The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi everyone!

My name is Christo Huntington and I am a new member on the Forum. I've been playing left-handed pedal steel since February 16, 2022, and I've loved every second of it! I wanted to make this post to introduce myself, connect with all the members on here, share my recent work, and ask for your steel gigging tips.

I am currently a full-time law student and MBA student at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. I live about 25 minutes outside of Philadelphia, PA. In the free time I get away from studying/reading, I try to religiously practice steel. As a testament to my willingness to learn and commitment to becoming a better steel player, I began a daily video series (called "Pedal Steel Everyday") documenting my steel study/journey over on YouTube the day I received my first steel guitar. Since that day, I've connected with many of you through Facebook and YouTube, and I'm incredibly thankful for all the advice and recommendations I've received. The community building around my channel is exciting and incredibly supportive, so thank you! If you'd like to check out my channel and subscribe, I'll leave a link at the bottom of this post.

I was first (properly) introduced to steel via Buck Owens's "Together Again" when it came on a random music streaming playlist I was listening to back in January of this year. I thought to myself, "Woah. That's no normal guitar. The sounds and sweeps are way too smooth to be any fretted instrument. I love that sound." And since hearing that song, I've sought out all the information about steel I could. Each day of practice has brought new excitement, challenges, and totally new mind-muscle connections. Although I had heard the steel sound on old country records when I was a kid, I hadn't been able to distinguish the instrument from a six-string guitar. Now, when I listen to any song new to me, my ears are keyed into listening for steel. So lets just say the instrument is always on my mind! I listen to some modern country (my favorites are Chris Stapleton and Luke Combs), but my recent music focus has been on the steel sounds of the 1950s-1990s.

Over the past 190 days, I've completed Paul Franklin's Foundations of E9 course with Modern Music Masters, seen Paul play live with Chris Stapleton in Lexington, KY, learned from some incredibly talented local steelers, purchased a beautiful, left-handed 1978 Sho~Bud LDG, and discovered so many great players. I recently visited Nashville for the first time where I saw a few excellent steel players play, and I plan to share my trip experience in an upcoming video over on YouTube.

I'm excited for all the steel-related learning and experiences to come, and I hope to begin gigging soon. Things are starting to really click for me on the instrument, so I feel somewhat prepared to get out there. I know it will be a shock to my system to be playing steel on stage for the first time (when it happens), but I'm ready to take the dive! I will make a separate post reaching out to anyone in need of a steel player in the Philly area over in the other Forum thread, but if you need a player, let me know! In the meantime, I'd love to hear any tips you have for gigging, recording steel, or anything related to steel. Feel free to leave a reply on this post, drop me an email, or comment on one of my YouTube videos.

Thanks in advance for the warm welcome, support, and advice. Have an awesome day wherever in the world you're playing steel!

Link to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChristoHuntington

Welcome to the forum and the "wonderful" world of Pedal Steel Guitar.


(I'm from the Harrisburg area).

Hi Chris to. Nice to meet you. This is great resource to be a part of.Sounds like you are off to a solid start. I'm a Lefty,but play right handed. Enjoy the journey. Joe k.

Hi Christo, Welcome to this wonder Forum and the amazing world of pedal steel guitar. I looked at your video channel and you are making good progress learning licks. To go out and gig with a band, learn where to find all the chords in different keys, how to find minor chords, seventh chords and so on. practice some scales so you will be able to play melodies if you are called upon to "take a ride" in some tune the band is playing.
One thing that I did a lot when I was learning was put on a record (or a CD) and figure out the key, then play along with the song. This teaches you to hear chord progressions and keep up with the tempo of the song. You can also steal licks from the musicians who cut the record.
Good luck with your journey, and feel free to ask the good folks on the Forum any questions. They are always willing to help.

Hi, Christo. Glad to see you on the forum. Over the last few months I've watched a number of your videos. Not sure where you find the time at the end of semester in law school to practice - let alone post a video. I've enjoyed watching your progress and evolution of footwear. I'm hoping to see you add a volume pedal soon - there's a whole world of expression and technical challenges ahead of you there. Good luck and keep on playing every day.

Chris, welcome to the great steel guitar forum, the best place in the world for information and fellowship. I started playin steel guitar at the tender age of 22, some 70 years ago, and I'm still learning. Just keep this in mind, "When you get so fustrated that you want to throw the thing out the window, just remember that the sweet sounds that come as it hits the ground are much sweeter than from any other instrument."

God Bless and Keep you,
Sam Lewis

Welcome to the Forum. There is a ton of great things a person can learn from the many talented steel guitar players. I can say that because I have learnt so much myself. Enjoy and best of luck for you. Robert.

This is really cool! Keep it up!!