The Steel Guitar Forum

i think whiney comes more from the hank williams era. whiney southern accent (you know, waa waa waa, like jennifer nettles) and whiney steel guitar. you know...waa waa waa...!

I don't care how whiny the music may be, if the younger women liked the music, the young men would play the music. I had a friend who told me he would never wear an ear ring. I told him if he were in that age group and some young girl wanted him to wear one he would. Hell he might wear a dozen

No matter what the answer is to Zane's question is, he raises a valid point. Is the Pedal Steel now and even more so in the future a "novelty" instrument? Can, would or even should, current players want to promote the instrument? Steel Guitar Shows in their current format might make it 5 to 10 more years.
Currently there is little done to promote the attendance of new people or to attract new players. A lot of the shows are an annual get together of old friends which is valid in it's own rite. I think there is opportunity to do much more, but is the Steel Guitar Community as it is today wanting to go there? Just wondering?

I don't know their level of accomplishment, but I have sold a good number of guitars to young men and women from 12 to 20 years of age over the last few years. It's not as dead as some would think.

I know a young man who is 18 years old and has been actively gigging on guitar and pedal steel for awhile with a number of different artists - I was fortunate enough to be his teacher and he used my S-10 p/p for awhile until he got a good guitar of his own. He's a very serious and versatile guitar player, and has been making a name for himself for a few years now as a guitarist, but pedal steel is definitely part of his arsenal.

I just turned 24. There seems to be a decent number of young steel players here in Nashville.

Andy the Me-U song in your audio section is really good,


Nice steel work!

That singer has got a great voice and style,

Thanks Greg! That's a singer-songwriter named Jordan DePaul, a good friend of mine. That song is on an EP of his that comes out in February. There's lots of steel on it! I'll be sure to post a link to it when it's released

Do that,


nice style for sure, hope he gets a break,

Recently 29 here, hello to all my young whipper-snapper steel brethren! Not quite 19, but FWIW I know of a couple other players under 30 around Colorado and it does seem like steel is finding its way into more Alt and Americana/Pop tunes on the radio, etc, which I agree, is probably more common than the old school swing and "tear in your beer" country that is popular here on the forum...

I for one love that stuff though and suspect I would be much further behind in my playing if I didn't constantly spin all my old country LPs with guys like Lloyd, Buddy, Hal, Curly, Mooney, Hughey, etc on the cuts. Listening to their approach, tone, and phrasing is, IMO, essential to learning the instrument...

That said, I play out with several bands frequently on both steel and 6-string, and rarely get to play any of those old two-steps or shuffles, although they occasionally get called/requested at some gigs. It's much more common in my world at least to play tunes by guys like Ryan Adams (Jon Graboff on steel) etc, and I do feel that his success, along with the more recent success of folks like Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, and Chris Stapleton from the alt-Nashville scene, have at least gotten 20-30somethings interested in Country/Americana again, which by extension helps some fans trace the history backwards to the old 60s and 70s greats...

I will say though, while I'm always encouraging others to take up the instrument, it is nice being one of only a few young fellas playing in my neck of the woods - more work for me!

I know this isn't current but I was 15 when I started playing steel and playing professionally at 18. I was 23 when I started playing for Ricky Skaggs. I had some huge shoes to fill and really felt overwhelmed. I survived and wouldn't trade any of my experiences for anything. I know it can be a lot of pressure but never be afraid to try. I remember meeting you Zane King when you were a teenager playing at a show in Mountain Home Arkansas. You were tearing it up then. Being that were pretty close in age, you were definitely an inspiration to me at such a young age.

I'm not trying to start an argument here, but we all have our opinions, and mine is that Ray Price was one of the greatest male singers of all time.(Country singers of course) Many great steel players worked with Ray over the years, such as Buddy Emmons and Jimmy Day. I loved that sound and still do. Of course I'm a dinosaur, almost 70. Anyway, I understand that young people today like the newer styles, and that's good. Change is not always bad. I just hope more young people take up the pedal steel, regardless of what kind of music they play.

This thread needs a bump for Matthew Jut.

I would guess he is early twenty-something? This young Dutchman does some beautiful playing. I hope he keeps it up.

Ten Thousand Years:
http://youtu.be/fObKlz6dEz4

I'm 14. I've been at it for 5 years.

Tobin Hess wrote:I'm 14. I've been at it for 5 years.

Betcha' just about everyone who reads this wishes they had started as early as you. I am impressed by the thoughtful questions you are asking. You're in a unique position to develop as a great pedal steel player.

Good for you, Tobin. I look forward to hearing more from you.

I am 15. Though I don't play pedal but nonpedal

I think someone mentioned me earlier in this thread, and asked how I got to such a high level of execution at an early age. The answer is quite simple. I was absolutely obsessed with the instrument from the moment I started playing it. I suppose I had a natural knack for it, but I also had some great guidance from my father who was a good player. His ear for things sort of surpassed his technical ability to pull things off at times, and I know he was tickled to see me take to pick blocking for a technique. I started playing when I was 13, and the ballpark math is that I had put in somewhere around 10.5 to 11 thousand hours by the time I was 17. I was OBSESSED. In my observation, it's very hard for someone who isn't a "first instrument" steel player to compete with someone who is. And all I mean by that is that there is no other time in your life when you can learn as quickly and as well as you can when you're a kid/teenager. Your brain only sucks up information like that once in your life. The people that are able to take advantage of that time period in their lives, before grown up life starts, and bills, and jobs, and mouths to feed, and apply that wealth of time and opportunity to pedal steel, or any instrument for that matter, are typically going to come out way ahead. I'm not saying it's impossible to learn the instrument or even new things on it once you're out of your teens, but it's NEVER that easy again. I go back and look at things I was doing 20 years ago and it blows me away. I can just tell how "on" I was from playing so constantly. I didn't have the knowledge and experience I have gained since then, but I had as many notes as you wanted. Ha.

I really hope there are some kids that are as obsessed with it as I was at that age. I can't wait to hear what they'll come up with. At 35/36 years old now, I suppose I am quickly exiting from the young guy category. I did well in that category. I moved to Nashville when I was 19, which was 16, almost 17 years ago now. A lot has changed even since then. I hope with our help the genre can hold onto one of the founding pieces of the country music legacy. Cheers to all the young players out there right now! Let me know if I can ever be of any help to you. I've been there.

-t

check out Austin stewart,at the age 14...he is on youtube..the kid is now about 19..unbeleivable..also on a c6 neck...wow!!https://youtu.be/A44gciHpk3k

Fourteen seems to be the magic number, the age that Carol Kaye, Tal Wilkenfeld, and Gary Carter started playing.

I hope some younger players are encouraged. Steel is like the sitar, it takes a lifetime.

Jean Kendall Dodson is a 19 year old steel guitar player from Ozark, Alabama. She has been playing since she was 10. Jean Kendall plays an Excell 14 string, 10 & 6. She has performed on many shows in Alabama and Mississippi.

I'm still seeing younger players coming into the fray, but not a lot that are really impressive. Why? Well, some are multi-instrumentalists, and since the pedal steel is the hardest, and takes the longest to acquire a modicum of ability, it tends to not be their focal point. Some others get frustrated with the mechanics, and not understanding that can be a big headache to a new player. (I'm still bewildered that so many players with years of playing behind them haven't figured out or learned the basics of maintaining and adjusting.) Another point is that if you eliminate the country and jazz/swing styles, the instrument really hasn't accomplished much, as far as headway, into other forms of music...except for adding atmospheric stuff, and rudimentary tonalities. Lastly, I imagine there are some young people that are stereotyping the instrument as something more suited for nerds and old guys.

Young and famous role-models on the instrument are just about impossible to find, and most young people just aren't into the older, mature folk, anymore.

What a great picture Gordon. Looks like she's doing the crossover harmonics thing there.

Same last name. Any relation

Seriously, it's great to see a young person taking a shine to pedal steel. I'm sure you had a lot to do with that.

Nice U14 Excel too.

Did we break 50 yet?

Jerry Overstreet wrote:What a great picture Gordon. Looks like she's doing the crossover harmonics thing there.

I think she's doing something a little more adventurous... playing behind the bridge, so to speak,
indirectly exciting the singing length of the string to derive harmonies from that.
It's pretty exciting to see a young person taking a non-conventional approach to steel guitar.

Same last name. Any relation

Both from Alabama. Any coincidence?

Donny Hinson wrote: Another point is that if you eliminate the country and jazz/swing styles, the instrument really hasn't accomplished much, as far as headway, into other forms of music...except for adding atmospheric stuff, \

i don't get how you could say that unless you missed so mahy albums like pacific steel co., suite steel,
stuff by emmons, franklin, jernigan,and so many other genre bending offerings, country rock, pop records, etc.
steel can play any music it's operator chooses. there have been many examples .