Big Sandy/Lee Jeffriess

Joel Glassman · Post by **Joel Glassman** » 13 Nov 2000 9:36 am

Just went to see Big Sandy and The Flyright
Boys with Lee Jeffriess on steel. He was quite good--
playing 3 part horn lines with
a bit of distortion, some Speedy West
feel (whippin'the bar around :^) and
a lot of energy in a rockabilly/honkytonk
swing style. This is a good band. The lead
guitarist was excellent. All their material
is original-I found myself wishing for some covers
for a change of pace. All in all, very enjoyable.
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Joel Glassman on 13 November 2000 at 09:37 AM.]</p></FONT>

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 13 Nov 2000 5:57 pm

I saw them this past Friday night and they were terrific. There were a fair amount of couples swing dancing,and well I might add. Yes the steel playing was exciting to watch as was the take off guitar. I noticed something about Lee Jeffries early fifties triple neck Stringmaster.Possibly the previous owner,or someone before,had set up a system of pull rods underneath and I guess had a pedal set up going on.I asked Lee before the set if he was going to play with pedals. When he said no,I breathed a sigh of relief

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Chris DeBarge · Post by **Chris DeBarge** » 13 Nov 2000 6:53 pm

Joel, I was there but didn't bump into you! Oh well, maybe next time.

Big Sandy does do a lot of originals (and they're great), but he plays some somewhat obscure covers too - "Honky Tonk Queen" and "Jumpin' from 6 to 6" were just 2 they did on Saturday.

I noticed Lee was going for a more distorted sound too. For those of you unfamiliar with Big Sandy, do not mistake this for a David Lindley type of thing. Definately makes it sound like an old Western Swing band. For other old-style distortion, check out Dave Stuckey's record with JW playing steel that way.

BTW, I think this was one of the best times I've seen them - everyone was "on", especially Lee Jeffriess. I remember about 5 or 6 years ago when they played the Rat(Boston people might remember that place!) and he told me how to properly tune my steel. So now I'm still hooked and don't know if I should thank him or punch him!

Joel Glassman · Post by **Joel Glassman** » 14 Nov 2000 9:55 am

He definitely had the 3 part horn stuff down.
To my ears it sounded almost exactly like
2 saxes and a trumpet played thru an old tube PA with trashed speakers. This is not a criticism though. It fit the music perfectly.
I love to see a band really nail retro styles with respect and passion.