The Steel Guitar Forum

Is this a great thread or what!
Bobbe!

I can't think of one single thing that has contributed more to the steel guitar community than this forum. I know a lot more people today in this community and a lot more about it than I ever would've if it hadn't been for the forum.

I as President of the Rhode Island Steel Guitar Assoc.Put on 4 Steel Guitar Jamborees and My wife and I go to see our Steel guitar players play every week end.I also find my steel players gigs to play in.If there is not a steel in a band I will not go to see that band.If you don't have a steel in a band you don't have country music and that is the truth.We now have 30 members and still growing.I try to get Steel players in band that do not have them. It does'nt work all the time.
Sam White

...keep getting turned down by marching bands?...

Hi Bob,
I was intrigued by your post. I felt a need to respond, even though I rarely post on the forum. I help run the Sacred Steel Instrument fund. We gave away top notch 8 (eight) Steel guitars, no strings attached to young talented people who could not afford (or parents could not afford) one In Orlando Florida at the Sacred Steel convention. Next year we plan to do the same. If you desire you can donate to this fund (it can be a guitar and or money) you can contact Dan Tyack, Bob Stone, or Myself and it is tax deducible. there are a few post on the forum that you can read about sacred steel also you can check out the Carter web sight for information on sacred steel and the tunings we use. Even if you can't give anything we would appreciate just spreading the word about us.
Thank you for your love of this beautiful instrument


------------------
Big Ben

Is the act of buying a steel guitar related product promoting steel guitar, the instrument? Or, are you just envolved in your hobby. To promete something does it not have to be shared? Just a question.

Big Ben... Now this is what I call promoting steel guitar. You keep up the good work. This is the kind of thing we need to see more of.

<SMALL>We gave away top notch 8 (eight) Steel guitars, no strings attached</SMALL>

...I could probably spring for a couple sets of strings to get them started...


(sorry, Lonnie, it was too hard to resist..Seriously, I have the utmost respect for what you're doing)<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Pat Burns on 02 August 2001 at 06:16 AM.]</p></FONT>

All my bands with an ocasional short laspe (when one wasn't availible)have always contained a Steel Guitar.All my recordings contain a steel even when one was advised against.In fact it was a Steel player that helped me get my first Nashville session produced By Tommy Overstreet.I have owned several but thats all I am is an owner.My first taste of Steel Guitar was when as an underage bar sneaker in in Sacramento,I met and was befriended by Paul Westmoreland Known as "Okie Paul" and writer of the classic song "Detour".Though it was a pedal less instrument I was amazed and would wait up on weekends to hear "Hawaii Calls on the radidio.All my musical career I would travel to support as a performer or attendee many miles and still do to hear the backbone of the music I chose as a career.I have three on schedule now and plan to return to the Mash bash again next year.However I think I have been laxed in supporting the greatest venue we have today that supports The Steel Guitar and that is this here FORUM.I will rectify that this month when GEO Bush sends me my rebate.

------------------
CJC

I promote the steel by spending as little time as possible with other steel players...


Well that's not really true, but there is a grain of truth in there. I love the pedal steel, both for the tradition as well as the possibilities. Lord knows I have spent enough time in honkytonks and Opry stars' Silver Eagles to have payed my dues in the country side of the instrument.

I have chosen to concentrate my time on bringing the instrument to types of music that have been neglected in terms of the mainstream use of the steel. Not that I don't love country music or western swing. I love this stuff. And for some strange reason, the less I play it, the more I like it.

But it is clear to me that the future of the instrument will be very different from the past. If we were to look ahead and pick the most influencial steel players from the first 5 years of the millenium, two of the players who will be at the top of the list are unknown to most steel players: Chuck Campbell and Robert Randolph. These are players from the Sacred Steel tradition who have already achieved more public notoriety and 'buzz' than any steel players in the history of the instrument.

Why will these guys influence more players to take up the steel than anybody in history? Is it a gimmick, because they are black musicians playing an instrument that is so associated with white musicians? No. There are two reasons why people like Robert Randolph and groups like the Campbell Brothers move people. First, they are used to being the lead voice in the music, not a background color (a 'glorified musical saw' as some player who shall not be revealed called the pedal steel). Second, players like Robert Randolph or the Campbell Brothers are all about moving the audience. Not about playing some hard lick or some cool jazz tune or some lick that's on the radio. These guys are scoping out the audience at all times (in real time) to see if they are connecting. If they are not connecting, they do what is needed to connect. Note that this isn't about show biz or some fake patter to pretend to connect to an audience. It is all about whether what they are playing in that instant is moving people. If it isn't moving anybody, then they regroup and do what it takes to move them.

I learned this the hard way in some gigs with the Campbell Brothers last week, where it was clear that the good side man attitude that I have developed during my career as a player didn't translate well to a musical situation where the steel is expected (required) to move the audience. These guys have learned this in church, and this is the reason why they will eat up R&B and rock audiences. And it is this kind of playing that will inspire everybody from aspiring rock guitar players to 10 year old kids to want to take up the steel (because it is a hip instrument). Listening to these guys has even moved my 15 year old son to want to take up the lap steel, something that would have been inconcievable a year ago.

In terms of what I am doing personally, I have been recording and playing gigs with the Campbell Brothers, but that is a situation in which they are kind enough to let me come along for the ride (they don't need my help, that's for sure). I also play in a number of situations in which the I bring the steel guitar to people who aren't aware of the possibilities of the instrument. Actually, that accounts for most of my gigs, either live or sessions. And of course, I spend a lot of time woodshedding to improve myself as a musician. It's one thing to get a chance to play the steel in 'non-traditional' settings, it's another to play well enough to not just be considered a novelty.

------------------
www.tyacktunes.com

Hey Bob Carlson,that is a very thought provoking statement that the steel is easier to play a tastful lead than a standard guitar. Wow, another thread perhaps?
(I tend to agree BTW. Guitar is a bi!ch)

As owner of an advertising "jingle" company, I have started putting steel on as many ads as is appropriate....my stuff gets a lot of radio airplay....and, with the advernt of the much maligned "Twain/Hill/Rimes" crossover genre, I find that steel is a sound that is being heard and accepted by many more by young people....I'm trying to get the sound out in-between songs!

I've noticed the "activist" undercurrent on the forum before, and I'll have to admit, it has me perplexed.
I like steel guitars alot. A whole lot.
But I have to be honest, and say; I don't really give a capital pink damnation if anyone else does.
If I was distressed that others don't share my likes and dislikes, I would be a very lonely and unhappy man.
I guess that makes me the odd man out.
-John

?????

John...I don't have an activist bone in my body. I have just posed a question. But as my Pa Pa used to say you need to stand for something or you will fall for anything. John I'm with you I don't give a wit if any one likes the steel guitar or not. I will still play it. But I think the more people that do give a wit and get involved the better off steel guitar will be.

Activist Bob....

I called the board of education to see if they ever had any student to play the steel in their school concert band, and they didnt even know what I was talking about, so I showed them, and they said no one has ever did that, but before I could get my grandkids started they up and moved out of state so back to square one. One of these days a student will go to collage on a scholarship playing the steel and they will probley be the first student ever, or lets say I sure hope someone will
Billy Jenkins
Emmons LeGrandeII..D-10 W/ 8&6..Evans SE200

I contacted the Board of Education here in our hometown, and I asked them if a student could paly steel guitar in their scholl concert band, and they didnt even know what I was talking about, so I packed up and went over and showed the ole boy, and after hearing it, H e said no student has ever came forth and wanted to play one in any school in our area, But they would be more then welcome to have them, But before I could get my grandkids started, they up and move out of state, So I keep hopeing that someone ,somewhere will geta student in their scholl band playing pedal steel and be offered a scholarship to a collage on his ability to play it. wouldnt that be great?
Billy Jenkins
Emmons LeGrandeII D-10 W/8&6..Evans SE200

Big Ben and Dan are much too modest in how to promote steel guitar. Within the Sacred Steel Community, it's not just promotion of music, but a love of the celebration with music instilled in every child and nutured as a necessary part of their lives. The Bennet family band with Dan played for a local boy's home while they were in Florida last year. They reached out and touched the kids in a very real and personal way. I'm told by the home sponsors that they made a positive, perminate influence in some troubled boys lives with their music. How much better does it get than that?

And I think it's time to let out Big Ben's dream for his church, to have a steel guitar in every congregation. He and all of the Sacred Steelers are actively working to make that dream come true, with instruments, with teaching, with support, spending their time and money traveling to support different congregations, and being a role model as a steel player, as a church member, and as a member of the community. I don't think it gets any better than that. If you guys have some gear that you'd like to see have a good home, there is none better than the work Big Ben is doing.

When it comes to promoting steel guitar and making a true difference in people's lives with their music, Lonnie, Dan, the Cambells, Calvin Cooke, and the other Sacred Steelers have become my heroes.

And b0b, when it comes to bringing a community together for positive change, you're a Hero as well. Thanks.

Who was it once said "you can make tens of dollars playing one of these things" ??

B. Jenkins..My son played the steel in his college Jazz band. It was great to hear the steel with all the horns playing 40' and 50' swing. It made this old dad proud.

Bob D.,I'm impressed again!A lot of great stuff in this post! Lets make the world a prettier place,Lets let everyone play steel and we'll shoot all the lawyers!,,,No No No,sorry, just kidding, Just the lawyers that play Banjo! No No No, just the banjo playing lawyers that sing opra, and work part time for the IRS, no no no.just shoot all the steel players that can't spell,------------- Good Lord! Thats when I woke up!
Bobbe