The Steel Guitar Forum

Heads up steelers. Mike Daly has a new CD "Rock Of Ages" that will turn some heads in the non country steel guitar world. His treatment of Stevie Winwood, Allman Brothers, Beatles, Clapton, and others will raise an eye brow or two. Featuring non pedal; some great Weissonborn playing, as well as our beloved Meow Machine; his use of the wha wha pedal makes me actually appreciate what it can do, he also is smokin' with some tasteful six string finger style as well as percussion and octave mandolin. I'm thinking that those new to Pedal Steel who don't come from a country tradition will find this as a template for blazing new trails.

I'll second that post...

I've had this playing in my car all week. A great choice of classic tunes and really good (and very adventurous) steel playing, and great playing on other instruments too...

I just popped it in my car this morning and I am going to finish it off tonight. Mike is a fantastic steel player/musician/arranger and his Christmas CD knocked me out, too.

Mike Delay is a great innovative player.

Two thumbs up.

I've listened closely to the disc a bunch of times now and am delighted to catch some new detail each time I hear it. It seems that every detail on this album has been thoughtfully and musically considered.

The rhythm section is really fine, -rich and lively bass and drum sounds abound and these cats are definitely playin' to be heard! What they play and where their meaty parts reside in the mix affirm their importance to the music.

Other soloists, in addition to Mike's brilliant performances, are playing great too and are well chosen for each of the tunes upon which they appear.

Mike has done a masterful job at arranging and producing these tunes, from the unaccompanied "Let it Be" through the multi layered Blind Faith tune, "Can't Find My Way Home", --and the same can be said for each of the other songs in this collection.

The album has a loud, punchy balance and has been mixed and mastered with a fidelity that presents a 3D depth and clarity that invites a happy cohabitation of all of the musical components therein. Although each of the titles on the album is likely to be familiar to lots of musicians, it's certainly not an archivists tribute album, but, rather, a celebration, exercising the spirit of these tunes that were once a part of the lexicon of the coming of age of rock music. Mike has engaged a big, big, palette of delicious tones, feels, and textures, artfully playing on a platform of classic songs.

Well done Mike!

Tone to the Bone!! Great playing, harmony, arrangements, All the musicians on the project were stellar!! Mike has shown musicianship not yet portrayed by any other Multi instrumentalist in these collective styles! His tones, distortions, and choice of instruments chosen for each song is so well thought out it takes you down memory lane but at the same time delivers new breath to these classics!! Mike, I applaud you and all involved in these recordings and hope many people will hear and appreciate these instruments in the prime of their life.

Thanks to all who are listening and enjoying the new CD. For other forum members who are interested in this album, Bob should have it available for sale at the forum next week. Also in the works is the online sources of CD Baby, I-Tunes, and Amazon. All of that should be ready by the next week as well. Or give me a note and I will see you get one.
The CD features rock songs from the era of 1968 through 73, with songs from Steve Winwood, The Beatles, Allman Brothers Band, Jeff Beck, and a few other surprizes. There is no 6 string electric guitar on this recording, so all the layering of guitar parts was accomplished on the steel using a combination of different steels and amps to create the textures. The steels in use are a 1993 Emmons Le Grande, a 1973 Sho-Bud Pro II, and a Show Pro Russ Pahl JR for the solo section in "Frankenstein". What a killer tone that guitar has. It was fun making this CD and hope you all have fun listening...Mike Daly

Bob currently has the CD in stock...

Run, don't walk, to get yourself a copy of this FANTASTIC CD. Honestly one of the best steel recordings I've ever heard. You hit this one out of the park, Mike!

Great job Mike!The steel guitar can and is a diversified insturment and you have proved it. I liked it, thank you. Joe

its a great CD by an incredibly talented player and arranger, (that would be Mike) The Production is second to none and of course the playing is superb ! It's been in my car CD player for about 2 weeks now..Thanks Mike , great stuff !

There is little I can add to what has already been said, except EVERYBODY, GO OUR AND BUY THIS!

This is definitely one that you need in your collection.

Love it. Mike always has a new twist on the steel. I would love to ask him about his set up and some of the acoustic sounding slide tones.

Chuck..If you are referring to the sound of the steel on the first song, "Glad", that is the sound of a Boss Acoustic Simulator. While recording this CD , we always had two signals being recorded. One was an amp line and the other was a direct signal. Alot of times we did not use the direct signal, just the sound of the amp (mostly Fenders, all tubes) but for this song we put the Acoustic Simulator in the direct line and mixed the two signals together much like a guitar player would blend the sound of two pickups together. Hope that helps...Happy you are enjoying the music...

Sweet sound Mike. There's a lot to absorb on this cd. Excellent.

Bob is currently stocked with more CD's.. Thank you all who are purchasing and enjoying the music...

Great job Mike! I second what others have said about the wonderful mix of timbres and textures and the overall lush sound. You make it seem easy to blend steel parts, and I know it usually isn't. You must have done a lot of experimenting and overdubbing, yet you manage to keep things sounding loose and fresh.

Also nice interpretations of these tunes, you definitely make them your own. And, kudos to your excellent players. Good work.

Joe

Thanks Joe for the kind words. And yes, experimenting with the overdubs was a very important element to the overall sound of the music. Some passages I felt where musically right but still had to go thru alot of timbre expermentation to try and make it slip into the overall sound of the track. To that end my engineer and I used many different amps and miking techniques to create the textures heard. I had alot of fun finding all those tones and making it all work. And yes I could not have done this with out some of my best musical buddies helping me out: Nashvlle session players Steve Holland on drums,Dow Tomlin and Doug Kahan on bass, from the Hank Jr. band Ricky Chancey on harmonica and Jimmy Hall of Wet Willie fame on tenor sax, and studio staple Mike Webb on keys and Tim McDonald for his killer piano solo in "Frankensten". Thank you for listening....

I bought my copy last night and got it ready for the commute home. This will be a best seller for a loong time!

After listening to Mike's new album every day for a couple of weeks, I must join the choir!

I grew up with this music and it's a pleasure to hear the old songs in a new version.

The Pedal Steel is magnificent, but the real value of the album is the collaboration between the musicians in the band. Many Pedal Steel Album are just that, Pedal Steel Album, but this is a musical adventure where all the players have, and do play, a part!

Thank you Mike, very much for creating this wonderful album!

Best Wishes
// Anders

Fantastic!! Wonderful song selection

It's definitely a great cd! Rock songs sound great on steel! All the steels used on the record sound great! Mike plays every song with feeling and plays them well!

Brett

I just received this cd in Monday's mail, and I must tell you that Mike takes the pedal steel in directions that I didn't think were possible. This is a fantastic cd, with some of the best playing and recording quality ever heard. You are one fantastic player, Mike. Someone likened you to being Nashville's secret weapon. Now I understand why!

I have been wanting to post on this for a while but had to give it another listen . Mike sure has some nice stuff on the cd. Lots of good ideas. Good tone and in real good tune . Good job ! JF