The Steel Guitar Forum

Mark your calendars for Sunday, July 15, and come in from the heat to enjoy a relaxing afternoon of steel guitar music and camaraderie at the Austin Steel Guitar Co-op jam. This month's featured artist is JAMES SHELTON.

James grew up in the Augusta, GA area and started playing steel guitar at age 15, and began playing professionally at 18. He's played in many bands all over the country and spent a lot of time living in Nashville where he was a freelance musician and a session player. James also plays guitar, Dobro, and banjo, gives lessons, and makes custom-designed leather guitar straps, which you can look at here: http://guitstripsguitarstraps.com/

The Austin Steel Guitar Co-op Jam runs from 2-5 p.m. on Sunday, July 15, at the 290 West Bar & Grill, 12013 W Highway 290, Austin, TX. James Shelton will play a 45-minute featured artist set with the back-up band, followed by a round robin with all the steelers. Beat the heat and relax with your friends at the 290 with some great steel music and burgers on the grill.

James is an amazing player and I'm looking forward to his performance.

The back-up band is now confirmed:

Rob Harding - guitar
T Jarrod Bonta - piano
Charlie Irwin - bass
John Chandler - drums

We want to welcome T Jarrod Bonta to the bandstand. T has played or recorded with a variety of Texas' elite: Rosie Flores, Johnny Bush, Wayne Hancock, Cornell Hurd, The Horton Brothers, Jim Stringer & the AM Band, Marti Brom, and many others. The T Jarrod Quartet, has been performing regularly since about 2000, playing a mix of western swing, jazz and country.

Steelers, come out and play with this fine band.

Bump for this thread. Shelton is a fine player, and I can't wait to hear the band with the addition of Bonta! I've known and played with T. for about 17 years, and he's an attraction all by himself.

That I am a steel nut goes without saying, but, ....I do want to say that T amazes me every time I hear him play piano!

Ted

Rose, Herb and Ken have done a great job of turning this monthly gathering into a great thing. Really good rhythm section and very well organized. The featured guests have all been top notch and very entertaining. I highly recommend that any steel guitar players or afficionados should stop by and check it out.

I second (or third?) the kudos for T. I have had the pleasure of playing with T a couple of times when I worked with Jim Stringer (a great guitar player btw).

I'm in Japan on business until the end of the month, sorry I can't make this one, sounds fun.

Wow! Lots of the cool kids hangin' out at the clubhouse. Hope I can sneak down there after Sunday school and before supper

James and T have performed together a lot with Jim's AM Band, check out
http://www.austinmusicband.com/

for some great music.

Flying out on a business trip (Chicago!)... I should be back in time, like a few hours before. Really hate to miss this one!

A great ASGC Meet up coming up this month.

Don't forget to bring equipment and stuff to sell or trade if you have it.

Come out and see some old friends and make some new ones.

Bump for this Sunday

Who is going ??

I fly out of O'Hare Sunday morning at 6AM... If the weather holds I'll be in in plenty of time.

BTW, seeing Unknown Hinson Friday night at Reggie's Rock Place here in Chicago... great timing to catch him here while I'm in town.

ME!

A reminder that the Austin Steel Guitar Co-op Jam is Sunday, July 15, and featured artist James Shelton has some good tunes in store for us. Bring your steels and any other gear you want to show, sell or trade. James will do a set, then each steeler gets to pick a tune to do with the band (bring a chart), then we'll have a round robin. Relax and enjoy some steel guitar music along with the AC inside and burgers on the grill outside. Bring your family and friends. 2-5 p.m. 290 West Bar & Grill, Austin, TX. Come on!

Stephen Cowell wrote:I fly out of O'Hare Sunday morning at 6AM... If the weather holds I'll be in in plenty of time.

BTW, seeing Unknown Hinson Friday night at Reggie's Rock Place here in Chicago... great timing to catch him here while I'm in town.

I'll be late... Missed my first flight. Hopefully be there before 3pm.

Unknown Hinson was awesome. He had Jimmy Church with him on pedal steel, so he was able to play most of his country stuff. Chicago is one cool town.

Not going to make it... I just flew from Chicago to St Louis to Chicago, boarding soon for Austin. You can imagine my surprise when I ended back where I started! Oh well, more FF points I hope. Very sorry to miss our jam.

That was fun. Glad I made it. James Shelton did a splendid job, as did the house band. The jam was good too. Nice to visit with Neil Flanz, Jimmy Grabowske,& Jim Brown.

I think it is safe to say James Shelton surpassed all expectations except for those that had heard or seen him before.
He is a fantastic and unique player almost in a class by himself and very few others.
The band is made up from some of Austins finest musicians.

James Shelton knocked us out with a great set of music, with the excellent back-up band of T Jarrod Bonta, Rob Harding, Charlie Irwin and John Chandler. Great to see fiddler Howard Kalish in the house, as well as venerable steelers Jimmy Grabowske, Neil Flanz and Jim Brown. Ken Metcalf, Herb Steiner, Dave Biller and yours truly held down the round robin, which included some excellent vocal numbers by T Jarrod Bonta and Rob Harding.

Next month's steel co-op jam will be Sunday, Aug. 12. Featured artist to be announced...

What a great band, all the muscians did a great job. This was my first time, but won't be my last. Ken, this is first class all the way.

I have to add my opinion about this month's show as well. James Shelton is an impressive player; he's got spectacular chops and solid musical ideas. He also ran an excellent stage with song commentary between numbers, solid singing, and was generous in his praise of the band (who are of course more than praiseworthy). I want to thank him publicly for his contribution to the Co-Op.