The Steel Guitar Forum

Ok....I took the plunge. I've owned my Stage One for a couple months now and told my friends I'm learning, so one of my music partners dared me to bring it to our gig last night. It was a duo thing, where I back him and his acoustic guitar on his original tunes at a pretty nice listening room here in Philly (Tin Angel). No rehearsal, but I've been accompanying him for years and know the tunes inside out.

Well, I didn't exactly cover myself with glory, but no one lost an eye, I had a blast and learned a few things in the process.....

First, I used the club's old, beat Roland JC-120. Bad idea. What a lousy, flat, uninspiring sound.

Second, during soundcheck, we were having SERIOUS tuning problems. I kept checking and knew I was in, and saw him checking his guitar and he sounded in......but it was bloody awful playing together. I've been practicing steel along with tracks and have a good ear (I've played slide guitar and fretless bass for years), so I didn't think my intonation was THAT off.....but I started getting real discouraged and blaming myself. Felt like everyone was staring at me, wondering what my problem was. Almost gave up on playing steel for the gig. After soundcheck, on a whim, I checked his guitar against my strobe tuner app, and it turns out he was tuned almost +20 cents sharp!! Must've accidentally screwed up the calibration on his tuner. Oy. Crisis averted.

Third lesson......I had them set-up a mic and attempted singing my usual harmony parts while playing steel. Yeah........no. I won't be ready for that for a while. Like, another decade or so.


Finally, I was ok on anything slow to mid-tempo.....but he started off with a couple quick shit-kickers and I was a bit overmatched. I'm kind of fearless onstage at this point, so I gave it my best shot, but my blocking and single-note work went right out the window. I quickly learned that the volume pedal is your best friend!

Anyway, the audience enjoyed it, I got a ton of compliments (suckers!!) and questions on the steel......and even was asked to do a session, so I guess it wasn't too awful.

Onward and upward.

- Jim

PS...Wish someone had snagged a picture of me walking to the car last night at midnight, fighting my way through about 1/2 a million dolled-up African-American and Latino kids, partying, all waiting to get into the dance clubs and lounges down by where the venue was.......carrying my steel, with a guitar slung across my back.

I felt like some bizarre, ancient, incongruous alien life-form.

Well done!

Way to go, Jim!

Sounds about right for a first Steel gig.

Any plane crash you walk away from is a good landing.

And now you'll always remember 1st things 1st: Verify the tuners are calibrated together -LOL
Good job Brother

John Booth wrote:
And now you'll always remember 1st things 1st: Verify the tuners are calibrated together -LOL
Good job Brother

Thanks.
You know, if I'd been soundchecking in guitar, I would've known immediately what was going on, no problem. It's happened before. On steel, for the first time, I just obviously assumed it was me.

I do gigs with singer/songwriters. Sometimes they get a little careless with the placement of their capo, and I have to compensate with the bar. If it's really bad I stick to single notes until the end of the song,at which time I try to refrain from whacking them in the head with my tonebar.

Joseph Napolitano wrote:I do gigs with singer/songwriters. Sometimes they get a little careless with the placement of their capo, and I have to compensate with the bar. If it's really bad I stick to single notes until the end of the song,at which time I try to refrain from whacking them in the head with my tonebar.

I had a writer I worked with who, when you asked for the key, would tell you "G"..........not realizing, or caring, that yes she was playing a "G" shape, but CAPO'D AT THE THIRD FRET!!!

I had a friend who played a Hammond B-3 and every time I asked what key he was in,(no matter what key he was in) he would say B-flat. Needless to say, I did a lot of searching for the right key.

Great story! Playing an open E chord on the steel and checking with the other instruments can also be helpful.

way to go jim. welcome to the world of pedal steel guitar

p.w

My rhythm player uses an old dinosaur era $10 tuner then tweaks all night by ear, usually resulting in his G string being sharp and our Es fighting one another.

Sometimes when I KNOW I'm in tune I'll sneak and tune him while he's chasing girls on a break. It helps usually.
JB

Congrats on your first gig! I'm still working toward my first, but your post was quite inspirational.

Nice going. You learned more on that one gig than you had in all the previous months. A big part of playing steel is wrestling with intonation hurdles. Even for someone with good ears and gigging experience, there are surprises when you play live.

My first gig was similar to yours. I had practiced at home, but for less than a week. I still didn't have a tuning system, play along tracks, or an intonation CD(highly recommended). I have played a lot of slide instruments over the years so I thought my pitch would be fine. I would pay a heavy ransom to keep my first set off the internet. But by the third set, I was much improved.

That first gig sent me on a path to get an intonation system I liked. That system might be different for every guitar, but the one I use has worked on a bunch. At about a year, I've played gigs in lots of guitar based bands, but never with a piano or electronic keyboard. I will be curious to see how I do with a keyboard. I've gotten used to issues with capos and distortion guitars. As long as the steel sounds harmonious to me, I can adapt my playing to suit my ear. And get on with learning to make music on this magical instrument.

Congrats!
John

Nice thing about having a bit of a rough first gig........when you get back to practicing at home, you think "Gee, I really seem to have improved after that!"

I'm in the same boat as you, and glad I'm not alone. Thanks for the post.

When playing In public, I tell folks; "The more you drink, the better I sound."

The first time a steel player friend of mine heard me play with a band, I asked him (very nervously) how I did....

He said "the steel guitar is unique in that it's the only instrument that can make the whole band sound bad"

So - you probably did better than me!

Ouch

Christopher Woitach wrote:The first time a steel player friend of mine heard me play with a band, I asked him (very nervously) how I did....

He said "the steel guitar is unique in that it's the only instrument that can make the whole band sound bad"

So - you probably did better than me!

Ouch

Wow!

Congradulations Jim!

That's great Jim!

Hi Jim,

Let's see if I understand... you had this gig, you played steel guitar for some folks, and got paid. That about right?

That's great, and here's the best part. Tomorrow you can stand in front of a mirror, and you will be looking at a professional steel guitar player.

Thanks, guys! I'm psyched to keep pushing (or should that be "psycho"??)

Just saw that there's a video of the first tune we played....so my absolute first public steel notes. Not as bad as I imagined, but still pretty hairy. What's interesting is, I didn't realize, but I keep looking at my feet, over and over. I guess I'm not comfortable yet with assuming they're going where I want them to.

.....and NO, I won't be sharing it!

Congrats. I remember my first gig out with my old Nashville Ltd. It was a wreck, as my steel would not stay in tune. I have not been brave enough to try again. However, I since have gotten rid of the Nashville Ltd and had Martin Weenick make me one of his custom built guitars. What a major difference. Now I am preparing for my 2nd debut but this time with an instrument that will stay in tune. Wish me luck and I hope I can remember all that I have been working on.

Ok!! Just back from my second gig!! Don't stop me now!! Woo-hoo!!

This was a little more smooth. I played steel for @ 10 tunes over a 3 set night with my roots/classic rock band. Some Dylan, Neil Young, Hank, Stones, Cash, CCR. Overall, it went pretty well. Still struggling getting smoothly to the various pedals, and consistently pushing them all the way......or NOT pushing say, the B, when I want to toggle the A alone. It'll get there.

Some good points....

Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" just worked real well and made a big impression. Easy part, but distinctive.

We did Hank's "Move It On Over", and all your help was appreciated. I took two solos......first, with some of Lane's cool ideas, then the 2nd with the E's flatted, using 6th sounds. Came across nice. Thanks for the help.

Plus, it was much easier playing with a full band, as opposed to an acoustic duo, and not feeling so exposed. I could play less and have it mean more.

Can't wait for the next one!