I enjoy Daniel Lanois playing pedal steel. His style is so different and creative. However, if you read the comments on the following video, you will see the diverse reactions to Daniel's playing. It seems people either love his style or hate it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q3gAYHv7pc
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Moderator: Shoshanah Marohn
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Jamie Mitchell
- Posts: 440
- Joined: 20 Mar 2014 9:52 pm
- Location: Nashville, TN
I can't believe anyone could hate that! Its astonishing how beautiful it is. His ability to manage those ambient textures is genius.Allan Kirby wrote:I enjoy Daniel Lanois playing pedal steel. His style is so different and creative. However, if you read the comments on the following video, you will see the diverse reactions to Daniel's playing. It seems people either love his style or hate it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q3gAYHv7pc
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Alan Bidmade
- Posts: 458
- Joined: 8 Nov 2011 12:53 pm
- Location: Newcastle upon Tyne UK
Great thread and much useful info... although it's getting to be a 'my dad's bigger than your dad' argument.
What I'd say is - go as far outside the box as you want, but don't forget the box itself...
I think PF's thread was more about the innovations, not just the players.
My $0.02? Red Rhodes.
Ho hum.
What I'd say is - go as far outside the box as you want, but don't forget the box itself...
I think PF's thread was more about the innovations, not just the players.
My $0.02? Red Rhodes.
Ho hum.
Ben-Rom #017 'Lorelei', Guild D25, Epiphone 'Joe Pass', Roland 40XL, Hilton VP
First name Alan, but known as Nick
First name Alan, but known as Nick
The players who are most successful at pushing music forward in interesting directions are often people with a real knowledge and respect of tradition and history. The best examples I can think of right now are Thelonious Monk and Arnold Schoenberg, who were both deeply entrenched in tradition: Monk had very strong stride piano leanings and Schoenberg was schooled in the Viennese style, especially Brahms.
In my view, Buddy Emmons had a foot in the past, for sure, but he was also closer to it chronologically, since steel guitar is a relatively young instrument. This put him in a great position to help create the modern tradition. I'm not sure what players thought in 1960 about Buddy's jazz recordings, but even 50+ years later, they still hold up amazingly well. Buddy followed his heart and pursued music that he was passionate about, and you can hear that passion and urgency in his playing, which is what has always made it great.
He was also a problem solver. The creation of the E9 copedent and the constant attempts to perfect the mechanics of steel guitar were borne out of his creative needs.
There will never be another Buddy Emmons, or another Jerry Byrd, or Sol Hoopii, but there will be other names that will be spoken of with the same great reverence in the future. There will be game changers and it will all be spurred on by the need to fulfill creative desires and directions.
In my view, Buddy Emmons had a foot in the past, for sure, but he was also closer to it chronologically, since steel guitar is a relatively young instrument. This put him in a great position to help create the modern tradition. I'm not sure what players thought in 1960 about Buddy's jazz recordings, but even 50+ years later, they still hold up amazingly well. Buddy followed his heart and pursued music that he was passionate about, and you can hear that passion and urgency in his playing, which is what has always made it great.
He was also a problem solver. The creation of the E9 copedent and the constant attempts to perfect the mechanics of steel guitar were borne out of his creative needs.
There will never be another Buddy Emmons, or another Jerry Byrd, or Sol Hoopii, but there will be other names that will be spoken of with the same great reverence in the future. There will be game changers and it will all be spurred on by the need to fulfill creative desires and directions.
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David Mason
- Posts: 6072
- Joined: 6 Oct 2001 12:01 am
- Location: Cambridge, MD, USA
If you search under the YouTube moniker of:
Gen Tamura - Pedal Steel Guitar
You'll come across these videos, of two Japanese gentlemen who demonstrate a working knowledge of many forms, but mainly, play stuff that is completely unlike anything coming out of Nashville, New York, Los Angeles or anyplace else. In the course of six videos they touch upon jazz, classical, ambient and who knows what-all other labels - but ALL of it with great feeling, tone and style. Talk about UNHEARD OF? Yikes.... Both Hiroki Komazawa & Gen Tamura are best known as composers in their native country, but that doesn't interfere with their steel chops one bit!
1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZlG-7s ... 1B&index=1
2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XqBXd6 ... 1B&index=2
3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbLqRh7 ... 1B&index=3
4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvcn-wxut4g
5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMctH0gAA4g
6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQWUn0f ... freload=10
For several years now, it has seemed to ME - opinion only, of course - that the best country music is coming out of Canada and Australia, and the jazz coming out of the Scandinavian countries has a natural, unforced quality which appeals to me more than the "I'm New! I'm Radical!" flavor behind much modern America jazz. ~OPINION~
~OPINION~ I know, but that's short for saying I suspect the "next big thing" in steel may come winging in from somewhere unexpected.
Gen Tamura - Pedal Steel Guitar
You'll come across these videos, of two Japanese gentlemen who demonstrate a working knowledge of many forms, but mainly, play stuff that is completely unlike anything coming out of Nashville, New York, Los Angeles or anyplace else. In the course of six videos they touch upon jazz, classical, ambient and who knows what-all other labels - but ALL of it with great feeling, tone and style. Talk about UNHEARD OF? Yikes.... Both Hiroki Komazawa & Gen Tamura are best known as composers in their native country, but that doesn't interfere with their steel chops one bit!
1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZlG-7s ... 1B&index=1
2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XqBXd6 ... 1B&index=2
3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbLqRh7 ... 1B&index=3
4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvcn-wxut4g
5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMctH0gAA4g
6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQWUn0f ... freload=10
For several years now, it has seemed to ME - opinion only, of course - that the best country music is coming out of Canada and Australia, and the jazz coming out of the Scandinavian countries has a natural, unforced quality which appeals to me more than the "I'm New! I'm Radical!" flavor behind much modern America jazz. ~OPINION~
~OPINION~ I know, but that's short for saying I suspect the "next big thing" in steel may come winging in from somewhere unexpected.-
Charlie McDonald
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- Location: out of the blue
Absolutely love this.David Mason wrote:Hiroki Komazawa & Gen Tamura
Dance of Whales/Whispering Reef
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Mark van Allen
- Posts: 6378
- Joined: 26 Sep 1999 12:01 am
- Location: Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Wonderful thread, Paul, and addressing one of the penultimate discussions I've always heard among steelers- who's playing most brought steel to where it is, and/or who's playing most stretched the envelope to new dimensions.
I think both questions relate a great deal to where an individual stands as he/she looks at the steel world. We obviously inhabit a playing culture that has a deep pool of tradition and reverence for that. Folks leaving en masse to "protest" Buddy Cage's direction at the ISGC… for the folks that resent change, the ultimate expression may be a reverential cover of "Way To Survive" or "Farewell Party"… interestingly, the originals were often innovative in their time, but have become cemented into classic images of "what good steel is". There is a fine NPR program called The International Americana Show https://www.prx.org/series/33513-the-in ... music-show showcasing "Americana" from everywhere but America. I often hear steel in 5 out of 6 songs, usually based in classic country or country-rock styles from "our" past. I hope folks who bemoan the "death" of traditional playing can tune in to some of that- it's certainly alive and well around the world. I mention this because there seems to be a strong (worldwide) feeling that simply preserving traditional approaches within new performances is advancing the steel.
There have always been players, as many have mentioned, who seem driven to blaze new styles or approaches, some using a "currently traditional" instrument or copedant, and others through mechanical or tuning innovation. Or like Buddy, both, and everything! For instance, there are vast stylistic differences between the "rock" approaches of Buddy Cage, Sneaky Pete, Daniel Lanois, and Paul Franklin, but I'm betting all excite those interested in rock or new frontiers, as much as they might sometimes irritate those who prefer the more commercial steel sounds of the past.
Buddy's innovative use of splitting unisons, lowered 6th string, cascading harmony, etc. etc. became a part of the lexicon of "classic" playing as did the hot licks and chromaticism the Opry guys were pouring on in the 70's, even though much of that was radical thinking at one time.
Rusty Young displayed a high level of technique, and mostly "classic" tone, applied to what many considered country rock, but he did play his guitar with a mic stand and chair, foreshadowing the stage pyrotechnics of Robert Randolph. While RR's style and approach are "new" and attention-grabbing to the younger jam-band and rock fans he's appearing in front of, much or most of his style rests in the long tradition of Sacred Steel worship music from his background. He's certainly taken it to a larger venue. The innovative applications of electronic effects to rock playing by Sneaky Pete, Lanois, Cage, and others might be jarring to a fan of clean steel sounds, but it's simply the application of approaches long used by six string guitarists, (which may help explain the growing popularity of effects on steel on current Nashville recordings).
I found your (Franklin's) approach to rock with Dire Straights extremely inspiring, absolutely blazing speed and technique using innovative note choices along with emotional textural playing… I had high hopes that exposure of your approaches to millions on their tours might result in many "converts" to rock steel. I hope they're out there!
What I'm attempting to say is that, as with most other instruments, the evolution of the steel lexicon seems to be rooted in the past and tradition, as several here have mentioned, and with the exception of a few radical experiments, the "box" being gradually expanded and re-imagined, rather than completely re-invented.
Along my musical path, I've noted many, many players who seemed to be driven to excel through competition- faster playing, punchier blocking, or hotter licks… and while those certainly impress other players they don't seem to make much impression on the larger listening public. The ambient approach of Daniel Lanois, effected rock of Cage and Sneaky, front-and-center pyrotechnics of Robert Randolph, seem to get more attention, press, and visibility. It may be that those kinds of innovation are what catches the public ear the best. Whether that equals "progress" again depends where one stands to look at it.
It bears remembering that Santo and Johnny's clean melody swept the world at one time, and it may be that the right clean instrumental, or the right clean back-up to a pop song at the right moment, might do it all over again. I suspect that tastes and the musical distribution and delivery system are so different now that it will take something more. Maybe explosions?
I think both questions relate a great deal to where an individual stands as he/she looks at the steel world. We obviously inhabit a playing culture that has a deep pool of tradition and reverence for that. Folks leaving en masse to "protest" Buddy Cage's direction at the ISGC… for the folks that resent change, the ultimate expression may be a reverential cover of "Way To Survive" or "Farewell Party"… interestingly, the originals were often innovative in their time, but have become cemented into classic images of "what good steel is". There is a fine NPR program called The International Americana Show https://www.prx.org/series/33513-the-in ... music-show showcasing "Americana" from everywhere but America. I often hear steel in 5 out of 6 songs, usually based in classic country or country-rock styles from "our" past. I hope folks who bemoan the "death" of traditional playing can tune in to some of that- it's certainly alive and well around the world. I mention this because there seems to be a strong (worldwide) feeling that simply preserving traditional approaches within new performances is advancing the steel.
There have always been players, as many have mentioned, who seem driven to blaze new styles or approaches, some using a "currently traditional" instrument or copedant, and others through mechanical or tuning innovation. Or like Buddy, both, and everything! For instance, there are vast stylistic differences between the "rock" approaches of Buddy Cage, Sneaky Pete, Daniel Lanois, and Paul Franklin, but I'm betting all excite those interested in rock or new frontiers, as much as they might sometimes irritate those who prefer the more commercial steel sounds of the past.
Buddy's innovative use of splitting unisons, lowered 6th string, cascading harmony, etc. etc. became a part of the lexicon of "classic" playing as did the hot licks and chromaticism the Opry guys were pouring on in the 70's, even though much of that was radical thinking at one time.
Rusty Young displayed a high level of technique, and mostly "classic" tone, applied to what many considered country rock, but he did play his guitar with a mic stand and chair, foreshadowing the stage pyrotechnics of Robert Randolph. While RR's style and approach are "new" and attention-grabbing to the younger jam-band and rock fans he's appearing in front of, much or most of his style rests in the long tradition of Sacred Steel worship music from his background. He's certainly taken it to a larger venue. The innovative applications of electronic effects to rock playing by Sneaky Pete, Lanois, Cage, and others might be jarring to a fan of clean steel sounds, but it's simply the application of approaches long used by six string guitarists, (which may help explain the growing popularity of effects on steel on current Nashville recordings).
I found your (Franklin's) approach to rock with Dire Straights extremely inspiring, absolutely blazing speed and technique using innovative note choices along with emotional textural playing… I had high hopes that exposure of your approaches to millions on their tours might result in many "converts" to rock steel. I hope they're out there!
What I'm attempting to say is that, as with most other instruments, the evolution of the steel lexicon seems to be rooted in the past and tradition, as several here have mentioned, and with the exception of a few radical experiments, the "box" being gradually expanded and re-imagined, rather than completely re-invented.
Along my musical path, I've noted many, many players who seemed to be driven to excel through competition- faster playing, punchier blocking, or hotter licks… and while those certainly impress other players they don't seem to make much impression on the larger listening public. The ambient approach of Daniel Lanois, effected rock of Cage and Sneaky, front-and-center pyrotechnics of Robert Randolph, seem to get more attention, press, and visibility. It may be that those kinds of innovation are what catches the public ear the best. Whether that equals "progress" again depends where one stands to look at it.
It bears remembering that Santo and Johnny's clean melody swept the world at one time, and it may be that the right clean instrumental, or the right clean back-up to a pop song at the right moment, might do it all over again. I suspect that tastes and the musical distribution and delivery system are so different now that it will take something more. Maybe explosions?
....I understand many are talking about their personal fav's today and that's totally cool, I have mine as well......Sadly there was no internet or cell phones for sharing visual and audio broadcasting from the best generation of explorers....Basically I'm left with nothing but my memories of something new and unique.....Many of the firsts and often the best of what anyone witnessed from the past has to be shared through memories.
Buddy Emmons, Julian Tharpe, Reece, Lloyd, Weldon, Rugg, Chalker, Drake, Haynes, Speedy, Rusty, Zane, Vance Terry, Byrd, Alvino Raye, Fields.....and many more forward thinkers learned to play in the times when all genres of music commercial and non-commercial were evolving and advancing in astronomical ways.
Here are some firsts I witnessed.
In the early seventies Buddy Emmons with Lenny Breau jammed occasionally around town. When they had the right rhythm sections, they would play post Bop songs like Giant Steps, Impressions, etc and would take it totally avant guard. I heard Buddy do things due to his extremely fast and precisely flawless technique that I have not heard from todays modern explorers....I believe that is because Buddy was a total master of all musical genres which always gave him the edge when he decided to reveal his abilities.....
Buddy like Hank Garland knew and understood the greatness in all forms of music and they were just like Miles who also understood the beauty in drawing from a deeper well. Buddy could pull greatness from anywhere....But I'm not sure who is the first to explore the areas Dave and Susan are pursuing...Because there were many steel guitarists in those days who were creating non steel sounding approaches. And that stretches all the way back to Alvino and Speedy making sound effects for movie scores.....Sadly most were undocumented.
In the late 60's I heard Julian improvise to the sounds of the city coming from an open window......He picked the strings in the keyhead. He held the volume pedal down and lifted the guitar at one end and dropped it creating sympathetic vibrations and on and on..He had total control of the instruments sonic possibilities.....Beautiful at times, soft sounds with no picking heard and then frantic for the tense sounds of squealing brakes. Throughout that experience, his steel and genius responded freely to the sounds coming in from that window...At the time, I was too young to grasp the depths of what I had just witnessed....Just like Ornette, Julian said music is everywhere if you choose to listen. His lesson was spontaneous and very influential to a 13 year old kid........In the early 90's I was hired by Lyle Lovett to play in a band scoring the film starring Richard Gere, " Doctor T and The Women ".....This type of gig is pretty much improvisational.....The director and their musical librarian inserts examples of styles in the length the music should be applied and then whoever is hired to score replaces each example with a similar sounding improv......When it came to the tornado scene which was about 7 minutes long or more they wanted a totally free piece.....Lyle doesn't use synth so I used everything I saw Buddy and Julian do in those free form jams.....It was fun.... I had listened to so much Coltrane by then...Its totally a call and response thing.
In the early 70's many steelers were creating sounds never before heard from the instrument. Weldon using drone notes...His Steel was the string section on Linda Ronstadt's first charted single. I was so impressed hearing Weldon emulate the sound of a locomotive. By using a lot of distortion and bass and not so much highs he placed his left palm on the strings muting them and then by a waving motion with his right palm he made a rhythm much like a train's rhythm........In one of the avant guard moments jamming with Lenny, Buddy did the same with his left palm only with his right hand he hit the strings with his picks randomly and very rapidly just like a hammer dulcimer....His steel sounded very much like the way rewinding tape sounds through the speakers.......And in the 60's, before synth, many players on both coasts were hired do do sound effects because of its established variations such as sitar bars, cut off broom handles for a bar that made the instrument sound percussive and much like a banjo and so on.
Gotta run....
Buddy Emmons, Julian Tharpe, Reece, Lloyd, Weldon, Rugg, Chalker, Drake, Haynes, Speedy, Rusty, Zane, Vance Terry, Byrd, Alvino Raye, Fields.....and many more forward thinkers learned to play in the times when all genres of music commercial and non-commercial were evolving and advancing in astronomical ways.
Here are some firsts I witnessed.
In the early seventies Buddy Emmons with Lenny Breau jammed occasionally around town. When they had the right rhythm sections, they would play post Bop songs like Giant Steps, Impressions, etc and would take it totally avant guard. I heard Buddy do things due to his extremely fast and precisely flawless technique that I have not heard from todays modern explorers....I believe that is because Buddy was a total master of all musical genres which always gave him the edge when he decided to reveal his abilities.....
Buddy like Hank Garland knew and understood the greatness in all forms of music and they were just like Miles who also understood the beauty in drawing from a deeper well. Buddy could pull greatness from anywhere....But I'm not sure who is the first to explore the areas Dave and Susan are pursuing...Because there were many steel guitarists in those days who were creating non steel sounding approaches. And that stretches all the way back to Alvino and Speedy making sound effects for movie scores.....Sadly most were undocumented.
In the late 60's I heard Julian improvise to the sounds of the city coming from an open window......He picked the strings in the keyhead. He held the volume pedal down and lifted the guitar at one end and dropped it creating sympathetic vibrations and on and on..He had total control of the instruments sonic possibilities.....Beautiful at times, soft sounds with no picking heard and then frantic for the tense sounds of squealing brakes. Throughout that experience, his steel and genius responded freely to the sounds coming in from that window...At the time, I was too young to grasp the depths of what I had just witnessed....Just like Ornette, Julian said music is everywhere if you choose to listen. His lesson was spontaneous and very influential to a 13 year old kid........In the early 90's I was hired by Lyle Lovett to play in a band scoring the film starring Richard Gere, " Doctor T and The Women ".....This type of gig is pretty much improvisational.....The director and their musical librarian inserts examples of styles in the length the music should be applied and then whoever is hired to score replaces each example with a similar sounding improv......When it came to the tornado scene which was about 7 minutes long or more they wanted a totally free piece.....Lyle doesn't use synth so I used everything I saw Buddy and Julian do in those free form jams.....It was fun.... I had listened to so much Coltrane by then...Its totally a call and response thing.
In the early 70's many steelers were creating sounds never before heard from the instrument. Weldon using drone notes...His Steel was the string section on Linda Ronstadt's first charted single. I was so impressed hearing Weldon emulate the sound of a locomotive. By using a lot of distortion and bass and not so much highs he placed his left palm on the strings muting them and then by a waving motion with his right palm he made a rhythm much like a train's rhythm........In one of the avant guard moments jamming with Lenny, Buddy did the same with his left palm only with his right hand he hit the strings with his picks randomly and very rapidly just like a hammer dulcimer....His steel sounded very much like the way rewinding tape sounds through the speakers.......And in the 60's, before synth, many players on both coasts were hired do do sound effects because of its established variations such as sitar bars, cut off broom handles for a bar that made the instrument sound percussive and much like a banjo and so on.
Gotta run....
Two players stand out in my mind when it comes to avant garde pedal steel: Susan Alcorn and Chas Smith. Both have been on the leading edge for a long time, and have avid fans among people who love experimental music.
Both are also active Steel Guitar Forum members.
Both are also active Steel Guitar Forum members.
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video
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Mark van Allen
- Posts: 6378
- Joined: 26 Sep 1999 12:01 am
- Location: Watkinsville, Ga. USA
- Contact:
I agree that much has been lost to the ether over the years… I surely wish I had been able to see Alvino or Joaquin Murphey play live in their heyday, Just hearing the intake of breath from the whole ballroom on transcriptions from live Spade Cooley shows as he says… "Joaquino…" and they knew they were about to be blown over. Maybe not so much specific techniques, but the whole approach those two had changed the world for many, including Buddy as I understand.
Sharing these memories of yours, Paul, does at least expose many of us to these new techniques and experiences, many thanks.
I'd like to relate about my experience when at Jeff Newman's first advanced/teachers class, late 70's… one of the nights we spent downtown watching you play with what was "the non-touring band of the year". You very graciously spent your breaks sitting with my friend and I talking steel, but what I remember most was the depth of emotion and expression in your playing. We left feeling on top of the world, thinking "what could top that?' And heard some steel leaking out of one of the bars on Broadway. One guy asleep at the bar- and Buddy Emmons on bass backing Chalker on steel. I think I left my body.
Sharing these memories of yours, Paul, does at least expose many of us to these new techniques and experiences, many thanks.
I'd like to relate about my experience when at Jeff Newman's first advanced/teachers class, late 70's… one of the nights we spent downtown watching you play with what was "the non-touring band of the year". You very graciously spent your breaks sitting with my friend and I talking steel, but what I remember most was the depth of emotion and expression in your playing. We left feeling on top of the world, thinking "what could top that?' And heard some steel leaking out of one of the bars on Broadway. One guy asleep at the bar- and Buddy Emmons on bass backing Chalker on steel. I think I left my body.
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Matt Elsen
- Posts: 366
- Joined: 4 Aug 1998 11:00 pm
- Location: Deer Harbor, Orcas Island, WA
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Paul Stauskas
- Posts: 400
- Joined: 13 Feb 2015 11:56 am
- Location: DFW, TX
- Contact:
He is one of my favorite players. A true master of many styles with a unique voice of his own on the instrument.Matt Elsen wrote:Bruce Kaphan, too!
Last edited by Paul Stauskas on 19 Sep 2015 6:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Damir Besic
- Posts: 12261
- Joined: 30 Oct 2000 1:01 am
- Location: Nashville,TN.
- Contact:
thank you, I enjoyed that very much...David Mason wrote:If you search under the YouTube moniker of:
Gen Tamura - Pedal Steel Guitar
You'll come across these videos, of two Japanese gentlemen who demonstrate a working knowledge of many forms, but mainly, play stuff that is completely unlike anything coming out of Nashville, New York, Los Angeles or anyplace else. In the course of six videos they touch upon jazz, classical, ambient and who knows what-all other labels - but ALL of it with great feeling, tone and style. Talk about UNHEARD OF? Yikes.... Both Hiroki Komazawa & Gen Tamura are best known as composers in their native country, but that doesn't interfere with their steel chops one bit!
1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZlG-7s ... 1B&index=1
2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XqBXd6 ... 1B&index=2
3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbLqRh7 ... 1B&index=3
4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvcn-wxut4g
5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMctH0gAA4g
6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQWUn0f ... freload=10
For several years now, it has seemed to ME - opinion only, of course - that the best country music is coming out of Canada and Australia, and the jazz coming out of the Scandinavian countries has a natural, unforced quality which appeals to me more than the "I'm New! I'm Radical!" flavor behind much modern America jazz. ~OPINION~
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Johnny Cox
- Posts: 2985
- Joined: 4 Aug 1998 11:00 pm
- Location: Williamsom WVA, raised in Nashville TN, Lives in Hallettsville Texas
- Contact:
Great thread Paul. One of the greatest things Buddy did was add the F# & Eb strings to the E tuning. It completely changed the way everyone played the E tuning. He first did it on strings 8 & 9 of a D9 Sho-Bud. The first record he used it on was "You Took Her Off My Hands by Ray Price". Until this point everyone was playing E6th.
The extremely Commercial licks that Pete Drake played on his early sessions were on C6th. Some of the prettiest stuff I've ever heard. The first hit being "Anymore" by Roy Drusky.
The extremely Commercial licks that Pete Drake played on his early sessions were on C6th. Some of the prettiest stuff I've ever heard. The first hit being "Anymore" by Roy Drusky.
Johnny "Dumplin" Cox
"YANKIN' STRINGS & STOMPIN' PEDALS" since 1967.
"YANKIN' STRINGS & STOMPIN' PEDALS" since 1967.
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Ian Sutton
- Posts: 421
- Joined: 7 Jul 2009 8:04 am
- Location: San Francisco, CA
I'm a big fan of what Maggie Bjorklund is doing with the steel guitar. A great player, and nary a mention of her here on the forum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNvIBBU8bL8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNvIBBU8bL8
Some gear.
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Bud Angelotti
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- Location: Larryville, NJ, USA
- Contact:
Going back to the importance of tradition & history,
let's not forget that the steel guitar, as we know it, does not have, relatively, a long tradition & history. Now don't get upset
It's only since the advent of electricity that we have these electric instruments. It's not 100 years yet. Yes, folks where playing "slide" type musical machines, but as already mentioned, they are, largely, lost to time.
Horns & keys etc., have 100's of years of stylistic development.
The jazz and classical players, Monk etc., that have been spoken of, have 100's of years of history and tradition to borrow from.
So we borrow from them, for now.
Thats's OK. We'll catch up.
let's not forget that the steel guitar, as we know it, does not have, relatively, a long tradition & history. Now don't get upset
It's only since the advent of electricity that we have these electric instruments. It's not 100 years yet. Yes, folks where playing "slide" type musical machines, but as already mentioned, they are, largely, lost to time.
Horns & keys etc., have 100's of years of stylistic development.
The jazz and classical players, Monk etc., that have been spoken of, have 100's of years of history and tradition to borrow from.
So we borrow from them, for now.
Thats's OK. We'll catch up.
Just 'cause I look stupid, don't mean I'm not.
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rick andrews
- Posts: 207
- Joined: 4 Aug 1999 12:01 am
- Location: Westminster Co 80031
I'm glad this thread has been started. Paul, it seems to me that this is an excellent opportunity for you to take the bull by the horns here.
I would love to see you take on a new project that takes the pedal steel into an expanded venue. You used to have some samples on your web page. Maybe expanding on those ideas would be a starting point.
Or maybe something free, could be anything from Ornette Coleman to Grateful Dead style improv. Or tunes with a latin influences. Maybe a composite multiple ideas...
I bet you could get just about any musicians in the world that you wanted to work with on this.
Yeah, you may not make much $$ doing it but hey...something you again added to the steel realm has its own merits!
I will be anxiously waiting.
I would love to see you take on a new project that takes the pedal steel into an expanded venue. You used to have some samples on your web page. Maybe expanding on those ideas would be a starting point.
Or maybe something free, could be anything from Ornette Coleman to Grateful Dead style improv. Or tunes with a latin influences. Maybe a composite multiple ideas...
I bet you could get just about any musicians in the world that you wanted to work with on this.
Yeah, you may not make much $$ doing it but hey...something you again added to the steel realm has its own merits!
I will be anxiously waiting.
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Drew Pierce
- Posts: 380
- Joined: 15 May 2013 9:46 am
- Location: Arkansas, USA
I am and always have been a bar band player. So I guess the question, to me, is who are we playing for? Ourselves? Our band mates? The audience? Who's box do we want to get outside of?
Buddy did an interview some years ago in which he talked about how tired he got of playing what he described as "all my cliches". Anybody who's played years in country cover bands knows exactly what he was talking about. But the fact is, what most band mates and bar patrons really want to hear from the pedal steel is THAT sound. They want to hear those cliches. They want to hear Buddy's intro on "Someday Soon", Brumley's fills on "Together Again" and basically anything Hamlett did with Merle or Mooney did with Waylon, and so on. That's what they come to hear and those are the sounds that really take them where they want to go. And there's a certain magic when that happens, however cliche'd it may be.
Buddy did an interview some years ago in which he talked about how tired he got of playing what he described as "all my cliches". Anybody who's played years in country cover bands knows exactly what he was talking about. But the fact is, what most band mates and bar patrons really want to hear from the pedal steel is THAT sound. They want to hear those cliches. They want to hear Buddy's intro on "Someday Soon", Brumley's fills on "Together Again" and basically anything Hamlett did with Merle or Mooney did with Waylon, and so on. That's what they come to hear and those are the sounds that really take them where they want to go. And there's a certain magic when that happens, however cliche'd it may be.
Drew Pierce
Emmons D10 Fatback, S10 bolt-on, Zum D10, Evans RE500, Hilton volume and delay pedals.
Emmons D10 Fatback, S10 bolt-on, Zum D10, Evans RE500, Hilton volume and delay pedals.
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chris ivey
- Posts: 12703
- Joined: 8 Nov 1998 1:01 am
- Location: california (deceased)
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Craig Schwartz
- Posts: 713
- Joined: 18 Jul 2009 6:39 am
- Location: McHenry IL
Whats new on PSG
Ok I'll give this a shot .
keeping it simple so even a new player that knows nothing can understand this and possibly venture out a little some day.
Comparing products has always been the value for customers, lets say keeping a strong root of a tree healthy you have to have a basic line of understanding what a tree needs ,
You could say the trunk is the bass, the roots are drum line, and the singer is how beautiful the tree looks all together from a distance, the branches are the guitarists, And for the PSG it is the blooming flowers that attracts its customers
Symbolically or Biblically even Ironically we as PSG players are the bearing fruit of this trees beauty,
The forfathers of the strings and a steel bar and dreamers of the pedals and levers , captured many customers , the element of destruction is disease and bad weather would compare to money being involved somehow, thats why 3/4 of the players cannot make a decent living playing music ,
Theres a lot of factors here that have been conquered by Buddy , Franklin, well all of them that fought through and were given the gift to make a decent living here , me im a dreamer .
Attracting new birds and bees to the tree seems to be the only reason God made the tree in the first place. And that my friends is why were still here .
We are all trying to keep this tree healthy with new ideas , its a very important topic.
keeping it simple so even a new player that knows nothing can understand this and possibly venture out a little some day.
Comparing products has always been the value for customers, lets say keeping a strong root of a tree healthy you have to have a basic line of understanding what a tree needs ,
You could say the trunk is the bass, the roots are drum line, and the singer is how beautiful the tree looks all together from a distance, the branches are the guitarists, And for the PSG it is the blooming flowers that attracts its customers
Symbolically or Biblically even Ironically we as PSG players are the bearing fruit of this trees beauty,
The forfathers of the strings and a steel bar and dreamers of the pedals and levers , captured many customers , the element of destruction is disease and bad weather would compare to money being involved somehow, thats why 3/4 of the players cannot make a decent living playing music ,
Theres a lot of factors here that have been conquered by Buddy , Franklin, well all of them that fought through and were given the gift to make a decent living here , me im a dreamer .
Attracting new birds and bees to the tree seems to be the only reason God made the tree in the first place. And that my friends is why were still here .
We are all trying to keep this tree healthy with new ideas , its a very important topic.
SO MANY LURES, SO LITTLE TIME....
I think that the one of the biggest advances in pedal steel was the invention of split tuning. While there are several different ways of doing it mechanically, the concept itself was an important new way of thinking when playing the instrument. I'm not sure who was the first to use it - there were probably a few people who accidentally had in-tune splits in their copedent - but the general acceptance of the idea (raising and lowering a string at the same time) was a long time coming. It's still something that most intermediate players tend to ignore.
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video
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chris ivey
- Posts: 12703
- Joined: 8 Nov 1998 1:01 am
- Location: california (deceased)
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Richard Sinkler
- Posts: 17067
- Joined: 15 Aug 1998 12:01 am
- Location: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
Use the Google Search option on the search page. It will return so many hits, your head will spin. The regular forum search is useless.chris ivey wrote:i agree! and once again, hadn't buddy come up with the concept long before the legrande was designed?
interestingly enough i did a forum search on split tuning and it came up with 'NOTHING' !!
that seemed odd to me since it's been discussed a hundred times.
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, NV400, NV112 . Playing for 53 years and still counting.
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Bobby Burns
- Posts: 757
- Joined: 7 Apr 2009 10:02 am
- Location: Tennessee, USA
One thing that seems to be missing in a lot modern steel guitar, is the bouncy, twanginess that attracted me to it in the first place. Us steel players tend to get so hung up on exploring all the vast possibilities of the instrument, that we forget how fun it is to hear all those old school sounds that we view as passé. Modern tele players get a lot of mileage out of emulating those kinds of bouncy single string steel licks, and yet steel players seem to want to forget them. I'd like to hear more of that, and less jazz balladry. I think the average young kid, who might get interested in playing steel, or hiring one for his/her band, would get exited by this too. I think "what's new" should be a new perspective on what attracted us to the steel in the first place. A great example of this is Paul Franklin's playing on his and Vince's Bakersfield project.