Playing steel guitar for 8 hours

[Paul Sutherland]

I've got two gigs tomorrow, noon to 4 pm at a local winery, and then drive 115 miles to play from 8 to midnight at a club in Sparks, NV. That's a whole lot of time in the saddle. Any suggestions besides don't drink the alcohol? Well maybe just a little.

[Tony Prior]

Don't drink the alcohol !

[Marty Broussard]

Get a room in NV and SIP the alcohol. 🤷‍♂️

[b0b]

Don't drive home. Book a room in Sparks and go to it right after the gig.

Don't leave your instrument in the car overnight.

[Jon Light]

If heat & dehydration come into play, I have a friend who does mega-endurance marathons (like...100 miles) and off-trail running. I nearly killed myself playing in extreme hot sun a couple of years ago and he told me "ALWAYS!!!! V-8!!!" He swears by it and says that other stuff like Gatorade is pure sugarwater bullshit.
I've heeded his advice to good effect.
Just fwiw.

[Joel Jackson]

Get a room in NV and SIP the alcohol. 🤷‍♂️

Solid advice.

[Paul Sutherland]

All good advice. There is an option for a room in Sparks provided by the club, so I'll see how I feel at the end of the gig. I've driven home later and farther, but not after playing two gigs, one in moderate heat.

I hadn't heard about V8. I'll pick some up. I've packed lots of non-alcoholic drinks so I should stay well hydrated.

It will be in the 80s for the afternoon gig, but we set up with good shade cover. Then my truck's AC is working strong, so I'll get cooled down driving to Sparks. Nevertheless, 4 hours plus in elevated temps takes it's toll. The drive home is the big concern.

[b0b]

Funny, I don’t think of “in the 80s” as an elevated temperature. Here in Cloverdale 80s is a cool day.

[Paul Sutherland]

I pulled into my driveway shortly after 4 am. Tired but alive. I don't think I want to do that again.

For some strange reason the posting time is one hour off.

[Lee Gillespie]

Hi Paul...Does the ole teach good to hear your still picking. Yaaa... in past years I;ve done similar things. Is it all for the love of the steel guitar or MONEY ?????
Maybe both...... I remember one time drove 250 miles to Lone Pine Wy. for 3 hour gig.. Then home to play the next afternoon at a club here in Cheyenne...Those were the good ole days???? Have a great day Lee G.

[b0b]

I pulled into my driveway shortly after 4 am. Tired but alive. I don't think I want to do that again.

For some strange reason the posting time is one hour off.

Check your timezone in Settings/Preferences at the top of the page. For Pacific Daylight Time, it should be GMT-7 hours.

[Rich Upright]

Don't drive home. Book a room in Sparks and go to it right after the gig.

Don't leave your instrument in the car overnight.

Problem with that is you wind up spending what you made. On those rare occasions when I have 2 gigs that are far from my house but in the same area (like in 4 weeks) I only take the gig if I can stay at some band member's house that night that is local, or I sleep in my truck.

[Larry Dering]

I would have a problem driving home in the cool ac after the heat. Hard to stay awake. Plus the long day and heat make fatigue. No thanks at my age, but it was tough in my younger years.

[Jim Fogarty]

I know no one here wants to hear it, but......

Be thankful you're on steel, not guitar or bass! I double all the time, especially in the summer for outdoor gigs and parties, and the band gigs where I play guitar or bass are the hardest. Generally, you're expected to stand the whole time, and especially on bass, play the entire time you're standing there. Being able to take a chorus off here and there and grab water, or just sit back and lay out a bit, is huge.

Now, the load-in and out is whole 'nuther story!!

[Larry Bressington]

Ive done a ton of marathon road time Paul, one stint was for a decade….I turned a suburban into a mini rolling motel, I have lived in it for months, quite doable and comfy, I would definitely crash down after the gig and not drive home, especially unless you’re sleep patterns are dialed into those hours, plus there’s only two types of people on the highway that time of night, drunks and cops…and wildlife of course.

It can be quite expensive living on the road so if you want to save some money and you have a plug-in cooler you should go to a grocery shop and load up, eating out will eat you up fast, buy yourself a pack of waters like a 24 pack etc and sandwiches, buying water and such at $2-4 a crack is another money eater.

You’re an awesome player, Have a great gig Paul! 👍😊

[Matthew Walton]

If heat & dehydration come into play, I have a friend who does mega-endurance marathons (like...100 miles) and off-trail running. I nearly killed myself playing in extreme hot sun a couple of years ago and he told me "ALWAYS!!!! V-8!!!" He swears by it and says that other stuff like Gatorade is pure sugarwater bullshit.

Interesting, I never considered V-8 for that. To be fair I'm not a fan of tomatoes so I don't often consider V-8 in general.

I've been playing at Six Flags Over Texas this summer, and it's a beatdown heatwise. Four 30 minute sets 1:00 to 4:30, so generally about 5 hours in the sun including a half mile walk each way.

What I've been doing is pour 16 oz of Body Armor or coconut water into my trusty 64 oz (1/2 gal) vacuum insulated Stanley growler and fill the rest of the way with cold water. Drink what I can during the first two sets, then pour my second 16 oz Body Armor into the growler, fill back to the top with water, and drink that for the last two sets. I usually drink the last of it on my trip home. Watering it down that much helps avoid that syrupy sweet sensation I get from drinking it straight.

(Actually I usually mix 8 oz coconut water 8 oz Body Armor per fillup, but figured the above would read less convoluted.)

I can't speak to the relative effectiveness of Gatorade vs Body Armor vs coconut water vs V8 vs Pedialyte etc, but it's kept me from feeling totally dead when I get home.

[Chris Templeton]

When I played with Hula Groups on Kauai, for the shows it visually was better for me to play standing up.
Ray Knapp, who played on Maui, made me a stand for my Sho~Bud Jerry Byrd Frypan so I could play standing up.
Ray went to some harbor where they had big Matson shipping containers and "borrowed" parts from them to make the housing for the guitar.
I supplied the legs.
I didn't like playing standing up and for the show, I often would switch volume pedal legs , otherwise, I'd run the chance of throwing my back out (chiropractic bills).
Fast forward to working for Robert Randolph as a roadie and steel tech in 2002..
I discussed a design for a stand-up pedal steel I had in mind with Robert on the bus.
When I went to Robert's show here in Vermont, about 2-3 years ago, I saw a stand-up pedal steel like the one we had discussed.
At sound check, I went to the front of the stage and had a brief chat with Robert and motioned to the stand-up steel on stage and said,
"That's my steel".




I remember watching Barney Isaacs playing standing up and don't believe he used a volume pedal with his Magnatone.