Who Plays Steel for Steve Earle

[Nick Reed]

Tonight on Letterman, there was a S-10 Show Pro. Who was playing it?

[chris ivey]

looked like a nice steel. sounded quite amateurish. i expected a lot more musically from steve earle.
when you take an act gig on letterman i would think you would be trying to promote some interest, not give away a losing hand.

[Asa Brosius]

I know Bucky Baxter has played with him in the past- not sure about this show- Bucky plays a gorgeous part on 'Fort Worth Blues'

[Chris Tweed]

I didn't see the Letterman show, but the last time I saw Steve Earle was about a year ago and the guitarist in the band, Chris Masterson, also played a little bit of steel. I remember I was disappointed because I expected to hear more. He only played it on 2-3 songs at most, and it was fairly standard stuff. He is a good 6-string player though.

[Mark Eaton]

Here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyVm1sxGeoQ

[Tommy Janiga]

Here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyVm1sxGeoQ

Thanks Mark. I liked the song and the sound, even if the steel wasn't too up front.

[Bob Carlucci]

looked like a nice steel. sounded quite amateurish. i expected a lot more musically from steve earle.
when you take an act gig on letterman i would think you would be trying to promote some interest, not give away a losing hand.

what???.... amateurish??.... Not to my ears.. Its sounded like alt country, and pretty good alt country at that. So, the steel man wasn't a Paul Franklin or Buddy Emmons skill level player, so what?... He played to the song, and added good color to it.. He's playing his steel on national TV with Steve Earl, and you're watching it just as I am... Who are the amateurs?

[Chris LeDrew]

He's using a Stroboflip.....he has to know what he's doing!

[Edward Rhea]

Not 100% sure, I believe the gentleman playing steel is Chris Masterson?.

[Tommy Janiga]

Not 100% sure, I believe the gentleman playing steel is Chris Masterson?.

Yes, and the fiddle player is his wife. They put out a very good CD last year.

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/The%20Ma ... 0002884480

[Edward Rhea]

I haven't heard their album yet, but I'll check it out. Thanks Tommy!

[chris ivey]

oh. i thought the fiddle and steel were in a similar groove.
as to being on tv, yada yada, that's when i would be extremely concerned about sounding amateurish. and yes, unfortunately that is the sound i've heard often in alt country situations.
i guess steve earle is a big deal to some but he didn't click with me. out of tune singing doesn't necessarily mean soulful.
no offense to anyone, just how i hear it.

[Joachim Kettner]

I'm no regular listener to Steve Earle, but I bought his "Guitar Town" when it came out in '86. This was a very tightly arranged album, very comercial. It seems like he drifted away from that a long time ago, towards what is labelled Americana. I think the same direction was also taken by Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell.

[Tommy Janiga]

...no offense to anyone, just how i hear it.

Chris – I get why you might feel that way. Americana (aka alt-country or roots rock) music can be relatively loose, and chops are almost never a focal point. As to whether the steel players are holding back or not, I can't say (some of the best ones are, for sure), but I do know that it's not uncommon to have multi-instrumentalist steel players in Americana music, and frequently, steel is not their primary expertise. It also seems obvious that instrumental skill is way down on the list of what's being sold in most music lately anyway – and so many songs now don't even have any instrumental breaks in them.

There's also a different approach to steel playing that you see in Americana kinds of music. The role of the steel player is obviously very different, I think. It's very noticeable on my own practice playlist that has different kinds of music, where I'll go from Eric Heywood and Son Volt to Lloyd Green with Don Williams, or Paul Franklin with George Strait, Bruce Bouton with the Mavericks, and then back to Greg Leisz with Matthew Sweet or Ben Keith with Neil Young.

I happen to like all of it, but I can see why some might think Americana is inferior if it's not in their musical wheelhouse.

[chris ivey]

i think the americana category should include lots of stuff i like. but even that last emmylou and rodney thing on letterman left me cold. i think these artists have the potential to be great, but they're not living up to the quality of alison krauss and The Band and others that could also fit the americana label. i suppose lyle lovett fits it too. he has no problem letting good musicians play.
then again i've seen tons of alt groups that are just sloppy, unnatractive, unappealing and sound too garage bad for me.

[Mark Dershaw]

The "Americana" label includes folk, country, blues, rock, gospel, bluegrass... pretty much everything. The common thread is that it is rootsy, gutsy, gritty and real. No polished productions. Some can appreciate that, some can't. I would think that since so many contributors on this forum despise new country, they would have an attraction to the opposite end of the spectrum. As for Steve Earl... listen to his CD's, his words, listen to the artists that he's produced, listen to his show on Satelite radio. The guy is a bottomless pit of musical knowledge and talent.

[Chris LeDrew]

Steve Earle is a masterful songwriter and veteran performer, one of the greats for sure. A national treasure. You can't find a bigger fan than me. The reality is, however, that this vocal performance is not up to par. I would venture to guess that even Earle himself flinched after watching that one. Maybe his monitors were low or something, but he's definitely singing flat. He's a better singer than this. I just saw him in concert last year and he was great. This is not Steve Earle at his best.

The slippery slope with alt country (and I'm not referring to Earle or his band here) is that the musical "spontaneity" can sometimes mask a lack of chops. And no matter which way you slice it, if you can't cut it you can't cut it. Personally I'm a little tired of hearing pitchy steel players in alt country groups. I don't see any musical value in this kind of loose playing. You can only be deemed loose when you're choosing to be loose, as opposed to being not good enough to be tight.

[Joe Casey]

I remember Steve as an actor on HBO's The "Wire". Much better Actor than a singer in my opinion. But with todays alt Country he might just reach superstardom.

[Theresa Galbraith]

I didn't see the show. I've never been of fan of his. Kudos for having a steel player, though!

[Barry Blackwood]

I'm in agreement with the two Chris's.. If you accept mediocrity, so-called Americana will never break out of that stereotype..

[Fred Glave]

At the end of the performance, David Letterman comes up on stage and tells the steel player to bring his "Thingy" (pointing to the steel) up to his house because (somebody) is coming over. I couldn't hear who's name he said.

[Kevin Hatton]

Steve Earle is not doing himself any favors by singing horribly off key and having mediocre arrangements. That was pretty bad, and I'm a fan.

[john widgren]

I am a fan of Steve Earle, and not a big fan of the alt style of steel playing; but thats not the point. Chris is a relatively new steel player, but is a seasoned musician. I think that he is doing great, and hanging it out there admirably. What he played fit the tune.
His playing was perhaps basic, but it was not timid, and not amateurish IMHO. I think he deserves our support and encouragement. His playing was unpretentious and soulful. I have met him a few times and I know he has no grandiose notions about himself. Like all of us, he loves the instrument, and like many of us, is willing to work to get better. I say: Go get em Chris, keep at it, and have fun!

[Bill L. Wilson]

Looks like his bar hand is to stiff. He's moving his whole arm to vibrato. Sounds like he's been playing maybe a yr or so. He's not bad, he just has poor technique, and needs to relax that arm, and use his wrist. And watch that pitch!!!!!!!

[Asa Brosius]

we've all been there at some point- I'd be nervous as H in a situation like that. The lucky guy just happens to be getting going on a more public platform than most.Remember two things-1- there is a reason he got the gig. Personality,temperament,professionalism probably go a lot further than whether the dude can play OB Special at 3000 bpm clean, especially for a guy like Steve Earle who's been at it so long. Maybe they're friends? Who knows? God knows Neil Young could find a tighter band than Crazy Horse, but that's not the point. 2- closely related, I don't think there's much of an equation necessarily between talent and success.
All that said, I'm a Steve Earle fan, and I've always wished he sang a little more on key.