Sacred Steel on Internet Radio

Lucky Oceans · Post by **Lucky Oceans** » 5 Dec 2002 6:50 pm

Hello fellow enthusiasts,

In my role as a radio presenter in Australia, I've prepared a show on Arhoolie Records' Sacred Steel series. This show is available from our internet site until about December 11th. Here's the Link for listening: www.abc.net.au/rn/music/planet/index/default.htm

for the right sequence, listen to the nightly planet first, then the daily planet.

all the best,

Lucky

Brendan Mitchell · Post by **Brendan Mitchell** » 6 Dec 2002 2:16 am

Hey Lucky
When does the show go on the air in real time?
Brendan.

Craig Stock · Post by **Craig Stock** » 6 Dec 2002 4:29 am

Real cool Lucky, Nice job, and thanks for providing the link.

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Regards, Craig

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 6 Dec 2002 8:18 am

Very nice stuff Lucky, I'm listening now and it's great! As a heads up to others, on the same site, I'm looking forward to listening to George Washingmachine (what a name!

) with his 13 piece western swing band and Felicity

singing with him.[This message was edited by Jim Smith on 06 December 2002 at 08:18 AM.]

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 6 Dec 2002 9:00 am

Thanx Lucky for the link and the great Musik
i love Robert's version of "you've got to move"
keep up the good work

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Steel what?

Bob Blair · Post by **Bob Blair** » 6 Dec 2002 10:00 am

Thanks Lucky - great stuff!

Jerry Brightman · Post by **Jerry Brightman** » 6 Dec 2002 12:32 pm

Hey Lucky,

Great link..and I spoke to Kurt Johnston the other day..says to say "hi".

Jerry http://www.slidestation.com

Lucky Oceans · Post by **Lucky Oceans** » 8 Dec 2002 10:45 pm

Thanks, Craig, Jim, Crowbear, Bob and Jerry.
Yes - Ranolph's version of 'You Got to Move' has a bit of everything in it!
Say hello to Kurt for me - I hope he's still playing. Brendan - the show goes to air at 3:05 PM and also at 11:20 PM every weekday on Radio National - 621 AM in Melbourne.

all the best,

Lucky

Bob Stone · Post by **Bob Stone** » 9 Dec 2002 3:33 pm

Lucky,

Thanks for the post. Great job.

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 9 Dec 2002 8:19 pm

I just listened to this show, what a great set!. I was surprised and honored to see a cut from me included. The only reason I played Amazing Grace in the Sacred Steel convention appearence is because Calvin Cooke asked me to play it right before I went on stage.

Lucky Oceans · Post by **Lucky Oceans** » 10 Dec 2002 7:31 pm

Thanks, Bob and Dan, for your comments and your ongoing contributions.

Gord Cole · Post by **Gord Cole** » 11 Dec 2002 12:30 pm

Thanks! Enjoyed the link a lot !!!
Gord

Bob Stone · Post by **Bob Stone** » 12 Dec 2002 7:38 am

Hi Lucky,

Since my first post I found some time to listen closely to most of the Nightly Planet segment. You really did a terrific job on the program. In my opinion, your interpretation of the "sacred steel" genre is right on the mark. You did your homework and presented the music in a most articulate and engaging manner. You make it sound easy, but anyone who has done radio knows it's not easy.

Yesterday I interviewed Ray Ray Holloman's grandmother, Bishop Snelling. She was delighted when I told her of her 16-year-old grandson's prime placement in a radio broadcast from Australia. It made her day--mine too!

Thanks again for doing such a great job. The musicians and tradition-bearers certainly deserve it.

Keep up the great work.

Best regards,

Bob

Lucky Oceans · Post by **Lucky Oceans** » 12 Dec 2002 8:47 pm

Thanks Bob,

That means so much, coming from you, with all your knowledge of the genre. I can tell you that I had a very pleasant week going through all the sacred steel releases. The great thing is that the deeper I went into it, the more variety I found and the more excited I became about where it is going.

I have tried to incorporate elements of the style into my own playing but it doesn't seem appropriate to one verse or even two verse solos - you really have to stretch out. I also wonder how essential the tuning is to the style. And the use of effects - it's so fresh! That distortion that Chuck Campbell uses on one of the tracks I programmed - what's that from?! I'm really looking forward to seeing some of this music live when I come to the US in March or April of 2003.

All the best,

Lucky

Harry Hess · Post by **Harry Hess** » 13 Dec 2002 5:15 pm

Lucky,

Great to hear from you. I gotta find that radio show. I wonder when it's on here in the Philly area?

When you come home in the spring, please give me a holler and come by to see me and my studio in Blue Bell. You remember Blue Bell, right? Right down the road from your area, isn't it?

I still remember when I had to send my Sho~Bud to Nashville for repairs and you lent me another one to cover my gigs with Doug. I always remembered & appreciated your kindness for that.

It'd be great to see you again. I have 2 D-10 Emmons and a SD-10 C6 Fessenden here in my studio. C6 neck in front with pad and 5 pedals and 4 knee levers over to the right in the standard C6 position.

Regards,
HH
wb3jfw@comcast.net

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 13 Dec 2002 5:41 pm

Lucky,

On that Pass Me Not cut, Chuck was using a combination of a reverse auto wah (from a Boss envelope filter) along with a wah pedal. I don't know what kind of distortion he was using, he might have been playing straight. The Sacred Steel guys don't use a lot of distortion pedals, but they tend to play loud, and with a lot of attack, which can sound like a distortion effect.

I have one correction to your notes. On the Amazing Grace cut, I'm playing all the leads, Chuck Campbell is just playing bass and rhythm on the steel. That is a great compliment that you thought it was him on the first part of that selection. That's all me on standard E9th. Using maybe two pedals and a single knee lever.

In terms of your comments about the tuning, I think it does makes a fair amount of difference. I have been playing a modified Sacred Steel tuning (an E9th/SS hybrid) and it really has made a huge difference in terms of what I can pull off in this style. For lead stuff, you can pull off quite a bit on the E9th (or C6th), but the single note stuff is a small part of their style. I learned the most about the style by learning to play lap steel in a simple Sacred Steel tuning.

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www.tyack.com
[This message was edited by Dan Tyack on 13 December 2002 at 05:43 PM.]

Lucky Oceans · Post by **Lucky Oceans** » 15 Dec 2002 10:10 pm

Hey Dan -

That's wild - distortion from natural overdrive - you don't get that from a Session 500. Your distortion sounds pedalized, though. Have you sent me your CD?

Thanks,

Lucky

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 16 Dec 2002 9:49 pm

I've been meaning to send you a CD, but as everybody who knows me can attest to, I'm a little flakey at times.......

In terms of my tone on that Sacred Steel release, it was just a Franklin pedal steel (vanilla E9th) through a THD Univalve tube head. No effects whatsover (including reverb). Now I was driving the head more than a little bit, which gave that tone, but I don't know of a pedal which could sound like that (believe me, I have been looking for decades).

Bob Stone · Post by **Bob Stone** » 23 Dec 2002 7:54 am

Hi Lucky,

We are indeed the lucky ones to have a radio host as sharp and perceptive as you. keep up the great work.

Sorry to be a little slow in responding. Dan is of course right about Chuck's wah effect. The only steelers we have recorded using the old Morley roto-wah are Glenn Lee on CD 450 and Footie Covington on CD502.

Bishop Lorenzo Harrison, whose non-pedal steel guitar style dominated the Church of the Living God, Jewell Dominion (and pretty much still does) used one of those giant old Morley roto-wahs. Consequently, many Jewell steelers use them. The rot-wahs distort the signal. Of course, they are getting rather hard to find and maintain so many use newer wahs, but Moreley is usually the brand preference.

I'll add to what Dan says about tunings, but he knows a lot more than me. Darick Campbell use a E13, with the C# on the second string and a 7th somewhere in the bass. I can't recall him ever playing anything that sounds like a 6th chord. But he really likes having the 6th degree right there for his single string work. For the past 3 years or so Darick has been using a vintage chrome Morley wah (not a roto-wah).

As a rule, the non-pedal sacred steelers use some variant of Emajor or E7 for 8-string tunings and Dobro tuning, pitched anywere from G to Bb, for 6-strings.

Maybe Chuck will chime in about what he uses for distortion. He used it more when he had his old white MSA (the steel he played on CD461 Pass me Not) in an effort to get more sustain out of that particular steel. When we recorded Pass Me Not he was not playing that loud. He had to be adding some distortion/overdrive.

As for incorporating sacred steel ideas into your playing, that could be a subtle, almost unconscious thing that comes with time. If you have this stuff in your head--and soul--it will find a way to be expressed. As far as playing a lot of music in the
"sacred steel" style, that might only make sense in a church or gospel context--just a notion of mine. Something to ponder. remember, these guys and gals are steeped in the sound from infancy!

Chuck's "Silent Night" (from their Holiday CD)is an excellent example of applying the sacred steel sound to mainstream music. It's absolutely a masterpiece---arrangement, execution, the whole nine yards--in my opinion.

By the way, I thought it was really cool that you played Lisa Lang's piece. One of my goals is to get Kim Love on a recording. She's great on steel as well as rhythm/lead guitar.

Happy Holidays everyone--wherever you are and whatever your beliefs.

Bob