The Steel Guitar Forum

Forgot to add Steve Hinson to the list-he played some great steel on Danni Leigh's records-Danni's one of my favorite singers and one of my musician friends who loves the steel guitar, and of course Don Helms on Hank Williams' recordings-I'm always amazed by the steel on Hank Williams' songs. I'd heard Don play "Cold Cold Heart" at a few steel guitar shows I played and was amazed every time.

Brett

Johan Jansen wrote:Every player that can play anything I can't. And there are lots of them But the most Paul Franklin, because of his approach, tone, technique. His personality is in his music, fantastic!
JJ

Funny you should respond on this thread Johan. I have a whole string of YouTube videos I hopscotch around for inspiration and motivation. Cash On Delivery is right there among them!

May sound strange, but even if I were a kazoo player, the person who inspires me to practice and learn is Danny Gatton. Doesn't matter what instrument, kinda hard to explain,,,,,,,,,,

Usually the odd man out in threads like this, but for me its all about, Bruce Kaplan, Greg leiez, b.j. Cole, and Daniel lanois

There was a Daniel lanios post a few weeks back and I think I played more pedal steel after watching those videos again than I have in a long time.

It's all about what music inspires you. That airy, dark, ambient, sound is what does it for me. Those guys do it so well.

When I was starting out, some 30 odd years ago, all of the greats inspired me to play. The more I heard them play, the more I wanted to play like them. Nowadays, it's the phrasing and the licks that inspire me, when, I hear them. All of my heros, past and present, are so good, it's hard to choose just one or two. I guess that's why my playing is like the Heinz 57 variety, a little bit of everything blended into my style. It's just too hard for me to choose.

Definately Bill Hankey! Everytime I read his posts that I don't understand a word of, I close my computer and go back to the woodshed.

Peter Nylund wrote:Definately Bill Hankey! Everytime I read his posts that I don't understand a word of, I close my computer and go back to the woodshed.

...and woodsheds in Finland can be cold.

I'm glad you said "players" and not just steel players. I pretty much listen to music, not instruments, if you know what I mean. Mr. Gimble sez:

I highly suggest you include your allotted listening appreciation to big band ditties from decades ago. Play close attention to their back up punches... Fast forward... Sonny Rollins, Joey DeFrancesco, Barney Kessel and way many more names... I don't recall the ditty, but as I regularly tuned into a big band swing radio station, low and behold, that lick was being sung by three ladies. Bottom line, inspiration in my opinion should include other avenues.

And Mr. Van Allen & Mr. Hinson concur....

There are three periods of Miles Davis that just pin my ears back - 1956-1960, 1969 to 1971, and 1983 to 1985. Those might seem like short periods, but consider that he recorded "Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet", "Working with the Miles Davis Quintet", "Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet" and "Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet" - all in one two-day session. The number of bands mining the "Bitches Brew" era actually seems to be on the increase lately. I'm really just trying to figure out what he was thinking - learning specific licks isn't all that helpful because his sense of timing, and drama, are deeply bizarre. And, does Joe Bach even count as a player? It would be quite rare for me to go two or three days without listening to some part or parts of the Sonatas & Partitas for solo violin. Anoushka Shankar's lately been getting under my skin pretty good; Debashish Bhattacharya and Kala Ramnath have been there for a good decade or more. There's so many... this is really kind of an impossible question, for me.

And me said above:

I pretty much listen to music, not instruments, if you know what I mean.

This, unfortunately, I believe is due to the profound paucity of steel guitarists writing and arranging compelling music with deep and toothy substance to it - especially in steel guitar's own fatherland, America! (does Daddyland sound better... ) I mean, we-all know about Susan Alcorn and Chris Combs and Dave Easley, but they-all don't. We do tend towards not being frontmen leaping about and showing off our tattoos, but I think it's basically just a numbers game. If one out of five hundred people who picked up a six-string ends up developing into a great songwriter, fine. But if one out of every five hundred steel guitars does the same... There's not too much composing to go around with!

Ray Eicher of course! He is my steel teacher. Then Buddy Charleton, Buddy Cage, Franklin, Green, Sneaky Pete, JD, and just about anyone else I heard on records.

Currently working on:

Randy Beavers - Wind Beneath My Wings and Close to You.

Frank Carter maker of the Infinity Guitar - Come Monday, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Amarillo by Morning

Mike Headrick - Pancho and Lefty

Hal Rugg - Send in the Clowns

Russ Hicks - Ghost in this House, When You Say Nothing at All

This guy does. His name is Tom Quayle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjmZWN4J_I8

And this guy...Rick Graham
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tq3a2K5J6s

and this gentleman also.... Guthrie Govan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J503OvHWKko

One that has been left out.....(i think) is Milo Deering. I love his approach to music and his cool videos on YouTube here's one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIHD4bkUojM

John Billings wrote:May sound strange, but even if I were a kazoo player, the person who inspires me to practice and learn is Danny Gatton. Doesn't matter what instrument, kinda hard to explain,,,,,,,,,,

+1,000,000!!!
Also Chuck Rich.

Curly Chalker.

Opps. Back when I was steel playing steel.

Who inspires me to practice?
The guys that sound like crap!!

John Billings wrote:May sound strange, but even if I were a kazoo player, the person who inspires me to practice and learn is Danny Gatton. Doesn't matter what instrument, kinda hard to explain,,,,,,,,,,

I can imagine why you are drawn to Danny Gatton, John, because You are a very, very, good lead guitar player, as well as a steel player! I have never heard you play steel, but I have heard other people describe you as a steel player, as,"Bad Ass" Gotta get out and hear you, sometime! As for, what sends me to my music room, to practice--It's definitely MOONEY! His technique, and that bright, clean, tone--whew,get me heading for my PSG, muttering,"How does he do that?" Of course, all the others inspire me, also, but if I could play like only one of the greats, it would definitely be Mooney! -Jake-

Without a doubt Paul Franklin, Lloyd Green & David Hartley. But I also like to listen to Mickey Adams teaching lessons on You Tube.

YOU!. You're Certainly no slouch on the E9th steel guitar. I've always appreciated your videos Mickey.
Tennessee Lee

Gary Lee,I know the triad lick you mean...Sonny Osborne played it on"Making Plans"...Buddy played a different version of it on"Danny Boy"...the two guys I heard play that lick the most were Jimmy Day and Hal Rugg...

I was in a hotel in downtown LA late one night after a Randy Travis show and,like you,had the radio tuned to a big band station...I heard the same lick!Not sung but played by strings on a ballad...I just about fell out of the bed!

My own love of the sound of the steel guitar started in the late 1940s when I
bought some records by the Al Kealoah Perry Hawaiian group (I probably spelled his name wrong) and because of my love for country music, Little Roy Wiggins
with Eddy Arnold, Don Helms with Hank Senior, Pee Wee Whitewing and Bob White with Hank Thompson, Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant, Bud Issacs and, of
course Jimmy Day, Buddy Emmons, Lloyd Green, Curley Chalker and oh so many others through the 50's.

When I started learning, I never knew the names of who I was listening to on the records, just what a wonderful sound they made...But if you want to get your socks blown off, just go to a few steel guitar shows.....Besides the established players, there are some really excellent players out there, like Mike McGee, Austin Stewart, Bobby DeMoss, Larry Tolivar, Fred Justice, just to name a few......It's well worth your time to check these shows out, as they offer a lot of unknown talent!!

Paul Niehaus
Maggie Bjorklund
Bill Elm
Gary Brandon

David Mason wrote:...It would be quite rare for me to go two or three days without listening to some part or parts of the Sonatas & Partitas for solo violin...

Couldn't agree more on this inspiration! I've now a habit of falling asleep to a playlist of these by various artists, hoping that it will settle deep into my subconscious. I have also downloaded midi files to slow down and study since my reading is terrible. Watching and listening to Chris Thile rip effortlessly on the mandolin (with eyes closed, or smiling at his audience), I am profoundly moved by the sheer beauty and technicality of Bach's music written hundreds of years ago.

Bach mainly applies to guitar for me though, not steel. For inspiration there I like to listen to steel radio or steelradio (web channels with nothing but steel oriented music), and play along as best I can. Also Youtube videos of any of the greats. I recently discovered that by using the html5 player instead of the flash player there is a setting option where the speed can be set to .5 (half speed), and the pitch doesn't change! This is great for fast stuff that goes by quicker than the eyes and ears can perceive whats really going on.

Clete Ritta wrote: I recently discovered that by using the html5 player instead of the flash player there is a setting option where the speed can be set to .5 (half speed), and the pitch doesn't change! This is great for fast stuff that goes by quicker than the eyes and ears can perceive whats really going on.

There's an even better way. There's a free Firefox extension/add-on called "Download Youtube videos as MP4". You can then use Transcribe! to slow them down to any speed you want without changing pitch.

Most of them make me want to burn mine.