Steel Guitar Never Had Chance

Zane King · Post by **Zane King** » 4 Oct 2010 7:43 am

Hello all,

I know the last thing we likely need on this Forum is another story of someone not knowing what a steel guitar is. However, I can't resist sharing the following experience.

What a rare instrument this thing called Pedal Steel Guitar. This past weekend I met some very fine folks who live within 50 miles of Music City USA. I found out these folks play music and additional build some amazing instruments of their own. When I began to tell them about steel guitar they were puzzled. What's a steel guitar? At first, I thought they were being sarcastic. Nope. They honestly had no idea. Are you kidding me I asked. Literally, I had to show them a picture of one and they began to piece it together a bit.

We have so far to go. This is why I firmly believe the pedal steel guitar is still in its infancy. It's a journey worth pursuing though. Let's keep up the advancements with copedents, mechanics, structure and creativity.

Stay tuned,

ZK

Carl Williams · Post by **Carl Williams** » 4 Oct 2010 8:26 am

Zane,
I'll chime in...playing a gig in August and a fellow said he really like my sound that I was getting out of my "zither"!

I tried "tactfully" to say it was a "Pedal Steel Guitar" but I'm not sure it got through Mr. Daniels or Beam for that matter!

Oh well, I appreciated the positive comments anyway and we'll keep tryin'...Carl

Joe Smith · Post by **Joe Smith** » 4 Oct 2010 8:50 am

Yep, I was playing this gig and a lady came up to me and said she just loved the way I played the piano. I just thanked her.

Steve English · Post by **Steve English** » 4 Oct 2010 9:49 am

My guess is that we're the one's living in the vacuum....

Surprise, surprise!

Brett Lanier · Post by **Brett Lanier** » 4 Oct 2010 9:57 am

A friend of mine was setting up for a gig one time and when the sound guy got there he placed a mic up to the strings near the pickup. My friend had to explain to him how the sound will be coming from the speaker in his amp.

Steve Benson · Post by **Steve Benson** » 4 Oct 2010 11:26 am

Yep. I'm from Boston, not a hot spot for steel fiddle etc.. When I play a gig I ask the front man to say "my name" on steel guitar and mandolins.
They never mess up the mandolins. It's always "lap slide. Steel slide. Pedal slide guitar" or nothing at all. I tell them no big deal but I've worked hard to hold my head up as a "steel player" There's only one way to be a steel player. You earn it. I don't care if people know who I am, but I'm proud to call myself a "steel player" even if it falls on deaf ears. But I always get a great reaction when I play as if something different has happened. The best was I was in the south and a big good olde boy said to this loud mouth new yorker who demanded we play brown eyed girl over and over and over again. "Why don't you shut up and let that boy pick his lay down getar, I don't know what you call that thing, but he can pick it. So let him work."
I got that guy a beer on break.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 4 Oct 2010 11:50 am

Whenever I go see a band who may be unfamiliar with me, I'll go up to the front man, hand him a dollar while pointing to the steel player, and say "let the guy in the wheelchair play one."

Never fails to get a rise out of everyone!

Serious true story: Playing with Gary Nunn at Gilley's in Dallas one night, and the opening band caught our soundcheck in the afternoon. After they got offstage from their set that night, the frontman came up to me and said "hey man, you play a mean 'steel table slide'."

Here's the weirdness: they had a steel player in their band.

Joe Smith · Post by **Joe Smith** » 4 Oct 2010 11:54 am

Herb Steiner wrote:Whenever I go see a band who may be unfamiliar with me, I'll go up to the front man, hand him a dollar while pointing to the steel player, and say "let the guy in the wheelchair play one."

Never fails to get a rise out of everyone!

That's funny.

Carl Williams · Post by **Carl Williams** » 4 Oct 2010 11:57 am

Herb,
Just a thought here, but maybe the "ghost steel player" wasn't allowed to be heard!!??

(Of course, that's a whole "nother" thread!!

While in Oklahoma City, I had a Lubbock, Texas gal identfy my LDG as some sort of "electric sewing machine of some kind"?? Go figure...

Russell Powell · Post by **Russell Powell** » 4 Oct 2010 1:02 pm

Back in the day.. I used to have people refer to it as a "Steel Pedal" guitar, when I used to say, "no they are aluminum" I got some strange looks.
Frequently the musicians were the only sober ones in the house.

Tommy Bannister · Post by **Tommy Bannister** » 4 Oct 2010 1:16 pm

One night at a gig an old lady came up TO our steel guirist and asked what sort of a guitar is that? with keeping a straight face he told her it was a knitting machine. ooh she said nice looking thing that.
wwe just gagged the whole band was laughing so much we could not start the next number.
THE BEST PART OF THE EVEING WAS AT THE END OF THE FIRST BREAK WHEN THE OLD LADY CAME UP TO THE BAR WHERE WE WERE ALL AT AND SAID TO OUR STEELIE ,SON I HAVE FORGOTEN MY WARM JUMPER,DO YOU RECKON YOU COULD KNIT ME ONE BEFORE THE END OF THE EVENING I GAGGED ON MY BEER,THIS IS A TRUE STORY, SOME 40 YEARS AGO
OUR STEEL PLAYERS NAME IS DAVE NASH FROM SOUTHAMPTON UK

Allen Kentfield · Post by **Allen Kentfield** » 4 Oct 2010 1:25 pm

This week's issue of my local newspaper (The Lake Travis Log) has an article about me. That's pretty neat,'cause it's my birthday this week. Anyway, I got to read it before it went to press and correct the "Peddle" Steel Guitar spelling.
However, I guess the editor had to come up with the byline. Did he call me a steel man or steel anything? No, now I'm the "North Shore Pedaler". Oh well.

Al Kentfield

Jonestown, Texas

Zane King · Post by **Zane King** » 4 Oct 2010 5:51 pm

What great stories! These are truly funny! Keep them coming, pedalers

Albert Svenddal · Post by **Albert Svenddal** » 4 Oct 2010 6:07 pm

I play quite a few churches and in many of them have the opportunity to talk about the steel and it's history. I explain how it started with Hawaiian music and proceed to play a high slide. I heard a little girl about 4 years old from the back of the church yell loud as she can .........."SPONGE BOB".

Albert

Joe Smith · Post by **Joe Smith** » 4 Oct 2010 6:14 pm

I've lost count of how many times I'm asked "what is that thing?" And "what do all of those pedals do?"

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 4 Oct 2010 6:20 pm

One time in a club, I was opening my D-10 case and a bystander spotted the underside of my steel and, evidently thinking it was the topside, looked at all the metal rods, levers, springs, etc. shook his head and asked, "How do you play that?"

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 4 Oct 2010 6:24 pm

... and another thing!

A lot of times when I do recording sessions, I end up in the credits as having played "steel peddle", "slide petal" or some other dumb thing. I hate to be patronizing but I find myself wanting to ask at the end of the session, "Now when you write up the credits, you do know that this is called a "pedal steel guitar", right, and you do know how to spell it correctly, right?" But I never do ask them that, and have to suffer the consequences...

Les Anderson · Post by **Les Anderson** » 4 Oct 2010 6:57 pm

Hey guys this happened only a month ago and by a 19 year old, country rock singer and is the absolute truth. Our band was hired to do a gig to backup an up and coming country rock singer. At our first rehearsal I started the intro into his first song and this young singer stopped cold and turned around to see where that sound was coming from. Once he saw it was my steel that was doing the intro, he walked over to me and stated, "I have heard that sound on records but had no idea what made the sound." He said that he had seen these things in videos that he had watched over the years but did not connect the sound with the instrument.

This from a guy who has been singing country and country rock since the age of fifteen.

Rick Kreuziger · Post by **Rick Kreuziger** » 4 Oct 2010 7:18 pm

I see a lot of interest from people of all ages about the instrument.
Last month I had this group of curious youngsters come up. I spent several minutes before we started our set answering their well thought out questions and showed them how things worked. It was very cool to see and hopefully they'll remember what it's called the next time they see one.

(sorry about the terrible pic)

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 4 Oct 2010 8:22 pm

Les Anderson wrote:...he walked over to me and stated, "I have heard that sound on records but had no idea what made the sound." He said that he had seen these things in videos that he had watched over the years but did not connect the sound with the instrument.

Sounds like he could have a promising career as a TV cameraman.

Bill Ladd · Post by **Bill Ladd** » 5 Oct 2010 2:57 am

Gig the other night playing
<---------- that thing right there.

During a break a guy I know asks me if it's a hammered dulcimer.

Bent Romnes · Post by **Bent Romnes** » 5 Oct 2010 4:16 am

Rick Kreuziger wrote: I spent several minutes before we started our set answering their well thought out questions and showed them how things worked. It was very cool to see and hopefully they'll remember what it's called the next time they see one.

Rick, you did a huge service to steel players everywhere. If we all did this, imagine how many steel-hopefuls we would get? Just look at the interest in their faces. Those young brains absorb everything.
Do it again and again.

Bless you my friend!

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 5 Oct 2010 5:25 am

Joe Smith wrote:Yep, I was playing this gig and a lady came up to me and said she just loved the way I played the piano. I just thanked her.

Ok !

I was at a big club in NC, a COUNTRY MUSIC club

during the break a gal wanted to ask me a question..she said..

"Hey, keyboard man".....

There's hope !

Zane King · Post by **Zane King** » 5 Oct 2010 5:59 am

Maybe we should start one of those "Got Steel?" Campaigns.

Bent Romnes · Post by **Bent Romnes** » 5 Oct 2010 7:13 am

Zane King wrote:Maybe we should start one of those "Got Steel?" Campaigns.

Zane, My thought is we need to get the young people interested at a very early age, when these young brains soak up everything. Rick Kreuziger has the right idea. Look at that pic again and study the interest these youngsters are showing. Early education is the key. You'll never hear disparaging comments from a 6 year old like: This sounds so Hillbilly or whatever. My six year old granddaughter loves to listen to Curly Chalker. Why? Because there hasn't been a set-in-his-ways adult told her yet that steel is nerdy or whatever.

So I propose that we start a campaign getting the young people involved.

Teachers are doing it right now I am sure, but a campaign would work even better in that direction.
Builders can build a steel and steel seat that will grow with the child.
Details like bars and picks could be made with the child in mind.

Just look back at where youngsters have driven it: Lloyd Green started when he was 8
Sarah Jory "wanted to play like Lloyd Green" and started when she was 7. Barbara Mandrell was taught by Norm Hamlet from age 10 or so.

Look at the lengths that kids like Jonathan Chandler and Austin Stewart have driven it to. They are still young teens!

The kids is where it's at!

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