The Steel Guitar Forum

What John Steele said!!!!!Actually "Exactly" what John Steele said!!!
They don't care about the Music...they only care about the dance. There is no feeling in what they are doing out there "entertaining theirselves"..and they gather no feelings for what you are doing on stage. When you are singing a song that has some meaning or story or messege to it; and your wanting it to go out to folks that can use or like to hear it; and all they hear is "bash bash...slide slide...click click....ooooh ooooh.....snap snap"....

Well that's my problem with it. By the way...I shoved a guy right on his a$$ when he came up to me at my steel and asked me for a "tush push" or what ever you call it....well he got his Tush pushed; and then I told him if he wants more....."just come on back anytime now ya hear"
So that's how much I hate it and if you walk up to me and ask for a line dance....that's what your gunna get "Everydamntime"....
Ricky

In Texas it's like Herb said. Big Balls of Cowtown up in Ft. Worth has a cute little motto: "No dancin' on the tables with yer spurs on". "$50.00 fine for line dancin'". "If you didn't come to party, take yer dead a$$ home".

I totally agree with Ricky and John Steele. I wanna puke every time I see a line dance start up (which ain't very often). Go try out for the Dallas Cowgirls if ya wanna be a cheerleader! Line dancin' might be fine for that techno-pop crap but it just ain't right for honky-tonk. Some places I've played in Texas, they might shoot ya' fer line dancin'!

Keep on pickin'!
Glenn

Gotta say I agree 100% with John amd my nieghbors Glenn and Ricky. Some of the better dives 'round here don't allow line dancing, 9 the no line dancing sign will beright next to the "hippies use the side door" sign, and at some places there are enough people of taste and distinction to nip this disease in the bud. In fact I see line dancing very infrequently in Austin, but maybe that's just the places I go, it is probably rife in some of the 'country' discos that every fir size town seems to have.

Every genre has it's own rules of propriety, i.e., John Astin in his role in the movie "Evil Roy Slade" when he told the chamber-music viola player, "Get that fiddle out from between your legs you pervert, and up under your chin where it's supposed to be". www.genejones.com

I agree with all you guys. They are too demanding, they don't drink and spend money. 40 of them will split a Pepsi all night. They think they own the club. They can't do the same kind of dance to a different song. That's why they like DJ's cause it gets played the same every time. It's also why I hate DJ's. Also I have always believed that line dancing was for people that couldn't get dates. The only problem is if you find one on the floor you can't, talk to her,cause she's busy dancing, nor can you buy her a drink cause she's dancing. And you can't take her home without taking her four fat/ugly friends home too, cause she rode with them. As far as the guys go the one in evry club also has a chain on his billfold, and a rodeo buckle big enough to kill a horse. Even though he's never been on or near one. Should I go on?

------------------
1985 Emmons push-pull, Session 500, Nashville400, 65 re-issue Fender Twin, Fender Tele

"there's a troubadour in a beer joint, playing to empty chairs", dear Lord, I didn't realize it was so depressing everywhere else too. Alas, and Ricky says he's not touring anymore. What am I supposed to listen to? I've been listening to me since I was seventeen and frankly I bore myself by now. I'm begging you! get Dale up my way again! Please!!

Greg Vincent wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><HR><SMALL>My trouble with line dancers is that they don't request SONGS, they request kinds of DANCES. They also expect the category of dance to be announced before you launch into the song so that they'll know how to dance.

This requires that the band know which songs correspond to a "tush push" and which are good for an "electric slide" etc. So now we musicians also have to become familiar with all these different line dance forms, which is an area many of us have no interest in.

Plus we have to count the dance off for them! </SMALL><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I've played in several bands that had this down pat. The front man would announce the dance, wait for the dancers to line up, and then count "5 6 7 8" during the song's intro. The dancers and the club owner all like this stuff. Of course, it only works in clubs that really cater to line dancers. To me, it seems to be a good alternative to playing for a bunch of drunks.

Some musicians need applause. I'm not one of them. I just need a good band and good sound on stage. The pay at the end of the night is always nice, too.

Line dancers in honky tonks can be a pain, but in their own venues they are fine by me.

------------------
<small><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (E7, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bobby Lee on 04 January 2002 at 11:27 AM.]</p></FONT>

By the way, the band The Groove Grass Boys have a wonderful version of the Macarana. Sounds like latin hip-hop meets Ralph Stanley. I used to play in a band that would pop this song into the CD player during breaks when someone would ask for the Macarana. What a scream!

Keep on pickin'!
Glenn

I sometimes wonder what drives couples to partake in this curious form of dance. There must come some 'moment' when they look into each others eyes and realize, "Honey, you know what our relationship needs...? Line dancing!

There is wisdom in what Herb says.
Line dancers. Cheap. They don't drink (except water). They are more interested in their clothes than the music. They are a bunch of tight a$$es that don't know how to have fun. Non orgasmic. Too white. They are known for closing down clubs here in western N.Y. They need to listen to Charlie Robison. Please make them go away.

I would venture to say that most musicians don't dance, and most dancers wouldn't know the first thing about playing an instrument. To the average person it's all about entertainment. People who go to clubs are sociable types. Line dancing serves that purpose. People who go to concerts want someone else to entertain them. Musician types(professional/hobbyists) want to hear and watch the band. Myself, I don't understand why people enjoy line dancing. But then, i post here in this forum. How many line dancers would go out of their way to find this web site? You would likely find them in a chat room talking about their children, pets, etc. My point is that a musician's perspective will always be different than the majority.

P.S. Ricky's reply made me chuckle.

To paraphrase what I heard above, line dancers strike me as folks who really should get a life.

A bunch of people trying to be this one herd of wallowing wildebeests, and with the ultimate hope of something in common, but failing miserably in both.

ChipsAhoy

The line dance scene is pretty weird. It is still sorta popular in new England which is the land where trends go to die.

At least the gigs pay and you get to play 4 sets so there is time to work out new ideas.

The way I look at it is I would rather be playing than complaining. You gotta gig or you don't gotta gig.

Bob

<SMALL>A bunch of people trying to be this one herd of wallowing wildebeests, and with the ultimate hope of something in common, but failing miserably in both.</SMALL>

..I take it you don't make your living as a group therapy counselor..

<SMALL>line dancers strike me as folks who really should get a life.</SMALL>

Whoa!! The situation as I see it is that line dancers are just folks who have found something they like to do, and are out doing it... like fishermen, hobbyist musicians, guys who play softball, etc.

I mean, THEY aren't on a computer forum whining about how steel players aren't playing the music they want to dance to. They simply go find a source of music that they CAN dance to.

Guys (and I feel consistent here since my original post didn't "diss" line dancing ), line dancers don't owe us a living.

Sad to say, but it seems to me that WE'RE the ones that need to "get a life."

------------------
Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

If I wanted to be in step with everybody else I'd join the army.

------------------
John Paul Jones

GFI U-12
Evans FET500 amp
ART T2 effects
HM-4 harmony machine

Well, I still think they look pretty dang silly out there flopping around like that...

<SMALL>I mean, THEY aren't on a computer forum whining about how steel players aren't playing the music they want to dance to.</SMALL>

I dunno. Does www.linedancers.com have a message board?

(PS - I haven't even checked to see if that's a real site or not.)

Those with WAY too much time on their hands could always do a search of the web and newsgroups for "line dance" and "steel" and see what turns up.

What we are really talking about here is the difference between dilettantes and people who have passion and commitment; people who can be led around, like sheep, to follow a trend, buy the latest style, whether it's clothing, the 'new country' music or the newest sit-com, or people who have thought about what they are doing and who have made conscious choices and are focussed.

I read somewhere that the difference between Style and Fashion is that Style is for people who know who they are.

Some people just like to line dance.

I don't know who's right here, I've run up again really annoying people in clubs that were line dancing, ballroom dancing, two-stepping, and not dancing at all. I am enjoying the discussion however. Bobby Lee, you should get the award for having the ability to say the most with the fewest words. "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...." Herb, you should be on a mountaintop in Tibet, answering questions everything from line-dancing to the meaning of life! And wisdom doesn't come just from your college years, can't tell you how many degree-toting idiots I've known. Not to say education doesn't help (Of course it does!) but wisdom is a gift and you've got it.

To quote one of my other favorite Forumites:
"Is this a great Forum or what?"

Not much Line dancers that I know of in Nashville, except the "Wild Horse"!

<SMALL>Some people just like to line dance.</SMALL>

I'm sure that's true. I was reading the posts and I was looking for what it is about line dancers that elicits such a strong responce from all these players. So my, admittantly strident, responce was towards line dancers as a generic term, not specific individuals. The line dance fad that I saw, and at times played for, in LA, seemed to be populated with people who went from fad to fad.

Thanks Chas,
That's what I was trying to get across. Guess
I'll be more direct next time.

ChipsAhoy

I used to play a lot of fiddle and b@njo for Square and Contra dances, and I can tell you that there's generally 4 kinds of people that attend these things: 1) musicians, 2) dancers, 3) dancers who have some modicum of appreciation for the music, and 4) musicians who likes to dance (transl. needs to get l@id).

For Category 2, I always thought that I could have easily gotten up there and kept up a strong beat on a set of pots and pans and it wouldn't have made a difference. I just kinda figured that line dancers had a lot more in common with the motives driving Category 4. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Steve Feldman on 07 January 2002 at 03:11 PM.]</p></FONT>