Respect

Joe Rogers · From: Lake Charles, LA USA

How many years has pedal steel guitar been around in its current form...??

How many of you still get mistaken for a keyboard player..??

The photo below is in this month's issue of Mix Magazine....a leading trade mag among recording industry professionals. If industry professionals still don't know who we are.....then what will it take to gain that respect..??

Years ago my grandfather was making a left turn in his driveway and a car passed him as he was turning...thus causing an accident. His reply to the deputy was, "You would think after living here for 40 years folks would know where I was going."

You would think after 70 years of existence, the music industry and its fans would know what instrument we play. Crying or Very sad

Joe Rogers

Larry Jamieson · From: Walton, NY USA

That doesn't look like a keyboard to me. Isn't that one of those slide guitar things?

Steve Spitz · From: New Orleans, LA, USA

I wouldnt hold my breath waiting for the respect.

While it is totally embarrassing that an industry rag would screw that up, consider this:

Think about all the times someone came to one of your shows, had no idea what that â€œthing â€œ you played was, but were knocked out by the sound. That special voice that no other instrument has. Maybe you took a minute to answer a few questions, and they found a new â€œfavorite soundâ€. Maybe some one from the audience was so impressed, they approached you and wanted to know what it was and how it works. Thereâ€™s also an upside to playing an obscure instrument.

legitimate respect earned from a live audience. Thatâ€™s cool , isnâ€™t it ?

Igor Fiksman · From: Georgia, USA

Just last weekend a soundguy said "ready for keyboard" when he got around to me during sound check. You could almost see the rest of the band tense up and stare at me for a response. I didn't realize I'm that terrifying...ðŸ˜‚. The soundguy quickly corrected himself, I mean " steel pedal". I didn't bother saying anything.
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Joe Rogers · From: Lake Charles, LA USA

Steve,

Point well taken and spoken with eloquence. I wrestled in my mind with the title....I do know that steel players are salesmen who constantly have to sell the listening public on the virtues of our instrument every time we play it.

I think what is even more embarrassing about this particular issue of Mix Magazine is that 3/4 of this particular issue is focused on Nashville....studios, recording techniques, stories of how a legendary album was made. Maybe it is not music industry professionals who do not know our instrument....but rather journalists. Laughing

Oh by the way, my grandfather was a character and very much joking when he made that remark to the deputy.

Thanks for your input...!!

Joe Rogers

Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

Keep the faith, we were in a recent issue of Vortex mag, and it also featured another local steel player Bryan Daste.
This is at our once-a-month Noon-2pm Sat gig!

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John De Maille · From: On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.

I was asked, not that long ago, as to what kind of computer I was playing. The party was very sincere as to how I got all my those sounds so easily. Was it something new on the market? I was literally quite speechless and said, that, it was a guitar and left it at that.

Doug Beaumier · From: Northampton, MA

One time two guys came up to the bandstand and one guy said to me â€œYou play good keyboardâ€. His friend said â€œYou idiot... thatâ€™s a synthesizer!â€

Iâ€™ve heard it called a string guitar, iron guitar, slide, steel pedal, table guitar...
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Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Joe Rogers · From: Lake Charles, LA USA

You guys are cracking me up.....Love it...!!

Jim, something to ponder...in your opinion what would be the sound engineer's most deviant retaliation.....making you sound like crap all night....or turning you off completely in the house all night...?? .....and of course.....turning up the electric guitar player extra loud....

Hahahahaaa!!!

Joe Rogers

Mitch Ellis · From: Collins, Mississippi USA

Russ Wever · From: Kansas City

Brint Hannay · From: Maryland, USA

One time when I was at a rehearsal in a private home, the pizza delivery guy asked "What is that thing, a sitar or something?" At least he knew it had strings on it.

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

My own band mate once asked me, live on the bandstand in front of an audience, â€œIs it pedal steel or petal steel?â€ After sufficient pause, I gave him the look.

john buffington · From: Owasso OK - USA

I had a lady come up to me at a dance one night and asked "is that a zither", I responded "amazing isn't it"! I think she thought she won the $64,000., question!

Rich Peterson · From: Moorhead, MN

25 years ago, I had a gray haired lady look over the railing that obscured the audience's view of my steel, and ask, "Is that a synthesizer?" I would have expected folks would have at least learned what a synth is by now.

In their defense, the audience view of a PSG doesn't show much of what is going on; they may not even see the strings, edge on. At least a third of them would not understand the difference between a guitar and a bass guitar. (I've asked.)

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

I will almost guarantee that the editor has called out the staff writer for the HUGE error. This is a Business RAG , not a dance with people not in the know.

This makes the RAG look really foolish. it makes the staff writer look like a complete moron.
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Paul Wade · From: mundelein,ill

Ken Byng · From: Southampton, England

The most common description I hear of my pedal steel at gigs is a zither. Obviously some people have never seen either instrument before. Whoa!

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Pat Chong · From: New Mexico, USA

I can understand why some would call it a keyboard. The pedal steel is one of the many voices a keyboard may have, and some can do an ok, but limited, job playing "pedal steel" on their keyboard.
In fact, I wrote a tune on my keyboard featuring the "pedal steel" which is what made me decide to learn to play the real thing. I don't look back.

.........Pat

Chris Walke · From: St Charles, IL

Played lead guitar & pedal steel at a restaurant last weekend. Little boy was watching the band set up, finally got the nerve to approach me and ask if that was a piano. I said no, it's actually a very special kind of guitar. His eyes got big - "a guitar??" So I told him it's a pedal steel guitar & showed him the strings on both instruments and how they are played differently. Then he walked over to his mom and said, "I wanna play drums!!"

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

What kind of cheese is that guy on the right slicing?

Dan Robinson · From: Colorado, USA

Last summer I played an afternoon gig, family deal. A couple of youngsters came up to the bandstand to have a look at the thing making "that sound." One of them, a young lady of about 11 years, was staring, eyes as wide as saucers. At our break she approached and asked, "WHAT IS THAT?"

To say I was delighted would be an understatement. I showed her the steel, answered her questions, asked about her own musical interests. Our little chat went on for 10 minutes. It was a singular experience.

I'll leave it to her and other inquisitive youngsters to educate their peers. Nothing I can do will enlighten industry professionals. Most folks still won't get it, but for the few that do... "ahhh, pedal steel guitar, that sound."

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

When people ask me what I'm playing, I say it is a product of genetic engineering: it's a combination Singer sewing machine and cheese slicer. Whoa!

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