Nice article on Joe Goldmark in SF Chronicle

[Brad Bechtel]

Steel will
Music lover has devoted his spare time to pedal guitar
Joel Selvin, Chronicle Pop Music Editor
Wednesday, September 19, 2001
©2001 San Francisco Chronicle

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/09/19/DD205207.DTL&type=music



Joe Goldmark has made the steel guitar his mission in life. He is not just a player, though he's one of the best in town, but he also wrote a book about it, collects recording and makes records of his own.

"I'm more of a fan than a brilliant player," said Goldmark. "But I do have some taste."

Goldmark, 50, who makes his living as manager of Amoeba Records on Haight Street, embarked this week on his first co-headline tour, as part of TwangBangers, a troupe of roots country musicians associated with East Bay label HighTone Records. It pulls in tomorrow night at Slim's.

Goldmark plays the pedal steel guitar, a table-top instrument played with a metal bar and a set of foot pedals and knee levers. It was introduced by Hawaiian musicians more than a hundred years ago and was popularized by country and western players of the '30s and '40s. It makes the sliding, gliding, zinging sound that gives country music its distinctive twang.

"I saw it and said, 'I love that sound -- I want to play it,' " said Goldmark.

Goldmark has rescued the pedal steel guitar from the often hackneyed Nashville sidemen. Goldmark makes all-instrumental music drawn from a variety of sources -- rock, pop, soul, gospel. His 1994 CD, "All Over the Road," released on his own Lo-Ball Records, features the taciturn, soft-spoken musician making steel guitar instrumentals out of songs originally done by Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix and Steely Dan.

"People loved it -- not that it

sold," he said. "But none of the Nashville guys had taken the lead. Nobody stepped into this niche."

Goldmark, who has played local clubs with red-hot country guitarist Jim Campilongo and the 10 Gallon Cats or backing Nashville renegade Jim Lauderdale,

has released five solo CDs in the past seven years, including his latest, "Strong Like Bull . . . But Sensitive Like Squirrel." His licks can be found on records by David Byrne, Taj Mahal, Maria Muldaur, Peter Rowan and others. His self-published International Steel Guitar and Dobro Discography is in its eighth edition. In addition to managing the giant new- and used-record emporium at the Golden Gate Park end of Haight Street, the country's largest independent record store, he is a part-owner of the three Escape From New York pizza parlors in the city.

"When this tour first came up, I said I can't go out, I'm a working guy," he said. "But this was too good to pass up."

His wife, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, a marketing executive for publishers HarperSanFrancisco, is the original organizer of the Rock Bottom Remainders, an occasional rock group that features authors Stephen King, Amy Tan, Dave Barry and others. She also leads a monthly jam session at local clubs. She, too, has her own record label (Don't Quit Your Day Job Records). Their 18-year- old son, Tony Goldmark, is also a recording artist with a new album of his comedy novelty songs, "Masterpiece Weirder," that includes "Kill the Backstreet Boys," which stirred some controversy when it was aired on the Dr. Demento radio show earlier this year.

Steel guitarist Goldmark started playing on the local C&W circuit while attending University of California at Berkeley more than 30 years ago. He worked five nights a week at Bernie's Club in Concord. He belonged to the Texas Chainsaw Band through the '70s, the house band for the Town House in Emeryville, a former speakeasy with a reputation as an authentic honky-tonk. He toured with former Commander Cody vocalist Billy C. Farlow.

@sk,1 Between 1979 and 1982, he recorded three albums on his own of pedal steel instrumentals, which he collected in 1996 on one CD, "The Goldmark Round- Up," for Lo-Ball. He followed his label's first two releases with "Steelin' the Beatles" in 1997 and released his first CD with HighTone, "All Hat -- No Cattle," in 1999.@sk,0

For someone whose previous idea of record promotion was performing an afternoon set at a local record store, Goldmark is stepping out in a big way with the TwangBangers, which also includes twang king Bill Kirchen from the original Commander Cody band, Merle Haggard's guitarist Redd Volkaert and Missouri honky-tonk singer Dallas Wayne. All four will appear together, backed by one another and Kirchen's rhythm section. There is talk of a live album being recorded on the tour.

"It's like a dream," said Goldmark, who put in a 14-hour day at Amoeba the day before he left.

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POP MUSIC
TWANGBANGERS: Joe Goldmark, Bill Kirchen, Redd Volkaert and Dallas Wayne (with Johnny Castle and Jack O'Dell of Too Much Fun) appear at 9 p.m. tomorrow 9/20 at Slim's, 333 11th Street. Tickets: $15. Call (415) 255-0333 cq or www. virtuous.com.

[Bob Hoffnar]

where is that tour itinerary ?

Bob<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bob Hoffnar on 20 September 2001 at 12:34 PM.]</p></FONT>

[Steve Honum]

Bob, The tour itinerary is posted on the Hightone Records website. I just typed in 'hightone' and it came up. Don't miss these guys if they play in your area. Goldmark cooks.
Haere mai,
Steve H.
S8A6