The Steel Guitar Forum

I was watching "Cold Case" on CBS tonight, And in this episode,The detectives try to figure out who killed the lead singer in a
small-time, three-piece, country music band.

Was it the Pedal Steel Guitar player Who is a junkie ? or was it the Bass player who happens to be the brother of the murder victim ?

The show had some awesome close-ups of the steel, and some very nice playing by
someone maybe on this forum. It was some great exposure for my favorite instrument!

I don't know who the murderer was, I stopped watching the program to tell you guys about it.

Who killed the lead singer? Hmmn...Maybe the
butler, in the kitchen, with a S10!

UPDATE!!!!!

My wife just came up to tell me that it was the steel player who shot him!!

WHY??

Because the band was about to be picked up,
and make it big but....

The record company wanted them to lose the steel guitar and play more of a rock style of music. The lead singer Refused the offer.
because they were not a REAL country band without the steel guitar.

The steel player disagreed with this because he was hooked on drugs, and needed the money,
and was having withdrawls. So the Steel player shot the lead singer!!

Actually, it was a botched murder. The steel player attempted to use an .011 to strangle the victim but it broke on him.

Let me see if I got this straight: the suits wanted them to lose the steel just before hitting it bigtime. The Singer refused, and decided to stand by his steel player, who rewarded his loyalty by shooting him. Because he was a druggie and couldn't think straight. Did I get that right?

Ok Will,
My buddy Mike Stinson wrote the song featured in the episode, called "Counting My Lucky Stars". I actually played piano on that song..... He is shown playing the steel on TV, however, the actual steel player you heard at the soundcheck part of the episode was Rick Shea, and the steeler during the performance part of the episode was Chris Lawrence, who is featured on Mikes album Last Fool at the Bar... Mike also wrote the song "Late Great Golden State" which was covered by the guy I tour with, Dwight Yoakam. I guess living in LA is good for something after all!<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Joshua Grange on 10 December 2006 at 08:35 PM.]</p></FONT>

ADDENDUM!
Ok,
So during the soundcheck, the actor playnig the steel is Travis Howard, who is a great singer/songwriter in his own "write". He's penned songs for Miranda Lambert and been featured in her videos. During the female singers performance, the steeler for the camera is Mike Stinson, but the actual musicians you're hearing is as above....<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Joshua Grange on 10 December 2006 at 09:34 PM.]</p></FONT>

From an employment point of view, it's hard to complain about hiring four people to play one lick.... I wish we could get your union out here in Maryland!

Now there's a steel player that knows how to make a "Cold Cold Heart".

Actually the plot was this:

The girl singer on a fast track to the big time wanted to keep the lead singer and the steel player, but wanted to fire the bass player who was the lead singers brother.

Out of loyalty to the brother, the lead singer turned down the deal....so the steel player who needed the money to support his heroin habit so he wouldn't have to steal amplifiers and guitars anymore, shot the lead player.

The steel player then returned to Nashville where he kicked his drug habit and became a successful "session" player for several years before the girl singer finally ratted on him and he was arrested for murder.

Whew........talk about a soap opera!

As bad as the plot was, the worst thing about this show was the unbelievable southern accents and the 1960's shirts that the producers required the actors to wear.

The only thing that was really cool was the steel player shooting the lead singer! I've worked with a bunch of 'em that I'd liked to have shot!.......JH in Va.

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Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!

and yet another update, all the songs and tracks were from Tim McGraw...

I especially liked near the end when the Female Agent kinda girl friend told the main guy he would have to LOOSE the STEEL and the FIDDLE..and go more POP..

thats the part of the show that they didn't have to actually write

But I must admit, although I suspected it was TM, there were a few very good tunes ...and some excellent Steel on the tracks...

<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 11 December 2006 at 11:19 AM.]</p></FONT>

I watch "Cold Case" every week. I've heard that it has the largest music budget of any drama on TV. Every episode has about half a dozen tunes from the time period of the cold case files, and ends with a modern pop song video montage.

I was delighted to see the closeups of the steel player's hands, showcasing real, good pedal steel technique. Thanks to Joshua for the details, but I'm still unclear about one thing: whose hands were featured in that closeup?

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Mike Stinsons hands... And he doesn't even play steel! But he did have a good laugh about it.... Maybe theres a market for "steel playing hands close up shot" in hollywood... I'll have to check it out...Gravy Train here I come!

He doesn't play steel? He sure fooled me!!

sorry i missed this show

you think Mike Stinson is good at faking playing steel guitar

heck you should listen to his songs, his song "another day without you" is for my money one of the best songs ever written(PERIOD), and i'll fight anyone who says different

Does anyone know the name of the episode? We are about 2 months behind in most shows and a season in others due to the subtitling ordeal so I might be able to catch this one soon. I wonder how they will translate PSG into Porkand cheese.

M.

Hi group:

The Cold Case show was televised on Dec 10, 2006.

The title of the show is "The Red and the Blue." It is Cold Case's 80th episode shown in their 4th Season.

You can read about the show at the tv.com website at the URL:

http://www.tv.com/cold-case/the-red-and-the-blue/episode/906070/summary.html?tag=ep_list;title;10

At the end of the show, they announced that the music of the show was sung by Tim McGraw and they also referred to an album, whose name I didn't get.

The above website mentions the names of all the songs in the soundtrack but they also don't mention an album name.

Several songs in the show's soundtrack were quite good both vocally and instrumentally.

It's too bad the steel guitarist, Travis Howard (played by actor Dusty Ray), was the killer.

I don't think this will have much affect on the popularity of the pedal steel guitar!

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Regards,
Al Gershen
Grants Pass, Oregon. USA
Fender 1000 (1957) &
Gibson Electraharp EH-820 (1961)
Al's Photographs at http://www.alsphotographs.com

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><HR><SMALL>It's too bad the steel guitarist was the killer... I don't think this will have much affect on the popularity of the pedal steel guitar!
</SMALL><HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Me neither. After all, how many times have you heard someone referred to as a killer steel guitar player!

Ok,
To clarify for no other reason than just to have some accurate info:
The actors name is TRAVIS HOWARD. He portrayed the CHARACTER named Dusty Ray. Travis does not play the steel guitar in REAL LIFE. In REAL LIFE he is a singer/songwriter whose songs have been all over the radio by artists like Miranda Lambert.
MIKE STINSON wrote the song "Counting My Lucky Stars", which was featured prominently in the episode. That song WAS NOT WRITTEN by Tim McGraw.
The close up of the steel players hands was in fact MIKE STINSON, who does NOT play steel in real life.
His steel players are:
a) Rick Shea, who played steel IN REAL LIFE during the soundcheck part of the episode, even though the ACTOR TRAVIS HOWARD who portrays the CHARACTER Dusty Ray appears to playing it.
b) Chris Lawrence, who played steel IN REAL LIFE during the performance part of the episode, even though MIKE STINSON appears to be playing it.
Lets see, am I missing anything else.....
Oh yeah, who cares!!??

<SMALL>Lets see, am I missing anything else.....</SMALL>

Travis Howard has a MySpace site here, where he, among other things, mentions the Cold Case episode.

Steinar

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"Play to express, not to impress"
www.gregertsen.com
Southern Moon Northern Lights

here is the Cold Case website credits list;

Music Featured in This Episode:
All but one of the songs in this episode are performed by Tim McGraw:
- Just to See You Smile
- Something Like That
- All I Want Is a Life
- I Do But I Don't
- For a Little While
- The Cowboy in Me
- Drugs or Jesus
- I've Got Friends That Do

The only song is the not by the same artist:
- Counting My Lucky Stars by Mike Stinson (edit)December 2006 at 02:29 AM.]</p></FONT><font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 13 December 2006 at 03:53 AM.]</p></FONT>

Art imitates life ....

I'm a good old boy
And my mother loves me
But she don't understand
Why they keep showin' my hands
And not my face on TV.

We've had a repeat of history here I guess.

Allen Peterson

I didn't like that it portrayed the steel guitarist as a junkie. I've never met anyone who could play steel on heroin. Well, maybe one guy...