The Steel Guitar Forum

Good read about PSG:
https://www.npr.org/2020/01/07/79398980 ... ny-measure

Good article, thanks for the link. I don’t think pedal steel players will ever “age out” leaving no one left to play. There will always be young people interested in the history of music and instruments to keep it going. Popularity ebbs and flows, but it will never go away entirely.

That article was ok, but it was more interested in the expanding boundaries of the pedal steel than anything else.. The history of the instrument is still 90% country or better regardless of the article and the way the author sees the pedal steel..

I also must take exception with the use of the word "primitive" for Garcia's work on TYC...


Yes it wasn't technically brilliant, but it was 100% absolutely perfect musically, and no pedal steel player ever would have made the song any better.

When I hear it to this day, it still sends shivers up my spine, and for a hardened pedal steel "vet" to have that opinion says something about the piece.

Surprised Robert Randolph wasn't mentioned in the article, but neither were other steel guitar masters that were famous for "non country" steel such as Curly Chalker and Maurice Anderson... It was well written but to me lacked too much information... bob

I agree with your points Colin and Bob but it was an NPR article not Vintage Guitar or Guitar Player. I was just glad to see it and did pick up some good music referrals.

The article certainly has a slant towards unconventional approaches to PSG. There's a bit of history, but by no means the entire history, or listing of all the great innovators over the years. But it's still good to see some recognition for the instrument, and those newer players pushing the boundaries.

Thank you for posting this Fred.

Nice to see so many Forum members getting a nod on NPR, which begs the question -what about b0b?

I’ll join the chorus of disdain for the snarky remark in the opening paragraph about TYC, one of the most inspiring and iconic moments in pedal steel history. The article also ignored the fact that so many great players who made their money playing country music were the original pioneers in expanding the instrument’s musical and sonic capabilities, while bending the space time continuum of each genre they introduced it to. And they are still at it.

Now before anybody accuses us of being whiney about what the article/broadcast doesn’t do and gets it all wrong...Way to go NPR! And thank you!

if anything, it's the players "pushing the envelope" into ambient and experimental music who are playing primitively. I'm sure someone like Daniel Lanois would agree... I believe he's even said he's not all that interested in learning proper technique or standard pedal steel vocabulary.

In my opinion "ambient" and "experimental" style PSG is almost entirely about really listening to the song and playing the right note(s) for the moment. That's something we can all benefit from. Technique in the traditional sense is mostly irrelevant.

Can we please set up an "office of credibility" for those who present themselves as authorities on steel guitar. First of all (admittedly a minor but telling point), they cite "Half a Mind" as an Ernest Tubb/George Jones collaboration. That is from the years later Legend and the Legacy project rather than the original which features the brilliant Buddy Emmons solo. But to my main beef. It is more of the "we love everytihng about this wonderful instrument, if only the country players didn't play it." You can quote all the rock dabblers you want, but you're not going to top the work of Emmons, Mooney, Lloyd Green, John Hughey, Jay Dee Maness, Tom Brumley and legions of others who have defined the sound of our beloved instrument.

Clyde Mattocks wrote:You can quote all the rock dabblers you want, but you're not going to top the work of Emmons, Mooney, Lloyd Green, John Hughey, Jay Dee Maness, Tom Brumley and legions of others who have defined the sound of our beloved instrument.

Who knows what the future holds? Maybe in 50 years many of those artists will be seen as offshoots in the developmental course of steel guitar. It wouldn't be a knock on them... it'd just be a statement of what the majority of people find valuable and like about the instrument.

Yep, it's NPR, not Pedal Steel Monthly.
The whole point seems to be the expanded boundaries of what is - and what can be - played on pedal steel, in 2020.
Not 1965.
Tom Bradshaw foresaw many years ago that steel guitar could not remain relevant if it remained in its own ghetto.
We may not necessarily like everything new - I don't - but it's more about growth than novelty.
And we all know what happens if something is not growing...

They quoted Tom as saying that people walk out on a steel show set if it's not country. That was more the case in the '80s (when Tom probably stopped attending steel shows) than it is today. I, and others, have played whole sets of jazz at steel shows and most people don't walk out. Sure a few will, it's not everyone's cuppa tea, but it's no longer like it was in the 80's. I think the steel community has become more open-minded (or at least tolerant) of non-country on steel over the past few decades.

In any case, there are many more audiences to reach besides steel guitar show attendees, as Susan Alcorn and Robert Randolph have amply demonstrated.

In general I agree with you, Jim - there are indeed more steel guitarists who travel the road less taken now.
Chas Smith, Susan Alcorn, Mike Perlowin and Bob Hoffnar come to mind.
I was trying to say that the NPR story wasn't about classic steel, nor was it particularly about jazz or rock steel.
I thought it was emphasizing the farther reaches of steel playing, and I felt the article was pretty on point about that.

As far as open-minded players.... well, there may be more around these days, but my impression is that there is still a preponderance of 'country only' steelers, and with absolutely nothing against the classics, I believe that way of thinking is one big reason why pedal steel will continue struggling to be more than just a niche instrument.
I sincerely hope I'm mistaken.

Sarah Jory's New Horizion was the first non country instrumental that I really set and listened to. It is a long way from country music, And beautiful music.

Did you mean LAST HORIZON, Bobby?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuI23wEa8Bg

Jim For me the Jazz room at St.Louis was my highlight of the show. Sure miss seeing you, Mike, Dave, Dan, among others. As a player that got hooked in early 70's (Rusty Young) I was much more open to other styles. Found out that back neck was a lot of fun and not for resting on.

I read the article and remain unimpressed and under informed. I check out every steel player from all genres just as I did when I started. I have yet to see a major surge in popularity from any new musical format. Country pedal steel still dominates the day. I enjoy the jazz and rock styles as well. Nice of NPR to mention a slice of the history. Too bad they didn't go in detail like they do for political science. My 2 cents.

I'm just glad someone other than us is expressing interest in the instrument

Joel Jackson wrote:I'm just glad someone other than us is expressing interest in the instrument

I'll second that emotion!

I am furious that this article about a very specific aspect of pedal steel guitar didn't cover every other aspect of pedal steel including a complete and unabridged history of the instrument and every other instrument that led to it's creation!!!!

[/sarcasm]

Another TYC Pier Six brawl....I just think that we have TYC and the six-string crowd has "Wipe-Out".

Andy Henriksen wrote:I am furious that this article about a very specific aspect of pedal steel guitar didn't cover every other aspect of pedal steel including a complete and unabridged history of the instrument and every other instrument that led to it's creation!!!! [/sarcasm]

Golly gee, nobody saw that one coming...

As far as TYC debate goes, I don’t think anyone pretends that Garcia’s playing on it is the pinnacle of technique, but what prompted the author to call it “primitive”? I seriously doubt if Susan Alcorn or Tom Bradshaw or Chuck Johnson would have said such a thing. In the author’s defense, at least he understood enough about the instrument’s history to recognize the song as a landmark. But, offering any type of musical criticism should have been edited out.

TYC and Wipe Out inspired a ton of young people to start playing. If that is what was meant by that comparison, I agree.

TYC and Wipe Out inspired a ton of young people to start playing. If that is what was meant by that comparison, I agree.[/quote]

exactly right.. Neither piece even in its day was "cutting edge" However both were universally loved back then and yet today.
Both were musical, well played, and struck a nerve in millions.. TYC probably sold more student pedal steel guitars than any song in history, and Wipe Out probably sold more drum kits, cheap electric guitars, reverb units and guitar amps that had onboard reverb than any song in history.. Both songs still sound good today, IMO... bob

Clyde Mattocks wrote:...But to my main beef. It is more of the "we love everytihng about this wonderful instrument, if only the country players didn't play it." You can quote all the rock dabblers you want, but you're not going to top the work of Emmons, Mooney, Lloyd Green, John Hughey, Jay Dee Maness, Tom Brumley and legions of others who have defined the sound of our beloved instrument.

When I was young, I heard a Will Rogers quote: "If you can't be good, be different". Now, aside from the fact that 98% of people these days might think that Will Rogers could be TV's Mr. Rogers' real name, that old quote has stayed with me. And, it's been reinforced many times in the music world - from Elvis, to Tiny Tim, and from Boy George to Snoop Dogg. People who have little hope of ever becoming a true virtuoso can find it easier to get noticed by stepping outside of the box and just doing something different. Sometimes, they can even get famous. But I take it all with a grain of salt.

P.O.V. is everything, it seems.