The Steel Guitar Forum

I absolutely love my steel guitar... I have been recording and amusing myself trying to get those nice licks into songs and getting something what I think is good onto a listenable format all weekend... then I speak to my FRAN who I love too, and she says why didn't we do something at the weekend and all that... I sometimes wonder how I get the time to bring up kids, work, shop, play music, clean, cook, walk dog, see to 92 year old neighbour, and everything...I am feeling a bit tired. I am really happy just sitting in the studio even if nothing productive gets done.... I still have to come in to a house which needs sorting.. ? I am sitting here now at 12.30 at night typing away on this thing... I know I can play this instrument and do all the stuff you all can do, but what is it all about? This is probably a very personal email to myself..? I love my job, girlfreind, kids, and life.. but I am 50 this year and feel I should have done all this years ago. Oh?.. Will anyone come and play at a 50th party for me in Suffolk UK.. You are all welcome..!! October 13th is my 50th so I might plan something around then..I want it to be steel guitar heaven.. I had a CD come today from Lloyd Green with a very personal message to me and that has really REALLY made my day.. I just cant believe he has sent me his "Revisited" personally to me.. I have emailed all my family and friends telling them.. At least John Finlay (steelie in Suffolk) brought me down to earth and said "Oh, that was nice Dave".. so casually as if Lloyd lived next door to me.. Ken Byng said he could probably get me a copy and it came today directly from Lloyd.. I think I am just getting a bit too "in love with my music" sometimes..Bill Stroud sent me a video too called the DASH, and its very true.. we are all dashing around with our lives.. especially in the UK.. I am OK here though even though my DMT-8 failed tonight when I was really getting into "They'll never be anyone else but you".. Love the forum too.. DH..

Dave my friend, you just have a case of the 50 blues, most of us have been there.The only sure cure I know is to come to West Texas and spend about a month with me. We will eat big steaks every night and play music at all the best honky tonks around until we get you over the 50 blues. I would come to your party but I dont think my old chevy truck would make the trip, and besides it dont float to well and I am afraid of planes.My theory really works, ask Bill Taft, he came and spent two weeks and has never been the same since. Happy Birthday! I may send you a cd of me ,sounds like you could use a big laugh

I may take you up on that offer Doyle... 50's Blues? could that be a song?

that could indeed be a song Dave, and I bet you most everyone on this forum could write a line for it, there are some sharp minds on here especially the ones 50 or over...... I will start it..... I got the 50 blues ... I hurt from the top of my head to the bottom of my shoes

But when I think of you baby, I feel 18
when whe were o so young love was so new and our hearts knew no bound and our hearts beat to the same sound ohow we did rhyime and wanted to be together all the time like???

David I have the perfect remedy for you mate -- "Commonwealth Corner" at the bar at the Dallas show!!!
I can highly recommend it mate - Aussies, Kiwis, Poms, Scots, Irish and Canadians ....all drinking beer and talking about Steel guitars. If the Dallas show doesn't sharpen your perspective nothing will - I've been playing about as long as you have and we are about the same age as well (well I'm a couple of years older ha!)

You will come home from Dallas supercharged and rearing to go. (not to mention broke)

Hi David. I crossed that 50th bridge a long time ago. I am about to cross my 78th and I did 99 gigs last year. Recently, I had the occassion to listen to some stuff I did at age 50. Man, I was really honkin'. Today, I am still honkin', but my horn does not honk as fast as it used to. On the serious side, David, you are a great talent and have a lot of great playing years ahead of you. Have a good one. Jody.

David, I'm going to turn 59 on feb 6th, and as far as I'm concerned, middle age is ten years past that!
JE:-)>

Jim I'm glad to hear I just reached middle age.David is just still a young whippersnapper to me.DYKBC

Only 50 ? You still have your best years ahead of you !

I usually visit the UK in February or March, so I'll have to just sent you my best wishes in October....

Cheer up old boy, how do you think I feel?
I'll be 60 in Feb,still out there having fun.
If you want a band for your party,how much
are you paying??
Keep going Dave, see yer soon,
Best wishes,
Bob from Harlow.....

David,
We could celebrate your birthday at the commonwealth corner in Dalls. We are always looking for something to celebrate!!!!!!
See you there.

Bob Haskell wrote:Cheer up old boy, how do you think I feel?
I'll be 60 in Feb,still out there having fun.
If you want a band for your party,how much
are you paying??
Keep going Dave, see yer soon,
Best wishes,
Bob from Harlow.....

Bobby H
You are wearing really well and you were playing as good as ever the last time I heard you at the Lakeside. 60 is the new 50. You and Mr Smart are the best 2 players to come out of Essex in my view. I am 59 in April, and I am as enthusiastic about the instrument and music generally as I was when I first started playing it semi professionally in 1969.

KB

David,

There's definitely a perspective one finds at ~50; the 50th b'day is merely an exclamation point to the event. I have found the past 2-3 years to be really challenging. I've had 3 kids leave the nest with one to go. My Mom had to be moved into a senior community and the wife decided she needs her freedom. So, at 51, I am in the process of "reinventing" my life. I don't expect it to change that much, but it will be a big adjustment. Thank God I have great friends and Him to turn to when things don't seem right.

Dallas is the place to go when you want to be energized by friends and PSG (and non-pedal too). I'll be there this year along with my lifetime friend Mickey Adams.

I'll be listening for the Aussie & UK accents when at the bar for a beer. Maybe I can bump into you and Paddy!

Ah, David; to be fifty again, with a girlfriend that is in the business with you, supportive, etc., and play at the level you do. I am sure glad that you are doing what you do my friend 'cause I sure enjoy your music. I've never met Lloyd Green but undoubtly I think that he is a terrific caring man, along with being, "King of The E-9th", a title I've read here on the Fourm. He sent me a note with the CD I purchased, informing me that his father worked at the USAF Air Force Base where I was stationed back in the mid-fifties in Mobile, Ala where I met my beautiful wife. I often wondered if I might have walked past Lloyd in Mobile at some point. That note he sent with the CD is very special to me that I'll always treasure.

At 75 I'm in the prime of my life, playing my steel every Friday and Saturday night with a great country band, playing golf two days a week and spending time at my cabin on the Chattahoochee River.

1973 Emmon D10, P/P, Peavy 1000 and 112, Goodrich Dobro box, 1982 Dobro model Dobro, Fender Acustisonic Amp,1970 Telecaster Guitar,(cased for 25 years)

David I'm about 4 years ahead of you, and even though it takes me longer to get movin in the morning and I have some aches and pains that I never had when I was younger, life is a lot sweeter now. Musically I am free from the idea that I'm gonna be the next Emmons, and its more fun and dare I say I concentrate better and stay on task better when learning new tunes and techniques. No point in looking back. Wasn't it Hank Thompson that sang, the older the violin, the sweeter the music.

Lloyd put a short little handwritten note in my copy of Revisited too. Didn't say much, after all, what could he have said about Los Banos??

Steve

Dave,
It's obvious you've just met a nice looking nurse. You're having what's called a "midwife crisis".

Count your blessings, you've got far more than a lot of people.
Tony

David, you play like you've been playing for 50 years!!!

What you seem to be wondering is why you are devoting more time to task A rather than task B,C,D,etc.First I would point out that, having listened to you play, I know a lot of guys who would love to have the chops you do. For all I know these players may be the hundreds Jeff Newman used to refer to as: "Holed up in their bedrooms for twenty years trying to play Bud's Bounce in E and then finding out at their first public performance that the band only knows it in F"... Jeff referred to it as the aethetic rather than the practical. You have left that plateau years ago(if you were ever there) and gone far past it. I would put more emphasis on those other things(kids, wife, etc) and find out if your steel world is as complete as it is now.. you might not have to do as much to get as much out of it if you follow my drift..And by the way I love that you are not afraid of fast tempos...

Dave, you want to watch every move Doyle Mitchell makes. We don't call him "Shady" for nothing. I live just up the road from him about 45 miles and have visited with he and his wife Debbie. You'll weigh 300lbs if you stay with him. But you'll also meet one of the best country people in the US. Shady plays a mean steel guitar and he is also one of the better 'country' song writers around. Dave, we appreciate your playing. I have all your You Tubes and they're super. A nice touch, and tone to the bone. You're standard player doesn't have any flies on him either. Just my half-penny.

Phred

Sorry Dave, Hes older
than us..
Bob from Harlow

Well what do know.. We share the same birthday

David, was that the Ricky Nelson song, "There'll never be anyone else but you for me" that you were getting into? Ricky was my "hero" back in the 50's on the Ozzie & Harriet Show. As far as being "50" this year, Don't worry about it as you're living the "Life of Riley" right now. I'm 65 and looking for a 21 year old girlfriend! Ray

ray qualls wrote:...I'm 65 and looking for a 21 year old girlfriend!

Ray, let me know how you get on. I'm 62 and I think a 21 yr. old girlfriend would just about see me off...

I'm reminded of the 92 yr, old who married a girl of 18. The next day she was in a complete shambles, and her best friend remarked to her, "He's 92, and you couldn't cope ?", to which she replied, "He told me he'd been saving up for 70 years, and I assumed he meant money....."