The Steel Guitar Forum

Ha! Never heard that one before, Rich. Fun, novel, a capella, but not what we would call great country ensemble fare.
Strummin’ With The Devil was kind of a fun album too.

I agree with Bill B.’s comment that most country bands probably could not pull off Jump or
Enter Sandman. But that’s “Rock” not RocknRoll. I would love to hear a Country version of Born To Run. Or maybe that already is country by today's standards?

Further into the Rabbit Hole...

Chris Reesor wrote:Fred and Rich, why do you think that is?
I've got an idea that the difference is in rhythmic feel. Old country swings a lot, and most more modern rock is straight up eighths almost exclusively.
You can't play a country shuffle like that.
Then there's Waylon, who had his own thing that is neither of those.

Good point Chris. Rock drummers may sound great playing what they’re good at, but their country sound is loose and sloppy. Bass players can’t seem to figure out a 1-5 groove, rhythm guitarists can’t chink out chords, lead players can’t play clean, and singers think they need to fake a southern drawl. This is true whether it’s a swing groove or straight 8 rockabilly, and again, that’s if they even attempt it.

And then there’s just the general snobbish attitude of “We don’t ‘resort’ to playing country”, or “I refuse”, etc. Kinda like country players sniping metal, lol. Interestingly enough, the few rockers I have met that enjoy country have been hardcore metal pickers.

Here is a country version of "Jump". Pretty darn good, if you ask me.
https://youtu.be/Olk8rZmlhY4

Rich Upright wrote:Here is a country version of "Jump". Pretty darn good, if you ask me.

I don't know about the "country" part? Sounds more like a Riverdance Opry to me!

Jump solo on psg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8FRgN_Iu2A

Fred Treece wrote:Interestingly enough, the few rockers I have met that enjoy country have been hardcore metal pickers.

This is a real and fascinating phenomenon. I don't know the reason for it.

A good share of the musicians I have played with come from a rock mentality. I don't chalk up their struggles with playing country to a lack of skill. Instead, it comes from different ideas of what makes music effective... and a lack of imagination. Rockers either want to blast you with sound and get your blood going or dazzle you with speed and interesting sonic textures. When they don't have better ideas, they will default to this. The heart of country music is in telling stories - everything else is subservient to it and risks being axed if it tries to compete. Asking a musician to play in a way that goes against their instincts for what makes music effective is going to cause a lot of short circuits.

Years ago I played two nights with a band that was “classic rock and some country”. The guitarist on the job the first night had worked a lot of southern rock cover bands, and he was an awesome player. But.....He played constantly. I relaxed the entire night and made the same money. I wasn’t going to try and compete with a Marshall half stack.

At the end of the night they fired the guitar player. The next night that brought in one of those so called “legend” rockers. Who wasn’t even a tenth the player the other guy was. So....I worked twice as hard that night. Then I quit because I didn’t want to be in a classic rock cover band. Never did figure out why they wanted a steel player in the first place.

But it was a feast and famine thing both nights between steel and lead....it was a waste of my time all around. Live and learn I guess

Bill

I played a gig once with a lead player who played through every song. and the songs which were supposed to be started on the steel, he kick them off on guitar, and never lowered his volume. Never again!

Jack Hargraves wrote:I played a gig once with a lead player who played through every song. and the songs which were supposed to be started on the steel, he kick them off on guitar, and never lowered his volume. Never again!

This is a slightly different topic, sitting in with a rehearsed band where the guitarist is probably used to doing all the intros no matter what instrument is “supposed” to be doing them. I have played the intros to Amarillo By Morning or The Fireman and countless others on guitar because we didn’t have a fiddle. The band gets accustomed to the sound eventually, and having a fill-in guy take over might be a little disorienting for the group, especially if your tempo and phrasing is different from the regular guitarist - even if you are playing the actual instrument that does the actual intro on the actual hit recording. This is a band leadership issue, where somebody needs to say “I’d like steel on this intro.”

If the guitarist is taking over everything else - solos, fills, and blasting chords over you, then yeah, that’s insulting and humiliating.

When he solos kick these on!, He will get the message! So will everyone else within about 20 miles LOL