The Steel Guitar Forum

Yea, what Bobbe said!

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Steel crazy after all these years.
Emmons Lashley Legrande 111 S-10, Nashville 1000, Peavey Stereo chorus 212, Peavey Classic 50/410, Lexicon MPX 100

UH-HUH---UH-HUH

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"LET'S GO STEEL SOMETHING" If it feels good, DO IT, if it feels "COUNTRY", do it TWICE
JPP

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by John P.Phillips on 25 May 2001 at 06:38 AM.]</p></FONT>

ERIK...I think you nailed it!!! My sentiments exactly. Bobbe you're right. It's incumbent on all of us to bring our instuments with us as music evolves or be lost in history. I think PF said it best. These are "Transition times".

Whew! I still recall my pasword.

I loved country music before I knew what a steel guitar was. The steel is probably the main ingredient -- instrumentally -- that hooked me.

These days I rarely listen to country radio because it just doesn't appeal to me and I think it's a bit fraudulent to call most of what they're playing "country". But call it what you want, it just isn't what I'm after.

Having said that, I find that my motivation for practicing and playing steel has declined greatly; never having played professionally, it's not a bread and butter thing here. (I'm also working longer and harder hours these days.) It has definitely cut down on my CD purchases too.

I know that my kind of country isn't dead and gone, but in hibernation thanks to the 70's rockers running Nashville these days. I'll wait 'em out.

Have a great long weekend. I'm tagging some vacation on to both ends and attending my baby girl's high school graduation. I might even take a few turns behind the Emmons LeGrande.

<SMALL>Country of today will die a slow antaginizing death</SMALL>

How about a slow agonizing death, it's me that's being antagonized. Chas
p.s. where did you get that PHD?

I've been playing steel since 1975. Through the late 70's till the late 80's, I played an average of 5 nights a week. Then, all those line dancers started appearing with the special songs only heard on their top 40's radio stations. What was a very happy and creative time for me, turned into pure hell. They could only dance to the songs they were told to dance by.We tried explaining about meter and beats, but to no avail. The new Nashville and the radio stations were in control. I live on Long Island,N.Y. and believe it or not,back then, we had about a dozen clubs to play at. And that includes N.Y.C. Today, there is but one club left.A few come and go, but never last. The new music is not all bad,but,on a whole the criteria has definitely changed. I've worked with the newer genre, and never have I walked off the stage satisfied. It's as if you're having a juicy hamburger with all the toppings, except the meat is tofu. Maybe, if we all complain enough to our friends in music town, the trend would come about. I don't personally know the answer. I only know that I'm really not happy with what's coming out of Nashville these days
Sincerely,
John De Maille
P.S.
Started listening to country on WJRZ, in the middle 60's

What we need for the masses is another Ricky Skaggs! Somebody that has respect for the standards and the drive to change things.Maybe Brad Paisley could do this for the young crowd as well as for the trad.lovers of country music.Twang with steel is country ; twang by itself is twang.

Chas, Believe me,It's antaginizing me while it's dying.I'll say again, I don't care, Lets just have more steel!
The PHD ? Cracker Jacks,Remember them?

Right Bobbe! I remember "Cracker Jacks"...5 cents a box, and a nice metal toy inside!

Nowadays, they're 79 cents a box, and the toys are all made of paper!

Actually, they had to stop featuring metal and plastic toys. It seems children started choking on them. That really says something about the kids nowadays, doesn't it? Back when I was a kid, we didn't try to eat our toys, we just played with them! Anyway, I digress.

I'd like to hear more steel in the recordings today, but I guess they have to be careful, and "sterilize it for the masses". Too much of that old "whiney steel stuff", and you can go from Garth to "Jethro Bodine" in the eyes of the mainstream public. The last song to have a "really significant" amount of steelwork was "Lost In The Feeling"! But, that's been a couple decades ago.

I just wish someone would let the musicians "cut loose" on at least one song. Is that asking too much? Then they could go back to that "formulaic" stuff everyone seems to like so much.

In other words...Nashville...do "one for the gipper".