Any closet rockers out there?

Ulrich Sinn · Post by **Ulrich Sinn** » 16 Mar 2014 5:58 pm

https://soundcloud.com/addtothenoise/tulsa-time

was not really meant for public consumption. Live @ Pappy and Harriets.

You have to tolerate the occasional pedal, though.

chas smith · Post by **chas smith** » 16 Mar 2014 6:00 pm

I've posted some of these before:

Tack at The Viper Room. Steel guitar is the rhythm guitar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am1u47w5 ... qwNSp4Yy4g

Steel guitar plays patterns, scrapes the strings with glass and plays a couple power chords:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK7xrCf0 ... qwNSp4Yy4g

Long tones and some power chords until the 12/8 section, then it's patterns, at The Key Club. We were the opening band and the sound was still getting adjusted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF4jwCzM ... qwNSp4Yy4g

Steel guitar opens with harmonics and power chords, then over at the bar, Kobe sinks a 3 and the Lakers win. No need to continue listening after that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFqG8rTX ... qwNSp4Yy4g

Greg Booth · Post by **Greg Booth** » 16 Mar 2014 6:35 pm

Mike, that was great! Although I play mostly dobro these days, I used to play a lot of rock steel and I love it. My guitar was a 12 string ext E9 and it would rock out. Anyway, I really enjoyed the Hendrix tune, playing AND singing.

Nakos Marker · Post by **Nakos Marker** » 16 Mar 2014 8:22 pm

Kelvin Monaghan · Post by **Kelvin Monaghan** » 17 Mar 2014 2:11 am

Another one here Mike,I work in a 6 piece Rock/Blues and soul band Lap steel and Sax .
I double on guitar but 70% is lap steel ,riffing with Sax lines is a great sound ,cant beat a Bakelite or Gibson thru a cranked amp LOUD ,open E or E7 ,and a bit of C# .

How would a Clinesmith sound cranked .
Cheers

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 17 Mar 2014 3:54 am

Chas, you are the undisputed king and a big inspiration! Your Tack clips are incredible--the level of tension and chaos that you bring to Burned By Your Cigarette are brilliant. Your clip from Deke's Guitar Geek festival is legendary!

Nakos, I suspect we'll be hearing a lot of great stuff coming from you. I can tell you're a lifer!

Thanks for all the other clips, too--very cool stuff. Don't forget that part of yourself! Being a musician is such an amazing thing when you spend a lot of time investigating and learning about other styles of music. I've always been able to focus on specific things for months at a time exclusively, just to really get as much of the essence that I could. But then, I have to go back and see how I can infuse it into my own thing. That's what it's all about, and in that way we are all different. Meeting up in the traditional styles is where we can all find common ground.

Clete Ritta · Post by **Clete Ritta** » 17 Mar 2014 3:59 am

Mike, Ive been a rocker for most of my life actually. From Beatles, Stones to Hendrix and Zep, I ran the gamut through every conceivable form of rock into progressive jazz and fusion (Dixie Dregs, Return To Forever, etc.) in my teens. I was playing stuff then that I can't even recall now. Nonetheless I am proud of my history as a shredder on the guitar.

I also have pretty wide musical tastes, as you do, although country was outside of this obtuse angle of vision. Steve Morse's chicken picking on The Bash and Pride of the Farm was as far as I looked in that direction. I only very recently started listening to country music after moving to Texas in 2003. I initially took up the mandolin and dobro, and then finally got a pedal steel in 2006. Oddly enough, traditional country music and steel is actually "new" to me, and there is plenty to learn from it.

The interesting and inspiring thing is that through learning the pedal steel, my guitar style is changing in new and exciting directions. Oh, and I do use the MXR Dist+ now and again, adapting my slide guitar technique to what little I know on the pedal steel.

The musical journey continues.

Brian McGaughey · Post by **Brian McGaughey** » 17 Mar 2014 5:37 am

Mike, you understand that making music is ultimately about expressing oneself, and you foster that in others by example. I admire that.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 17 Mar 2014 7:27 am

I think most of us here under the age of 70 were raised on rock/pop music of one era or another, and some of that will always be with us. For me it's 1960s... Beatles, and all the British invasion bands, Motown, all the pop music of the '60s and some early childhood memories from the 50s, the Everly Bros, Santo & Johnny, Elvis, the Ventures, etc. My little transistor radio would blast out top 40 AM hits all day long, and I practiced my guitar 4 to 6 hours a day with dreams (delusions) of rock and roll glory!
Later I saw some amazing concerts... in an era when fans could walk right up to the edge of the stage (very little security back then) for a close look/see. I went to Woodstock in 1969. I saw many up close concerts: Led Zeppelin, the Who, Cream, the Byrds, Frank Zappa, John Mayall, Allman Bros, Grateful Dead, Chicago, Mahavishnu Orchestra, early Fleedwood Mac, Jethro Tull, young BB King, Freddie King, Roy Buchanan, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Alice Cooper, Grand Funk Railroad, and many more.
Then I heard Country Music and steel guitar and I was hooked. After that it was total obsession with the steel guitar, going back and learning the country classics, and the country music of the day, 1970s. Playing/practicing steel guitar 6 hours a day or more, Within 3 months I was playing with a weekend country band, and within a couple of years it was 5 nights a week, and then 7 nights a week in house bands for about 10 years. I realized early on the steel guitar was special, rare, and could be a 'feature' in a band. There were hundreds of guitar players in every town, a dime a dozen, but steel guitar... that was a cut above!

Stefan Robertson · Post by **Stefan Robertson** » 17 Mar 2014 9:42 am

Rock. Love it. Hendrix definitely.

I use to play hendrix on steel regularly. I didn't grow up with an exposure to steel guitar so when I first played steel I tried the chordal approach so I could play any rock/acoustic alternative music on steel and sing on my own.

So great to see Mike. Wind cries Mary is nice. Keep it up.

James Hartman · Post by **James Hartman** » 17 Mar 2014 9:48 am

Doug Beaumier wrote:I think most of us here under the age of 70 were raised on rock/pop music of one era or another, and some of that will always be with us. For me it's 1960s... Beatles, and all the British invasion bands, Motown, all the pop music of the '60s and some early childhood memories from the 50s, the Everly Bros, Santo & Johnny, Elvis, the Ventures, etc. My little transistor radio would blast out top 40 AM hits all day long, and I practiced my guitar 4 to 6 hours a day with dreams (delusions) of rock and roll glory!
Later I saw some amazing concerts... in an era when fans could walk right up to the edge of the stage (very little security back then) for a close look/see. I went to Woodstock in 1969. I saw many up close concerts: Led Zeppelin, the Who, Cream, the Byrds, Frank Zappa, John Mayall, Allman Bros, Grateful Dead, Chicago, Mahavishnu Orchestra, early Fleedwood Mac, Jethro Tull, young BB King, Freddie King, Roy Buchanan, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Alice Cooper, Grand Funk Railroad, and many more.
Then I heard Country Music and steel guitar and I was hooked. After that it was total obsession with the steel guitar, going back and learning the country classics, and the country music of the day, 1970s. Playing/practicing steel guitar 6 hours a day or more, Within 3 months I was playing with a weekend country band, and within a couple of years it was 5 nights a week, and then 7 nights a week in house bands for about 10 years. I realized early on the steel guitar was special, rare, and could be a 'feature' in a band. There were hundreds of guitar players in every town, a dime a dozen, but steel guitar... that was a cut above!

I've always felt very fortunate to have grown up in that time. The level of innovation and excitement in the early rock era was perhaps unique, and hugely inspirational for a young musician. 1st big rock concert I attended (1969) had Jeff Beck and Zappa & the Mothers on the same bill, but Sly & the Family Stone were the headliners. A mind-bending experience for a 14 yr old. I still have the ticket stub: $7.

Bob Russell · Post by **Bob Russell** » 17 Mar 2014 12:03 pm

I'm not a "closet" rocker at all. I have taught jazz guitar for a living for many years, so a lot of people think of me that way. But I also play electric guitar, lap steel and pedal steel in an "Americana"-type band. I like to hear David Lindley and Greg Leisz just as much as I like to hear Ralph Mooney or Jerry Byrd or Joe Pass or Jimi Hendrix. There's a lot of beautiful music in the world, and I would rather go out to meet stuff that might be new to me than shut myself off from it.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 17 Mar 2014 3:23 pm

I know Steve Cunningham has played some Steve Vai--that was amazing.

I went to see one of my rock guitar heroes a few weeks back: Michael Schenker. He always loved playing slide, and he did it such a melodic way, even creating harmonies, rather than playing Blues licks. Jeff Beck is another.

I wish Steinar was around.

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 17 Mar 2014 5:08 pm

Mike Neer wrote:I know Steve Cunningham has played some Steve Vai--that was amazing.

I wish Steinar was around.

Steve is an under known treasure even here on the forum, we're lucky to have him around.

I knew Steiner would come up the second I read the title, even if I had to be the first to say it, he is missed.

Hearing/volume issues is what lead me to the steel's mellower aspects long ago in respects to playing, it kept me mentally involved and my ears happier, not to mention those living around me (barely). Just wish I still had the old pair of (JBL loaded) VOTs, those cabs rocked anywhere and loved all my heads.
Oddly, my 50's Magnatone Varsity 8 str. is comfortably set up at the bridge to accommodate a basic plectrum style approach extremely well with great palm muting, it's compact tail and strurdiness really allows you to dig into the strings in full rock fashion and the tones are from Dreamland. But then I want to crank the volume...

Rob Munn · Post by **Rob Munn** » 17 Mar 2014 9:34 pm

Very groovy Mike. Sweet and laid back. Could almost feel the night winds surrounding your environs. Always been one of my favorites and you do it justice. Keep 'em coming.

Michael Brebes · Post by **Michael Brebes** » 18 Mar 2014 7:22 am

I was playing with a country band recently and we did a medley where we went from "Your Cheatin' Heart" into "Smoke On The Water". "Smokeâ€¦" gets a nice almost southern rock feel to it when slamming those power chords on a lap steel. Started with Your Cheatin' Heart in D then used the bridge to move to G and start the chord lick.

Peter Jacobs · Post by **Peter Jacobs** » 18 Mar 2014 8:18 am

Mike - I wholeheartedly agree: no need to stay in the closet -- as everyone on this thread attests, the steel works just about everywhere.

I started playing steel because of David Lindley (and before him, Rusty Young and Sneaky Pete Kleinow, who rocked out on pedal steel), so honestly, I've never played "traditional" styles. Not that I don't appreciate them, but it's not what I want to play.

The electric band I was in for 12 years and the acoustic duo I've been working up for the last year (playing reso and banjo) were/are in the Americana vein -- we channel rock, blues, "roots" music, country and bluegrass. The steel goes with all of it, and I always get a great reaction from listeners.

Love, love, LOVE your version of Wind Cries Mary. Very cool take on this classic.

Matthew Walton · Post by **Matthew Walton** » 18 Mar 2014 9:48 pm

Mike Neer wrote:I've gotten plenty of unfavorable emails from people who think it's a joke to play anything other than traditional music on steel.

The thing that strikes me about this statement is that these are probably the same people who lament about the steel guitar dying.

I was at the TSGA Jamboree this weekend, and to be brutally honest, was bored by most of the music. Let me be clear that this has absolutely nothing to do with the skill level. it is obvious that these players are extremely skilled; however, when all I hear is classic country, I start to fall asleep.

I'll tolerate anything to varying degrees, but I would probably list my preferred genres as big band, western swing, jazz, classic rock, blues, and country rock. My definition of classic rock is pretty broad; I'm ranging from Beatles to Grateful Dead to Dire Straits to Moody Blues. When I say country rock, I'm talking about stuff like Eagles, New Riders of the Purple Sage, etc.

But when I hear classic country, there's something about it that is just an instant turn-off for me. I don't know if this is the actual thing about it that I don't like, or just a side effect, but whenever I hear a swing beat with a 1 3 5 3 pattern, I start looking for a pillow.

I'll go ahead and crawl back into my hole now.

Peter Jacobs · Post by **Peter Jacobs** » 19 Mar 2014 5:13 am

I used to get a lot of flak for playing banjo in "non-traditional" ways. Just because you don't care for someone else's music doesn't make it wrong, just different.

Besides which, the people who came up with what gets referred to as traditional were considered rebels and rule-breakers at the time.

It's one thing to learn from them and expand on what they did, it's a whole different thing to simply mimic them (and stop there).

As Bill Monroe frequently said, "Further the music."

Fred Kinbom · Post by **Fred Kinbom** » 19 Mar 2014 9:50 am

I started out playing metal.

Not on the steel mind you.

For me, the steel guitar is a musical instrument, not a genre. I feel an immense sense of freedom making music on a lap steel, in whatever way feels inspiring.

I haven't played much rock stuff on the lap steel, but since last year I play bass with this Australian artist, and we did a tour last year as a proper power trio, and I loved playing loud music again for the first time in years.

Fredrik

Rick Schacter · Post by **Rick Schacter** » 24 Mar 2014 9:19 pm

Matthew Walton wrote:
Mike Neer wrote:I've gotten plenty of unfavorable emails from people who think it's a joke to play anything other than traditional music on steel.
The thing that strikes me about this statement is that these are probably the same people who lament about the steel guitar dying.
.

Exactly.
I started out as a rock and roller and even though I have added other styles like country and some jazz into what I do, I will always be a rock musician.
I've never been in the closet about it and I won't apologize for it.
Sometimes I hear other musicians say that rock musicians are inferior musicians.
All I have to say to that is...bullshit.

Rick

Jim Pitman · Post by **Jim Pitman** » 26 Mar 2014 12:57 pm

I played for years in a "modern country band" using lap steel with am set on stun.
Although now infrequent, if I whip it out (excuse me) it turns the heads of fellow band members and audience alike.
I consider it a different instrument almost. I play it differently than I play my dobro or my pedal steel. I try to loose the damping a bit, make it a little messy.

Chuck S. Lettes · Post by **Chuck S. Lettes** » 27 Mar 2014 9:10 am

Add me to the list. I started out on the guitar and then heard Duane Allman. From there I developed a love for the slide guitar, and the transition to the pedal steel was inevitable. Here's an arrangement of Trouble No More (originally done by Muddy Waters). I'm using my steel and tenor sax for this one, plus my pal, Rolan Tumblin',on keyboard.
Chuck
http://chucklettes2.zooglelabs.com/trac ... _id=653413

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 27 Mar 2014 9:56 am

Sorry, I'm just a musician. Here's some stuff I did from 1982 with the band Outer Circle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4rLkwBBt3M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJY-O0o5VdY

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