L.A.'s Jeremy Wakefield Shines with "Asleep at the Wheel"

Al Gershen · Post by **Al Gershen** » 14 Jul 2001 9:53 am

Hi SGF:

I took photos film and digital photos at the "Asleep at the Wheel" concert at the Rogue Theater in Grants Pass, Oregon last night, July 13, 2001 (my ears are still ringing; music at 105 DB) and I must say that I was very delighted with the non-pedal steel playing by Jeremy Wakefield.

Jeremy plays an old 1950's double-neck, 8 string Rickenbacher Hawaiian steel guitar (owned for about 10 years) and it sure had a very pleasant Hawaiian/Country type sound. He was playing thru a pair of Peavey Nashville 400 amps and his sound was very clear and strong.

He has a C-6 tuning on the front neck with a high G string and a low Bb string, and his back tuning is something like an E-13 but he has chromatic strings on the bottom of the tuning.

He was very delightful to chat with and he's been with the band for only about 10 days. He told me that he's a member of a country band (I don't remember the name) in L.A. and that that group may start touring soon. He also says that he doesn't play pedal steel guitar very often.

My digital photos of the concert taken without flash (none allowed) with a low resolution JVC GC-S1U ditital still camera are at the URL:

http://www.rvi.net/~aldg/Aldg's%20Photos/With%20JVC%20GC-S1U/Rogue%20Theater%20July%202000/Asleep%20at%20the%20Wheel%20Band/

(The film photos will be sent out for processing soon and I will scan some of them and add them to the URL later.)

If you get a chance to hear Jeremy on the current tour of Asleep at the Wheel, I think that you will be very pleased with his playing.

Enjoy the photos!

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Regards,
Al Gershen
Grants Pass, Oregon. USA
Fender 1000 (1957),
Fender PS 210 (1972) &
Gibson Electraharp EH-820
(1962)
Pictures of PS 210 &
EH-820 at http://www.rvi.net/~aldg

Joe Goldmark · Post by **Joe Goldmark** » 14 Jul 2001 4:25 pm

Jeremy is a phenom. He's the best young player I've seen on this coast. I say young because he's young and hasn't been playing very long (5-8 years I'm guessing), but he's already better than most of us. He plays the heck out of non-pedal steel, which to me is harder than pedal, cause there's no crutches. He's also a great guy, check him out. The band he's in in L.A. is the Smith Ranch Boys, but he also tours with Wayne Hancock, Deke Dickerson and others in the retro country scene. Joe

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 14 Jul 2001 4:31 pm

The band he's in in L.A. is the Smith Ranch Boys...

JW's no longer with the Lucky Stars?

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 14 Jul 2001 4:56 pm

I highly recommend Jeremy's CD "the Hot Guitars of Biller & Wakefield". It runs the gaumet from Speedy West/Jimmy Bryant influenced swingers to classy steel instrumentals like Wakefield's original, "Foggy Island". There are some sound files at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000I8XC/qid%3D995158162/102-1578224-8902539

Chris DeBarge · Post by **Chris DeBarge** » 15 Jul 2001 1:05 pm

Just saw him with the Lucky Stars in April, felt like slamming my fingers in the car door! I think they're his primary band, though I didn't know he joined the Wheel. With the Lucky Stars he plays an old Bigsby, what a sound!

chas smith · Post by **chas smith** » 15 Jul 2001 3:07 pm

Amen Joe, I've known him for years and everytime I've heard him play, the question of, could he be that much better than the last time or am I just getting worse, comes up. He really is a great example of how hard work and perseverance pays off.

Mark Durante · Post by **Mark Durante** » 17 Jul 2001 3:30 am

Jeremy is a great player and a nice guy. I'm sure they sound great with him.[This message was edited by Mark Durante on 17 July 2001 at 04:36 AM.]

Sam Marshall · Post by **Sam Marshall** » 19 Jul 2001 4:18 pm

Just saw him Monday night in Phoenix with the Wheel. Great show!!!!

Sam in AZ

Al Gershen · Post by **Al Gershen** » 16 Sep 2001 8:30 pm

Hi SGF:

Here are two scanned photos I took of Jeremy Wakefield at the same concert July 2001 using my 35mm Minolta Maxxum 7000.

The first photo was during the concert (no flash allowed):

The second photo was while Jeremy was getting ready to tear down his gear. He was kind enought to pose for me and I could use my flash:

These pictures are late in coming and I hope that you enjoy them. Jeremy's a fine player and he should be a significant musical force for years to come.

Regards,
Al Gershen