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Topic: Has Hawaii dis-owned the Steel Guitar? |
Wally Pfeifer
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 31 Aug 2017 6:17 pm |
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 Bobby Ingano has been playing at the La Marians Sailing Club every Tuesday night for the last several weeks/months.. Next time you go,- check it out.. The sailing club is quite unique and Bobby fits right in. You'll think you're back in the 30s or 40s.  |
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Garry Vanderlinde
From:
CA
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Posted 31 Aug 2017 8:41 pm
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Well maybe Hawaii has dis-owned the Steel Guitar  ...but
Fort Collins,CO. hasn't 
It's going to be amazing with steel great Alan Akaka as guest host this year.
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Kay Das
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 31 Aug 2017 11:29 pm
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I agree with Jeff. Many recent Hawaiian albums feature the steel guitar on at least one track, and often more. Yeoman work being done by Alan Akaka, Jeff Au Hoy, Ken Emerson, Bobby Ingano, Paul Kim,Casey Olsen, Greg Sardinha, and I am sure I am forgetting others.
But there is still more to be done to emulate, at least to a minor extent, the rapid gain in popularity of the ukulele and the slack key. I often play steel accompanying ukulele groups here in Southern California and comment often made is that the steel makes the music sound "more Hawaiian". Also, the slack key and steel combine very well.
I have just returned from the UK where there is a revival of interest in country music. Perhaps more opportunities for steel guitar.
Keep picking'...as Jerry Byrd used to say...
Kay
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David M Brown
From:
California, USA
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Posted 1 Sep 2017 7:06 am
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| Kay Das wrote: |
. I often play steel accompanying ukulele groups here in Southern California and comment often made is that the steel makes the music sound "more Hawaiian". Also, the slack key and steel combine very well.
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I've had the same experience! Certainly the steel makes things sound "more Hawaiian" and people seem to instinctively know it!
And thanks to all the current Hawaiian steel players, they are the way of the future. |
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Steve Atwood
From:
Massachusetts, USA
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Posted 1 Sep 2017 6:05 pm
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| John Kwasnik wrote: |
Steve --
Well ... yes and no. I've been playing slack key for 10 years, but only steel recently. Both heavily use thirds and sixths, harmonics, and long leaps mimicking yodels. But those 16th-note triplet ornaments would be hard on steel (at least for me!). And slack key is mostly solo, where you are playing your own bass parts along with the melody.
Flipping this around, ever hear Barry Flanagan's slack key? He has a move where he sounds a harmonic, then detunes-retunes the string to mimic steel. |
I agree, John, most slack key songs are not really adaptable to steel, but there are a few. I've just started listening to it recently (been playing - i.e. trying to play - lap steel for about 10 years - the opposite transition from yours), but for months now it's all I want to listen to, and when I hear a song I like I have to try to learn it (on my 12-string steel).
A couple more songs that have nice slides in them (besides Ozzie's "Mahinahina"):
Keola Beamer's "Minoaka"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tvgYI1UEZQ&list=PLWkUZaySK7EaJxwolNVKzz5gqwEjzxnbE&index=4
and "No Ka Po"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e46cFCFkjH4&index=10&list=PLWkUZaySK7EaJxwolNVKzz5gqwEjzxnbE
also "Hu'i E" by Raymond Kane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bh6BQrV7L4&list=PLWkUZaySK7EaJxwolNVKzz5gqwEjzxnbE&index=61
Barry Flanagan - not a fan. From the two videos I watched he seems like all technique and showmanship, not much Aloha.
Jeff Au Hoy and Bobby Ingano - very big fan. My all-time favorite steel guitar performance was Bobby at a slack key show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-d5Qh5yXYw |
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Josei Alfonsi
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 20 Sep 2017 9:47 am
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| Although the Ukulele wasn't made in Hawaii I think it has been the gateway instrument for a lot of Hawaiian musicians. as a drummer at a young age I was not very into Hawaiian music, and there was an ukulele boom about the time I was in intermediate school that opened my eyes. If not for the ukulele I probably would not have traveled the route I have which eventually lead to my quest to learn the steel guitar, and after years of trying and quitting I have finally stopped scaring the cat when I play (or made her go deaf). |
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Tod Johnson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 26 Nov 2017 11:30 am
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| I'd like to know when someone is going to bring back the glockenspiel to Hawaiian music. |
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David M Brown
From:
California, USA
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Posted 26 Nov 2017 12:40 pm
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| Tod Johnson wrote: |
| I'd like to know when someone is going to bring back the glockenspiel to Hawaiian music. |
See my other post....but it think you mean vibraphone. |
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John Kwasnik
From:
California, USA
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Posted 26 Nov 2017 4:31 pm
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Steve --
That link is to the song, He Aloha No'o Honolulu, which is one of my favorite melodies. Here is my arrangement in taro patch tuning: https://sites.google.com/site/johnsslackkey/home/healoha
Check out the playing of John Keawe, esp. Beautiful Kohala on his Auhele album.
_________________
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John Kwasnik
Sacramento, CA
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 27 Nov 2017 6:02 am
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| Paul Honeycutt wrote: |
Don Ho (rightly or wrongly) is viewed as the ultimate lounge singer. Maybe the Wayne Newton of Hawaiian music? |
Ha, my father found out recently that I was learning Hawaiian steel guitar, and now he can't help himself but call me "Don Ho". I think for a lot of folks "Tiny Bubbles" is about the most visible Hawaiian song of that era. Not that that is a unique thing, when I learned classical Indian sitar, your average punter thinks its for Beatles music chiefly...
(That quote also reminds me of that scene in Lost in America where Albert Brooks tries to get his money back from the casino manager by insisting that he is different from all the other "schmucks who come to see Wayne Newton". "I like Wayne Newton, does that make me a schmuck?") |
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Dana Blodgett
From:
California, USA
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Posted 27 Nov 2017 1:16 pm dis owned?
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Nope. I don't feel that way at all, ya just need to look around a li'l harder to find them. The premier players Alan Akaka, Casey Olson,Greg Sardinha,Bobby Ingano,etc. At times are traveling in the lower 48 states touring and giving festivals. A lot of the times are in Japan playing dates there. Akaka has a music school with many, many new young lap steel students along with ukulele players and other instruments as well.There are players on the other Islands as well some even play the pedal steel. Some people play in small out of the way establishments and venues at Private resorts.
Akaka and company just had a steel guitar festival on the Big Island at the Mauna Lani Resort on the Kohala Coast above Waikaloa.Try "the House without a Key" for C
asey Olson and his dad, Kailua on Oahu for Sardinha and others.
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Dana Blodgett
From Los Osos,Ca.
'74 ShoBud 6140 3+4, Martins HD28,D-12-28, D-15,'65 Gibson LG-1, '77 Gibson Les Paul special dbl cut p-90's, Les Paul Special p-100's,Les paul Special Hybrid(maple top) hbkr's,'68 Fender Strat reissue, Fender Squire Jazz bass,Epi mandolin,Epi Wilshire '66 reissue, Kamaka Concert uke, 70's Kamaka Soprano Uke, Fender Super amp, Ampeg ba112 bass amp,60's harmony banjo,'00 Gibson SG Supreme |
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Tod Johnson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 27 Nov 2017 1:32 pm
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I wonder if Wayne Newton ever got into Hawaiian music. Both for the fact that when I met him on the Big Island he referred to it as his second home and 'cause he plays the banjo, which is the same G tuning as taro patch slack key. Also he has a kindred spirit from his native American heritage.
An additional reason for the loss of interest in steel guitar in Hawaiian music is the popularity of Hawaiian reggae, or ridiculously termed Jawaiian. It's what the girls like 'cause they can dance to it. And you can be a superstar with just a uke, like Kelly Boy De Lima of Kapena. Other non reggae ukulele artists that travel the world expenses paid from the time they're teenagers are Jake Shimabukuro, Taimane Garner and Brittni Paiva. Can't blame them, they're spreading the culture worldwide instead of trying to carve out a gig at home. I've seen kids go from busboys to Grammy winners overnight with nominal uke dexterity.
Also most of the luaus now days include 6 or 7 Polynesian cultures in the show. So between the popular Samoan fire knife dance and the Tahitian fasted paced hula, the musicians could be standing idle for a good portion of the show while the drums are piped in through the PA if they don't have a Tahitian drummer. But with 200 people a night at $90 a head plus alcohol sales, the biggest shows get the word of mouth through the coconut wireless in the highly competitive major money maker.
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1939 Oahu Tonemaster, 1957 Rickenbacker, Melbert 8, and a cheap Rogue. |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 27 Nov 2017 1:47 pm
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| Hoping to go travel to Hawaii with my family in a couple years (maybe for Alfred Apaka's 100th birthday?), and I was looking up the usual touristy luaus, and although the one my kids will probably want to go to (Disney's one at their Oahu resort) may be a bit soul-crushing (I gotta tell you, not looking forward to Let it Go'ah, with the ha'ina ia mai ana ka puana refrain) I was instantly won over with a still pic that clearly showed a musician with the lovely twin diamonds of a blonde Fender Stringmaster in the band. |
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Tod Johnson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 27 Nov 2017 1:57 pm
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Depending on the time you have you could go to more that one. If you sit through one of those hour and a half time share presentations they'll give you free passes.
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1939 Oahu Tonemaster, 1957 Rickenbacker, Melbert 8, and a cheap Rogue. |
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Steve Marinak
From:
Man O War Cay, Abaco, Bahamas
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Posted 28 Nov 2017 5:46 am
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The same could be said for live music in general, in any of the States. Playing an instrument takes time and dedication. Less people want to invest that time it seems. Along with that the audiences attention span has grown shorter I believe. And lastly, club owners margins are tighter and tighter, they could play Pandora or Spotify or some service over the speakers and use the square space from the band to place another table that earns revenue instead of being a cost.
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Steve Marinak |
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James Hartman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 28 Nov 2017 8:21 am
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| Steve Marinak wrote: |
| The same could be said for live music in general, in any of the States. Playing an instrument takes time and dedication. Less people want to invest that time it seems. Along with that the audiences attention span has grown shorter I believe. And lastly, club owners margins are tighter and tighter, they could play Pandora or Spotify or some service over the speakers and use the square space from the band to place another table that earns revenue instead of being a cost. |
This is true in some respects. Certainly the landscape for live music has changed dramatically in our lifetime. It's easy to lament the passing of an era of plentiful work for the non-famous musician, when even small towns had live music in bars, hotel lounges, VFW halls, Elks Club, etc. Changing economics, lifestyle, musical tastes put an end to that. I don't think it's at all indicative of laziness or lack of interest resulting in younger folks not getting involved in making music, or enthusiastically pursuing listening opportunities. The music has simply moved elsewhere: online, into non-commercial venues, festivals. This has resulted in a more fragmented audience. Different musical subcultures now tend to exist in relative isolation from each other - ironically, at a time when any individual has easy access to virtually all music ever recorded. |
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David M Brown
From:
California, USA
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Posted 28 Nov 2017 8:44 am
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| James Hartman wrote: |
This is true in some respects. Certainly the landscape for live music has changed dramatically in our lifetime. It's easy to lament the passing of an era of plentiful work for the non-famous musician, when even small towns had live music in bars, hotel lounges, VFW halls, Elks Club, etc. . |
When I was younger I played many a gig at VFW halls, Elks Club, and many other similar venues - plus lots of weddings.
All of these dances and weddings had live music.
It was a different. |
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Larry Allen
From:
Kapaa, Kauai,Hawaii
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Posted 28 Nov 2017 5:27 pm
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Here in Kauai there are a dozen Hawaiian steelers and 1/2 a dozen venues with local music...lots of slack key and steel on these bands..even the airport has live local music regularly..87 year old Ernest Palmiera plays lots of them on his 1954 Fender C6 & B11..Jess Montgomery plays weekly along with several others..  Larry
_________________
Excel steels & Peavey amps,Old Chevys & Motorcycles & Women on the Trashy Side |
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Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
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Posted 29 Nov 2017 8:54 am
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I hear lots of simple uke-strumming on television these days. Much of it is incorporated into advertisements.
My wife enjoys watching programs on the Food Network and on HGTV. Many of the programs have simple two and three chord patterns being strummed on a uke in the background.
Cheap filler. I quickly tire of it. |
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James Hartman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 29 Nov 2017 9:16 am
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| David M Brown wrote: |
| James Hartman wrote: |
This is true in some respects. Certainly the landscape for live music has changed dramatically in our lifetime. It's easy to lament the passing of an era of plentiful work for the non-famous musician, when even small towns had live music in bars, hotel lounges, VFW halls, Elks Club, etc. . |
When I was younger I played many a gig at VFW halls, Elks Club, and many other similar venues - plus lots of weddings.
All of these dances and weddings had live music.
It was a different. |
Me too. My 1st paying gig (at age 15) was a wedding reception at a Knights of Columbus hall. Later had a regular (and well paid) Saturday night gig in the ballroom at an Elks Club, lasted for over a year; big crowd came out to dance every week. |
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David M Brown
From:
California, USA
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Posted 29 Nov 2017 10:13 am
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| James Hartman wrote: |
Me too. My 1st paying gig (at age 15) was a wedding reception at a Knights of Columbus hall. Later had a regular (and well paid) Saturday night gig in the ballroom at an Elks Club, lasted for over a year; big crowd came out to dance every week. |
Yeah, it was sure different back then. Until the oil crash in the later 70's many companies had 2-4 dances a year in addition to the regular dance jobs.
After a certain time, all that work seemed to dry up surprisingly fast. |
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Tommy Martin Young
From:
Sacramento-California, USA
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Posted 6 Dec 2019 11:59 am 2019 Update
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Aloha- just got back last night from a week in Maui and sad to report that I completed only half of my mission to: Taste Local Beers (buy a new hat) & Play Some Steels (find a new tone bar). Now granted it was easier to find local breweries (Maui Brewing and Kahalo and lots of others in stores) than it was to find steels.
Thing I actually found most disheartening was walking into a FANCY ukulele store and having the shop attendant tell me that they mostly string ukes with the bass string on bottom these days because "it makes more sense and still sounds just as happy!" My sadness grew because by then I realized I wasn't going to be learning any Hawaiian licks that day but figured I could at least talk about re-entrant tunings 
Doctor prescribed 2 beers and practice time with my travel steel. I did get a new hat though.
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The One & Lonely Tommy Young
"Now is the time for drinking;
now the time to beat the earth with unfettered foot."
-Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65-8 B.C.) |
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Larry Allen
From:
Kapaa, Kauai,Hawaii
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Posted 6 Dec 2019 12:49 pm
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There are NO steels for sale over here except on Craig’s list... 
_________________
Excel steels & Peavey amps,Old Chevys & Motorcycles & Women on the Trashy Side |
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Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Posted 7 Dec 2019 9:22 am
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| Steve Marinak wrote: |
| The same could be said for live music in general, in any of the States. Playing an instrument takes time and dedication. Less people want to invest that time it seems. Along with that the audiences attention span has grown shorter I believe. And lastly, club owners margins are tighter and tighter, they could play Pandora or Spotify or some service over the speakers and use the square space from the band to place another table that earns revenue instead of being a cost. |
Bingo, people have no patience anymore. I could have a kid playing something recognisable as a song on a Uke or Taro patch tuned guitar in a few hours, on a steel, no way. |
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Loren Tilley
From:
Maui, Hawaii
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Posted 10 Dec 2019 12:49 am
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Shameless plug since steel on Maui was mentioned: just about every Thursday at the Maui Coffee Attic in Wailuku during the day 11am - 12:30pm is the only regular steel guitar on the island that I know of. It’s free and if you want you can probably sit in. Myself, Geronimo Valdriz, and Don Mitsuyuki rotate on steel guitar. There’s usually some others sitting in too. It’s free (buy some coffee, though, and tip the band)
https://www.facebook.com/john.henry.9277/videos/10221618941568767/
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Rickenbacher B-6 |
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