instructional or mentoring from the steel guitarists of that era.

Frankly, it was an era of the unknown, the survival of the fitest, and most of the pioneers of the instrument kept their knowledge close to the vest.

If you learned anything from them, it was from listening to recordings that they played on. If you went to a live performance, steel guitarists actually de-tuned their guitars during breaks so that no one could copy their tunings.

For the current learning steel guitarists, be thankful for all of the instructional material that is available today.

[Paul Graupp]

Gene...I'd like to put one great big AMEN onto your comments !!

[Jerry Humphries]

Im a fan of steel guitar because of people like these: Zane King, Mike Johnson, Russ Hicks, Tommy Dodd, David Heartley, Dan Dugmore, Lloyd Green, the 3 cajun boys,Doug Jernigan, Buddy Emmons, Paul Franklin, Mickey Adams, Joe Wright, Jim Cohen, John Huey, and a couple of guys some have never heard. Tony Arrowood and Bill Sutton, check them out on Youtube. The most soul moving break i have heard in the last 40 yrs. is Lloyd Green's break on Alan Jackson's (Remember When). Its just the perfect fit for the song. If that doesn't move you to play or become a fan of the steel nothing will. I also would like to include Steve Palousek. He blows me away.

[Zane King]

Yay! Jerry - way to stand up and be a FAN!!! Come on folks....let's be counted!

I agree with with you Ernest Bovine-it's a confusing thread...some have gotten a bit off topic...and that is born out of frustration in large part I'm sure. I love all of the comments even if they aren't on topic they are still relevant.

Mike Perlowin - I agree with you! You're one of those guys who has been willing to die on the hill for being different. I've tried it too but I'm not as committed to that cause as you are! Keep it up!

Now back to why I'm a FAN OF STEEL GUITAR MUSIC....

Steve Palousek! I see he is in another thread here today! When Steve and I were teenagers we would get together and jam! We were crazy back then. I still am I guess. WOW! We did some great shows together. I remember once playing a show with Hal Rugg and Buddy Emmons staring at us! We were so nervous but you know what? We picked like men on mission! Those were some good times! I'm a fan because of talented players like STEVE PALOUSEK!!!!

Now someone else tell us why you are fan!

[Mike Perlowin]

Im a fan of steel guitar because ....

But Jerry, you're a steel player yourself. We need to appeal to people OUTSIDE of our community.

Robert Randolph and to a lessor extent Susan Alcorn, and to a far lesser extent me, are exposing the steel to new audiences, and we are making fans of the instrument to our audiences.

Doug "Ernest Bovine" Livingston occasionally plays in a jazz trio. (Guitar, Steel, and Bass. No drums.) I go to their gigs to see him. But most people attend to see guitarist Bruce Lofgren. Bruce has many fans. But some of these people who attend the shows also become Doug's fans and steel guitar enthusiasts, even though they don't play the instrument themselves. (It's very easy to become one of Doug's fans. All you have to do is listen to him play once.)

If we want to attract more fans, we need to stop playing country exclusively and start adding other kinds of music to the overall body of steel guitar music.

[David Mason]

Writing strong, compelling melodies seems to be a good way to please people. Or at least, unearthing strong, compelling melodies.... Has anyone ever noticed how the more popular guitar instrumentals of the past 40 years or so generally have an ascending melody? I don't mean shred guitar with all the fiddly bits, but the kind of thing Jeff Beck and Carlos Santana play. Well, shred guitar too. Guitar players end with the high screamy guitarface stuff and steel licks dribble out the bottom.

Most of my favorite steel playing is in C6th, but the vast majority of steel playing out there is E9th - and for some reason, the "pull-to-unison" licks that are the bread and butter there are largely overlaid on a descending pattern. And if you introduced an electric guitar with no tone or volume controls and only one pickup -

Customer: "Where's the volume knob?"
clerk: "Umm, you use a volume pedal."
cust: "How do I make the tone change?"
clerk: "Umm, you change the amp settings."
cust: "How do I make the tone change real fast?"
clerk: "You change the amp, real fast..."

The evolutionary trends that stole the volume control also have resulted in steel guitar pickups being so powerful that they're largely incompatible with guitar stompboxes and amplifiers. Making steel guitars that would work through regular amps is a thought. Zane's got another video up with his stand-up Jackson six-string steel, and the pedals are all over on the left side. Skateboarders call that "goofyfoot" for a reason.... It would probably be a good comedy bit to use a volume pedal with your right foot and the steel pedals with your left, cause you'd fall right on your keister. Now that's entertainment.

[Mike Perlowin]

The evolutionary trends that stole the volume control also have resulted in steel guitar pickups being so powerful that they're largely incompatible with guitar stompboxes and amplifiers.

My experience sort of jibes with this, but not 100%.

The stomp boxes I used back when I was gigging all worked fine when they are turned on, but created problems when they were off. The mere passing of the signal through the circuitry screwed up the steel's signal, causing a loss of my high frequencies, and a some unwanted distortion.

In order to solve this problem, I created a system of bypass loops, so that instead of turning the effects on and off, they were always turned on, and routed through or away from the signal path.

Today many stomp boxes have internal bypass circuits, and are removed from the signal path when turned off.

As far as amps go, many amps today are have very low power outputs of around 15 watts, so that when cranked up, they will automatically distort. This is a problem for us, but the problem is in the amps, not in our pickups. A good guitar amp that has some power, like a Fender Twin, works just fine.

[Zane King]

David Mason - I'm going to give that a try!

[Donny Hinson]

The most soul moving break i have heard in the last 40 yrs. is Lloyd Green's break on Alan Jackson's (Remember When). Its just the perfect fit for the song. If that doesn't move you to play or become a fan of the steel nothing will.

Well, that may be the way you feel, but that's not true for many others. People like what they like, and whether it's Garcia on "Teach", Santo and Johnny on "Sleepwalk", or Emmons on "Way To Survive", we all have different likes and dislikes. It's hard for some people to comprehend that not everyone likes what they like, and worships who they worship, but if one song or player did it for everyone, that would probably be all we'd have. Mike Perlowin speaks some truth in the matter of the thousands of steelers who can't sight read, but reading and playing, and success and popularity are two different goals. I'll wager the vast majority of really popular singers likely can't read music and belt out something from "cold copy", but they're the ones with the millions of dollars and millions of fans.

Go figure.

[Roual Ranes]

What was that song title............"Nobody knows about my cares and nobody cares about my nose RAG" ???

[Bill L. Wilson]

I love steel guitar music. Just played a barn dance tonight at the Harn Homestead in Oklahoma City. My Emmons through a Fender Twin w/JBL'S, sounded fantastic in that 100yr old barn. Now if my playing skills would just catch up with my tone. The learning process, keeps me as a fan, the reward of someone telling me they like my steel playing, is a bonus. There is just no tellin' who is gonna come up with something new to blow us all out of the water, and send us in to our woodsheds to figure out this fantastic new steel guitar music.