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Topic: Chance Meeting at Whole Foods Market |
Gino Cecchetto
From:
California, USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 9:46 am |
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Living in Kalifornia in the Silicon Valley, you don't really ever see any steel players. To be honest, it hard to find a show to go to locally where the band has a steel player, let a lone meeting your biggest influence in a local market.
Last Wednesday my son and I stopped in at Whole Foods to get some food from the hot bar. We were sitting in the tap room area when I saw this guy that looked sooooo familiar. I thought "no, that can't be him", then he looked my way and I saw the glasses and I thought "holy crap, I think that's him".
My son and I finished eating and I told my son I would meet him at the the truck, and that I was going to see if it really was him. Now let me say right up front, I am not the kind of guy that bothers famous people when I see them, but in this case, I just had to know.
Walking up the center isle, I looked to my right, and there he was in the vitamin section. I apprehensively walked up and said "I'm really sorry to bother you, but is your name Eric?", he looked at me very surprised and said "yes it is", I said "Eric Heywood?" he responded even more surprised "yea, it is", I said "I can't believe it, you're my favorite pedal steel player".
We talked briefly and I asked what brought him to the bay area and he said they were playing a private show in the area as he gestured toward a woman with a baby girl in a shopping card. I looked at her as she made I contact with me, and then embarrassed I hadn't noticed her, I said "Tift Merritt?". She laughed and reached out to shake my hand.
They were both incredibly nice, and two of my music heroes, especially Eric. He is hands down my favorite pedal steel player. The chance meeting made my day, and they both seemed to enjoy meeting someone who truly appreciated what they do.
A funny bit of advice from Eric. He asked me if I was a musician, I said yes, been playing banjo since the age of 6, (I'm 52 now) but that I spend most of my time now trying to play the pedal steel. He laughed and said "if you want to play pedal steel, get some of this" as he held up the bottle of vitamin B12 he had pulled from the shelf. Oh how I wish it was that simple. |
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Fred Justice
From:
Mesa, Arizona
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 11:28 am
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Gino, I'm 69 years old and don't really keep up with the younger guys playing steel guitar now days.
So I'm going to ask that really dumb question, who is Eric Heywood? 
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Email: azpedalman@gmail.com
Phone: 480-235-8797 |
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Chris Robbins
From:
Biggsville Illinois
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 11:55 am Eric Heywood
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| I explained to Fred who he is Gino. |
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Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 2:18 pm
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Here's him playing on the greatest alt country song of all time IMHO.. not fancy or technical, but spot on as far as what was needed to make a good song a great one..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arrDxk8LlMU
oh btw, this song has the PERFECT verse for us old country steel guitarists that lament the repulsive state of "modern country music"...
"Switching it over to AM
Searching for a truer sound
Can't recall the call letters
Steel guitar and settle down
Catching an all-night station somewhere in Louisiana
It sounds like 1963, but for now it sounds like heaven"
Son Volt - Windfall Lyrics verse II
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I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!
no gear list for me.. you don't have the time...... |
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Gino Cecchetto
From:
California, USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 3:10 pm
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| It was the music of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt that turned me on to Eric. For some more out of the box stuff from Eric check out the stuff he's done with Alejandro Escavedo and Jeffrey Foucault. |
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Gino Cecchetto
From:
California, USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 7:03 pm Re: Eric Heywood
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| Chris Robbins wrote: |
| I explained to Fred who he is Gino. |
Thanks |
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Chris Walke
From:
St Charles, IL
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Posted 27 Jun 2017 10:18 am
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| Gino Cecchetto wrote: |
| It was the music of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt that turned me on to Eric. For some more out of the box stuff from Eric check out the stuff he's done with Alejandro Escavedo and Jeffrey Foucault. |
And Ray LaMontagne. |
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Roger Kelly
From:
Bristol,Tennessee
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Posted 27 Jun 2017 12:19 pm
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Here is a video that shows Eric Heywood for those of us that has never heard him. His playing compliments the tune and doesn't get in the way of the singer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIHtFySoo6U |
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Paul Stauskas
From:
DFW, TX
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Posted 27 Jun 2017 5:17 pm
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Cool story Gino! I met him at a Hiss Golden Messenger show in LA last year - he didn't play though. He was one of the first players I heard that really captivated me.
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My site |
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David Gertschen
From:
Phoenix, Arizona
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2017 6:14 pm
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Last year I was in a band that did both of those Son Volt songs (Windfall and Tear Stained Eye). They are a bit trickier than they sound. I guess that's what Americana is - country music with more complex progressions, played by young folks. The songs went over well as slow dance tunes in bars.
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-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Gino Cecchetto
From:
California, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2017 10:11 pm
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| b0b wrote: |
| Last year I was in a band that did both of those Son Volt songs (Windfall and Tear Stained Eye). They are a bit trickier than they sound. I guess that's what Americana is - country music with more complex progressions, played by young folks. The songs went over well as slow dance tunes in bars. |
Yep, I'm always amazed when people say his playing is simple. Take a shot at learning the solo from Left a Slide and see how simple it is. Of course that's just the opinion of a banjo player that's learning pedal steel:) |
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Stephen Rethmeier
From:
Nashville TN
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Posted 28 Jun 2017 6:10 am
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I would love to meet Eric. He and Greg Leisz are my two favorite players. An album that Eric played on that I had on repeat for about two months is Jeffrey Foucault's Horse Latitudes. The solo on the song Starlight and Static is simple, but always hits me in the feel.
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Williams S12 Ext. E9 keyless, Williams S12 Ext. E9 keyed, Telonics TCA 500C, Quilter Steelaire, Magic Fender clone, 1937 Model 59 Rick 6, 1940 Epiphone 7-string Zephyr, Oahu 6, 8+/- regular guitars, Kawai baby grand, two cats... |
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Gino Cecchetto
From:
California, USA
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Posted 28 Jun 2017 7:44 am
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| Stephen Rethmeier wrote: |
| I would love to meet Eric. He and Greg Leisz are my two favorite players. An album that Eric played on that I had on repeat for about two months is Jeffrey Foucault's Horse Latitudes. The solo on the song Starlight and Static is simple, but always hits me in the feel. |
Ghost Repeater is also very good. Two of my favorite songs featuring Eric are Son Volt's Highways and Cigarettes and Methamphetamine. |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 29 Jun 2017 9:18 pm
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| I swear that bassist listened to Phil Lesh a good bit? If you count One-E-And-A, Two-E-And-A and so forth, the bassist is often playing on the "E" instad of the "One." It pulls out some of the automatic throb but it also lets the drummer & guitarists decide to swing like mad dogs, and switch back and forth off of straight eights; if your mad dogs want to swing that's a good way to leave the barn door open. Mixedaphore mets, I know. |
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Mark Draycott
From:
Princeton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 30 Jun 2017 2:00 am
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| Stephen Rethmeier wrote: |
| I would love to meet Eric. He and Greg Leisz are my two favorite players. An album that Eric played on that I had on repeat for about two months is Jeffrey Foucault's Horse Latitudes. The solo on the song Starlight and Static is simple, but always hits me in the feel. |
Here is a video with both steel players.
https://youtu.be/jVUL6KI8INs
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1976 Sho-Bud Pro II, 1976 Sho-Bud LDG, BF Fender Deluxe, Evans FET 500 LV, BF Princeton Reverb, '68 Vibrolux Reverb |
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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