The Steel Guitar Forum

Candy-apple red S-10, right in the middle of the stage next to guest artist Danny Gokey last night. Not exactly Charlie Pride and Lloyd Green on Lawrence Welk but nice to see the steel out there.

I thought it was an old MSA. They made a big deal about Danny going country.....I guess the beginner licks on the steel made it country??.........

I bought Danny's new country CD and it's really good !

Looked like a 3x1... *shrug* I could barely hear it as well... *shrug*

That is a pretty color red Sho-Bud. I wonder who this steel player is? Must be a west coast player. I wouldn't mind seeing a whole lot more of steel guitar on the T.V., maybe this will start a trend.

The sound came through bright and clear on the link that Jeff provided.

I have the same Red S-10 Sho-Bud that was used, mine was Dan Dugmore's.

Frank Freniere wrote:Not exactly Charlie Pride and Lloyd Green on Lawrence Welk but nice to see the steel out there.

Heh...that made me laugh!!!

Bill Hatcher wrote:I thought it was an old MSA. They made a big deal about Danny going country.....I guess the beginner licks on the steel made it country??.........

The only time I heard the steel is when the Steel 101 "A+B Mash" was being done.....but heck....it sounds better than no steel!

i felt sorry for the steel player being stuck sitting out there but not really for the music's sake. it was to market another person who we can do without in the country market...which i deem is the 'new pop' market.

"A+B Mash"

Lloyd Green distills a mighty tasty A&B mash. I've been drinkin' it in for years.

I'm sure the steel player doesn't feel sorry for himself.
Afterall, playing up front on American Idol isn't too shabby! Great for steel guitar!

I don't care for that kind of "country", cant' stand to watch the idol shows, BUT, I don't remember a post about anyone seeing a steel guitar of any kind on another prime-time network show this week? If the steel player had been off stage, we would have complained about that. The guy made be as good as Paul F. for all we know, and he just played what they told him. After all, the sound was dominated way more by the distorted electric guitar (which by the way, was hidden from view, but way louder in the mix). I won't be buying the CD. It won't make ME tune in next week, just to see if they have more steel. But, I think it is a very positive sign for all of us on this forum, that they at least realize that it is important to his image as a "country" singer to be seen on stage with a steel guitar. The more of the new "country" artist take this view, the more secure the future of our beloved instrument will be. Who knows, maybe they will decide that it is important to actually feature the sound of the steel a little more along the way.

PS... I'm am sooo proud that they didn't put a cowboy hat on this guy. Not that I have any thing against hats, but that would have made the "country" aspect of it into a little bit of a cartoon. The steel was a good move I think.

That was Dan Hochhalter on steel. He's Gretchen Wilson's fiddle player. He has owned that Sho-Bud since he was a kid but never really learned to play it. Brandon Fraley, who used to tour with us on the Gretchen show (keyboard/piano) now works for Gokey. When this American Idol thing came up, Brandon asked Dan to cover the steel part. Dan is a smoking hot fiddler but a beginner on steel so I think it was great that he had the courage to go on live TV with 30 seconds to set up and tune and pull off a few A/B pedal pushes. Ya gotta start somewhere...

Gaylon well spoken..Imagine that! Right up there in front of the worlds biggest music show audience..A steel guitar..I even liked the song not too sure it will be a hit even more Gokey should do alright as he fits what they are selling today.

I find it odd that almost everybody crucified Taylor Swift for giving a bad performance on national TV, but it's OK if a fledgling steel player can stumble through a song on American Idol. Does that take courage, or did he just not know any better?

Gaylon Mathews wrote: When this American Idol thing came up, Brandon asked Dan to cover the steel part....

I'd have asked YOU Gaylon!

Theresa Galbraith wrote:I'm sure the steel player doesn't feel sorry for himself.
Afterall, playing up front on American Idol isn't too shabby! Great for steel guitar!

Agreed!!! 100%!!!!

Joe Alterio wrote:The only time I heard the steel is when the Steel 101 "A+B Mash" was being done.....but heck....it sounds better than no steel!

Sounded like B+C to me.

Is it just me, or are all of the singers on that show pitch-challenged?

Barry,Taylor sounded worse than the steel. and b0b you are not the only one with that feeling..This year is almost a kareoke contest up to now...

so...basically a non steel player sitting at a 'country' prop to simulate a certain style, as in an advertisement, to stimulate a positive capitalistic reaction for the producers of this boring dudes recordings.

whatever!

i'd have been quite self-conscious or perhaps even guilt-ridden... or embarrassed. but that's just me.


the other option, of course. might have been to have a good performance of a good song by a good singer with a good steel player.

....wow...what a concept....thinking way outside of the box here!

I'm sure the steel player doesn't feel sorry for himself.
Afterall, playing up front on American Idol isn't too shabby! Great for steel guitar!

Theresa, it's not great if it's a poor performance, but then again, who would know? Maybe it is like Woody Allen said, "Ninety percent of the job is just showing up."

Let me start by saying that I like Danny Gokey a lot. His album is very good as Theresa points out. Mike Johnson plays some great modern commercial steel on it. I'd say it's worth the cost of the CD to hear Mike's playing. He is a master at tasteful fills in just the right spots.

I admire Dan H. for playing the simple parts with no time to set up tune etc. Well done young man. I'd challenge many of us here on the forum to get up and do that.

Now, did anybody else think that Danny Gokey was on some sort of stimulant in the interview with Ryan Seacrest? My wife commented that he seemed like he was on a controlled substance. Knowing his background, I'd say he's high on life and a big budget record contract. If they figure out how to bottle that...I want me some.

Regardless of the steel on stage:
I suppose in the seventies I might have found something atractive and interesting in it,
that's when this kind of music was on vogue,
but now these kind of melodies and chord changes seem so worn out to me, that I just don't like it anymore.