The Steel Guitar Forum

I thought it would be nice to have a reference list thread of blues and rock musicians that play lap steel. Please add to it.

• Sonny Rhodes https://youtu.be/JaGqbG33Spo
  Robert Randolph https://youtu.be/SsskXT0_eoc
  Freddie Roulette https://youtu.be/zX06XkUhkbs
  David Lindley https://youtu.be/tr3Jp_aF1Ok
  Megan Lovell (Larkin Poe) https://youtu.be/cEWiJR9qeoc
  John Paul Jones https://youtu.be/vp0VNnWncgQ

There’s a half dozen to get the party started.

"Blues/Rock".

Sounds like a term that would not have been heard of until the mid 60s or later, so Gene Phillips, L.C. Robinson, and Hop Wilson may be off-limits.

And a bunch of other guys that are closer to rock and roll, pop, or rockabilly.

Mitch Drumm wrote:"Blues/Rock".

Sounds like a term that would not have been heard of until the mid 60s or later, so Gene Phillips, L.C. Robinson, and Hop Wilson may be off-limits.

And a bunch of other guys that are closer to rock and roll, pop, or rockabilly.

Early blues references would also be great!

EDIT: original post changed from blues/rock to “blues and rock“

This is some great bluesy playing by Matt Walker..
https://youtu.be/onr7kONkZWo

Hop Wilson! He only made about 25 sides. From the sound of the records they were mostly first takes, not all rehearsed and pretty rough. However, he had great feel, even when a bit out of tune! Perfectionists probably would turn up their noses but I found him to be inspirational.

Glenn Ross Campbell (e.g., The Misunderstood, Juicy Lucy, and more) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrRImjZlD38, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJIXBmYQSms, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEp4P1fEPyo. There are some threads about him on the forum.

Gib Wharton (Holmes Brothers and more) - e.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncvf98Belvs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m9J13gS8ss. Gib hasn't come up in a while, but there are some threads about him here. Some of his work with them was pedal and some nonpedal.

Definitely check out Hop Wilson! E.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwufnpPilMU, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ_CwqBGUkU. There have been some threads here about him too.

And lots of what is termed Sacred Steel fits, musically speaking, with blues, although it definitely is on the gospel side. Some of these folks post pretty routinely here on the forum. Check 'em out.

I know most people here don't consider it steel, but there are some slide guitar players who can do pretty much anything a nonpedal steel player can in the blues and rock dept. Sonny Landreth especially comes to mind. IMO, very useful to listen to for ideas on both slide guitar and steel.

If you’re playing lap steel and you’re not playing blues, what are you doing? (That is a rhetorical question)

Sol Hoopii, he's like the Robert Johnson of the steel......to me anyways

Mike Neer wrote:If you’re playing lap steel and you’re not playing blues, what are you doing? (That is a rhetorical question)

This!!!!!

And the elephant in the room - Blind Willie Johnson.

It is generally agreed by people who know anything about him that he played this with a knife on his lap, as a lap steel. But surviving pictures generally show him playing in Spanish position. And so, people here generally relegate him to "not a steel guitar player".

I'll let y'all decide. To me it makes no difference. It's all "steel guitar" to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNj2BXW852g or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsvuoHQyloY - I think one was remixed for a bit better sound (you tell me which).

If I could ever get half of the soul he expressed while playing, I'd die a happy man.

Harry Manx

The closest I usually come to playing blues on steel is when I turn on a backing track of Coltrane's Equinox. Turn the gain up a bit to get some frizzy sax-like hair...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m2HN2y0yV8

For earlier blues on acoustic steel guitar you might want to check out Casey Bill Weldon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhH_k78FdFo

In the same vein there is Black Ace who played blues on a style 2 tricone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRzvW10J0Y8

Following Dave Mudgett’s lead, I once heard David Lindley mention Earl Hooker as an inspiration.

All the best
Brian Saulsman

What do all of you use to get a nice blues sound on a dobro or resonator? I think blues player often use glass bottleneck slides.

Anyone have a glass bulges slide?

Joe Burke wrote:What do all of you use to get a nice blues sound on a dobro or resonator? I think blues player often use glass bottleneck slides.

Anyone have a glass bulges slide?

Proper blues tunings like E/D or low bass A/G and lots of practice.

Late Steinar Gregertsen was a great steel guitar player from Norway.

https://youtu.be/cS3Qc1GFBtg?list=OLAK5 ... zFtBuxoVGo

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=O ... ture=share

Also Mike Dowling plays some of his songs on lap steel.

And of course, Cindy Cashdollar!

My wife and I have really been enjoying Megan Lovell of Larkin Poe on their "Peach" album - for something pretty recent!

Although he doesn’t play a lot of blues, it’s hard to beat Jerry Douglas’s version of “on a Monday”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFU-efgM03g

+1 on Harry Manx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2xMviYC5l4