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Topic: Asleep at the Wheel w/Eddie Rivers observation |
Mark Wayne
From:
Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 4 Apr 2009 5:22 pm |
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It was a joy to see Asleep at the Wheel, Eddie Rivers on steel, at the Grand Theatre in Wausau, WI.
Eddie was given many breaks (thanks to Ray), combined with some fantastic fiddle/steel and multiple harmony instrumentation parts. He has mastered the tone on his quadruple-neck Fender, in my opinion, with unpredictable executions that keep the listener's ear and fellow musician attentive to his playing.
His grace notes are applied appropriately where there should be, and the occasional forward rolls leading into the lead parts are not overused, adding the right amount of salt to his solos. Subliminal-like Emmons-type rakes are clean and precise. His combined chordal work in conjunction with his single string "byrd-like" phrasings fit in context with the spirit of each song, at no time lingering at one particular area on the fretboard, in conjunction with incorporating fantastic (and again, unpredictable) lagato grooving via the 2 and 3-string chord combinations.
Eddie's playing is clean and correct, leaving you wanting more - from the incredibly natural bar vibrato, to the Hendrix / Alvino Rey-like precisness of volume and tone wah pedal effect, the "bar crash chording" and "thumb whipping" across the strings.
Flavor...and feeling brought in a non-pedal playing giant who plays as one with the band, and who converses humbly and kindly with his fans; treating you like you are important. That's Eddie Rivers.
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Mark Wayne Krutke
****markwayne.biz**** |
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Edward Meisse
From:
Santa Rosa, California, USA
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Posted 4 Apr 2009 5:51 pm
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I agree. He's quite good. 
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Amor vincit omnia |
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Jerry Erickson
From:
Atlanta,IL 61723
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Posted 4 Apr 2009 9:13 pm
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| Saw them tonight in Decatur,IL. Eddie was great. The rest of the band was too! |
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Michael Haselman
From:
St. Paul
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Posted 4 Apr 2009 11:52 pm
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After all these years it would be big news if AATW put on a bad show. I remember...the Cabooze in Minneapolis, about 1975...Carlton Celebrity Room in Bloomington where I met Wally Murphy about 1980...Medina ballroom in the 80s... We Fest in '89, with John Ely...I don't think ole Ray Benson could put on a bad show if he wanted to. One of America's great treasures.
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Mullen RP D10, Peavey NV112, Hilton volume. Hound Dog reso. Piles of other stuff.
Last edited by Michael Haselman on 5 Apr 2009 7:04 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Roger Edgington
From:
San Antonio, Texas USA
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Posted 5 Apr 2009 6:03 pm
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| I saw and met Eddie at the Cowboy symposium in Ruiodosa last fall. He is the real deal for sure. I was very impressed with his playing. His taste and technique is something to experience. |
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Darrell Criswell
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 5 Apr 2009 6:52 pm
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| I saw Asleep at the Wheel about a year ago at the Birchmere. To me they were OK, but the steel playing just showed to me how important the volume pedal is to the steel, without it the steel just doesn't break through. For a while I thought putting pedals on the steel made the nonpedal steel obsolete, until I heard a guy at the Connecticut show last november play a 8 string nonpedal, he was incredible, don't know his name but he was a local. |
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Bill McRoberts
From:
Janesville, Wisconsin USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2009 4:08 am
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"Flavor...and feeling brought in a non-pedal playing giant who plays as one with the band, and who converses humbly and kindly with his fans; treating you like you are important. That's Eddie Rivers."
That says it all!
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www.westernstarlanders.com |
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