Next time you want to post a lament about the state of steel

Dustin Rhodes · Post by **Dustin Rhodes** » 6 Sep 2020 9:46 am

Go to social media and amplify a steel voice. Post a cool steel video to facebook. Like and comment on a YouTube video. Post a review on a steel album. If you're a member of other music related forums post about steel topics.

6 string, drums, bass, synthesizers, etc. have so many influencers on the internet keeping them in front of people. There is a very popular drum channel where a gentleman plays 30's and 40's era drums and drum styles. Gypsy jazz guitar has lots of fans on the internet. Same with bluegrass, blues, rockabilly, and other music styles that have nothing to do with what is popular on the radio in 2020. Just yesterday I watched a YouTube video with millions of views of a girl playing a Simon & Garfunkle song on the Harp. The harp. Internet forums didn't even exist to complain on when the harp went out of fashion.

Kevin Fix · Post by **Kevin Fix** » 6 Sep 2020 11:23 am

I post videos of me playing along with cover tunes on Face Book and YouTube. I done it more to keep up my chops. I have gotten a lot of views on both.

Dustin Rhodes · Post by **Dustin Rhodes** » 6 Sep 2020 11:24 am

Kevin Fix wrote:I post videos of me playing along with cover tunes on Face Book and YouTube. I done it more to keep up my chops. I have gotten a lot of views on both.

Very cool. It seems like steel stuff always generates interest from musicians and people who love the sound.

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 7 Sep 2020 10:08 am

Excellent post, Dustin.

K Maul · Post by **K Maul** » 7 Sep 2020 3:16 pm

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 8 Sep 2020 1:14 am

The next time someone wants to lament about the state of steel guitar, I think they should first pop their head out of their silo/foxhole and look around more broadly and see that it's in very good shape indeed. Especially since this lockdown, I get more-or-less weekly requests for info from people I know asking about a steel guitar they're looking at and/or advice on starting. And there are lots of videos with steel guitar all over the place now - and I agree, always more good vids out there are better. I don't do FB and the like, but my primary band posts stuff pretty routinely there and YT.

What I think many are upset about is that they can't make big bucks playing popular music. I don't think this is steel guitar specific - the music biz has changed for pretty much everyone, with few exceptions.

Bill Ferguson · Post by **Bill Ferguson** » 8 Sep 2020 7:07 am

Amen Dustin.

Exactly what I am doing with all my recordings.

Stuart Legg · Post by **Stuart Legg** » 16 Sep 2020 10:44 am

sadly you will get more hits with a video of throwing a steel guitar, Harp, Violin, Banjo and etc.. in a lake than you will with a video of playing a great song.

Curt Trisko · Post by **Curt Trisko** » 16 Sep 2020 10:56 am

Stuart Legg wrote:sadly you will get more hits with a video of throwing a steel guitar, Harp, Violin, Banjo and etc.. in a lake than you will with a video of playing a great song.

If someone on here makes a video of them throwing a steel guitar in a lake, I promise that I will watch it.

Bill Ferguson · Post by **Bill Ferguson** » 16 Sep 2020 10:57 am

Sorry Stuart,
I have to disagree:

My YouTube site
77.6K views in 28 days
4651 views last 48 hours
7504 subscribers.
9.2 MILLION total views

I believe steel guitar is alive and well and will see a major comeback once we get everything open.

Just my opinion

Dustin Rhodes · Post by **Dustin Rhodes** » 16 Sep 2020 11:12 am

Stuart Legg wrote:sadly you will get more hits with a video of throwing a steel guitar, Harp, Violin, Banjo and etc.. in a lake than you will with a video of playing a great song.

Doug Beaumier from this forum has videos with several million views. Doug's teaching and putting steel music in front of people which will go a lot farther for the instrument than ranting on forums and taking pot shots at young people.

Dustin Rhodes · Post by **Dustin Rhodes** » 16 Sep 2020 11:13 am

Bill Ferguson wrote:Sorry Stuart,
I have to disagree:

My YouTube site
77.6K views in 28 days
4651 views last 48 hours
7504 subscribers.

I believe steel guitar is alive and well and will see a major comeback once we get everything open.

Just my opinion

To be fair Bill, 4600 of those in the past 48 have been me watching Tommy Morrell videos.

James Sission · Post by **James Sission** » 16 Sep 2020 11:41 am

There's actually a bunch of steel guitar videos with thousands of views on youtube. Mickey Adams channel alone has 90+ thousand hits not to mention David Hartley, William Litaker and someone named Aaron who has thousands of views on his lessons. I actually know quite a few steel players that seldom, if ever, post here on the forum, so the forum does not enjoy 100 per cent representation of the community. I can tell you there are hundreds of booths at the World Champion BBQ Cookoff here in Houston each year and almost all of them have bands playing in them. Most are country and there are tons of steel players out there working and some of them are pretty young players.

Curt Trisko · Post by **Curt Trisko** » 16 Sep 2020 12:25 pm

James Sission wrote:There's actually a bunch of steel guitar videos with thousands of views on youtube.

And yet there are none that I can think of with steel guitars being launched into lakes. I can pretty much guarantee that if someone slingshots an Emmons into a lake it will become the most popular steel guitar video on there.

Bonus points if they blast it with shotguns while it is in the air.

Any takers?

James Sission · Post by **James Sission** » 16 Sep 2020 2:14 pm

I can't find one either. But I might help the guy if it would prevent me from hearing yet another rendition of Pick Me Up On Your Way Down played in it's entirety with no vocalist. But I'll save that rant for another post.

Ken Pippus · Post by **Ken Pippus** » 16 Sep 2020 2:16 pm

Perhaps we can find a Bentley owner who's anxious to participate?

Doug Earnest · Post by **Doug Earnest** » 16 Sep 2020 5:28 pm

Steel guitar is alive and well. I would be ashamed to say how many orders I have had to turn down since all this virus started. Lots of them are from younger people.

Curt Trisko · Post by **Curt Trisko** » 16 Sep 2020 5:29 pm

Ken Pippus wrote:Perhaps we can find a Bentley owner who's anxious to participate?

You have to think of it as an investment. All those new views and subscribers will bring in enough cash to replace it with a Franklin.

Dustin Rhodes · Post by **Dustin Rhodes** » 16 Sep 2020 5:53 pm

Doug Earnest wrote:Steel guitar is alive and well. I would be ashamed to say how many orders I have had to turn down since all this virus started. Lots of them are from younger people.

Why are you having to turn them down Doug?

James Sission · Post by **James Sission** » 17 Sep 2020 4:30 am

Dustin Rhodes wrote:
Doug Earnest wrote:Steel guitar is alive and well. I would be ashamed to say how many orders I have had to turn down since all this virus started. Lots of them are from younger people.
Why are you having to turn them down Doug?

I am not speaking for Doug as I have not communicated with him, but from having recently communicated with several builders in an attempt to buy a new guitar, they seemed to be very busy and not really interested in taking any more orders. Anyway, I guess at some point, a builder has to decide how far behind he feels comfortable getting in his work.

Mickey Adams · Post by **Mickey Adams** » 17 Sep 2020 4:59 am

Mickeys channel had 13 million hits over the last 10 years actually.!David Hartley has way more..

James Sission · Post by **James Sission** » 17 Sep 2020 5:09 am

Mickey Adams wrote:Mickeys channel had 13 million hits over the last 10 years actually.!David Hartley has way more..

I guess "channel" was the wrong choice of words, I was actually just referring to ONE of your many videos. Your many videos which many of us are thankful for by the way.

Mickey Adams · Post by **Mickey Adams** » 17 Sep 2020 5:36 am

Yeah I figured as much..

...All good!

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 17 Sep 2020 5:56 am

Iâ€™m doing my part on YouTube:

22 Million views on 39 steel videos
48,000 subscribers
24,000 views per day
98.5 % Likes
20,000+ comments from all over the world

Bo Legg · Post by **Bo Legg** » 17 Sep 2020 8:57 am

I've played around this town and most other places in Missouri since 92. I played about every week end for the last 4yrs at the Country Corral which is only 16mi from this town. I've been advertise all over Facebook but nobody took notice until Stuart and I appeared briefly in the Netflix Tiger King. Now about everyone says "I told so in so I know these guys and that was you guys wow!)