Chris Stapleton CMA Awards

[Tom Spaulding]

Paul's got the overdrive pedal on, playing slide guitar licks and doubling Stapleton's leads!

White Horse

[John McClung]

Great to see Paul, just wish he'd been given some solo time!

[Nigel Mullen]

I didn't hear much of the country music I love on the CMA this year. I found it difficult to watch the whole show in fact. Too bad. Just my two cents. NM

[Dirk Edwards]

Looks like the only thing missing was Gene Simmons, and Ace Frehley?

[Fred Treece]

I’m glad Paul got his face out there anyway.

One thing to think about going forward, 30 years from now Country Music will not have a 30-year-old Rock Music style to fall back on. Could be a good thing.

[Lee Baucum]

I’m glad Paul got his face out there anyway.

So did Jelly Roll, from the audience!

~Lee

[Dirk Edwards]

I’m glad Paul got his face out there anyway.

So did Jelly Roll, from the audience!

~Lee

There is a milk carton out there that needs a face?

[Fred Treece]

Tom, I know you are the promo guy for MMM on this forum, and certainly know more about what you’re doing than I do. I hope this clip reaches someone here, because we all know Paul Franklin is one of the greatest players to ever sit behind a steel guitar as well as a respected teacher, and that video is not a good representation of his artistry.

[Tom Spaulding]

Hi Fred-

I'm definitely the promo guy for Modern Music Masters, I founded the company.

If the clip of Paul playing pedal steel in a Country Rock setting on the stage of the 2023 CMAs is not to your taste, consider that it could be worth a listen for any younger players on this forum. In the past couple of years we've seen a major change in the age of new PFM students: younger and younger.

They tell us they are interested in learning how to play correctly and apply their skills to the music their peers are making. They ask if it's possible to play other roles than the traditional ones. They are interested in how to approach an instrument so often tied to a specific era in a specific genre and how to make it more appealing to modern ears while keeping its unique sound.

Paul's presence on modern country records with artists like Chris Stapleton, Ernest, Hardy, Morgan Wallen and more traditional newcomers like Jake Worthington is bringing the sound of the pedal steel to 20 and 30 year olds. Lots of converted 6-stringers are enrolled and learning how to play. One of Paul's young students was also on stage that night playing pedal steel with "The War and Treaty".

Every fan of traditional pedal steel should check out Vince and Paul's latest album "Sweet Memories: A Tribute to Ray Price and the Cherokee Cowboys". You'll hear Paul's interpretations of the classic sounds of Buddy, Jimmy, Lloyd, Don Helms and Jerry Byrd in an amazing band setting, with one of the finest singers ever. We are in the final stages of editing Paul's companion course, "Texas Country", where he teaches every intro and solo from that record note-for-note.

I may have a broader definition of the term, but in my opinion, Paul's artistry is well-represented in this clip. It's another example of his versatility, his musical curiosity, his ability to play stylistically appropriate and emotionally/technically proficient parts in any setting, something he has done continuously over many decades.

Finding a meaningful part in a band with two electric guitar players is a skill that goes all the way back to his days with Dire Straits and creating complimentary parts to play on all of the songs that had no steel when first recorded. It's something modern players are going to be asked to do. Here's an example of how they might do it.

[Tommy White]

Yes! I’ll tell you, Paul Franklin has kept and keeps our instrument alive now in commercial music. Pedal steel would be lost without Paul Franklin.

[Dave Mudgett]

I think it's absolutely essential that players of any instrument be good at coming up with parts to effectively fill in and back up, in any musical context. And be willing and able to do just that. I don't quite understand what it is about pedal steel that makes so many think that we always have to have a spot out front. I think back to the greatest session players of any instrument in any period - they played what the song dictated, period. When you're producing the record and paying the bills, you can do whatever you want.

I recall an interview with Bob Bain (guitarist in the Tonight Show Band with Johnny Carson, and session player on so much great music - e.g., the Peter Gunn Theme and literally hundreds of others) in Guitar Player (Aug '87, the Stratmania issue, still have it) where he answered the question, “What are the essential skills for a guitarist in your line of work?” with the following:

“You have to know how to play rhythm on an electric guitar without getting in the way or getting a soggy sound. In other words, you don’t sit there playing in 4/4 on a loud electric guitar. You have to find the spots for some fills and occasional solos.”

Bingo, and I took that to heart and started more seriously studying jazz guitar. I think the same basic idea is true for any instrument, including steel.

[Dirk Edwards]

There's a reason this has almost six hundred thousand views.
And will be remembered when Chris Stapleton's 2023 performance is just a memory with the rest of the phony cowboy hat wearing Goobers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAHfcqzhag0&t=3s

[Mike Neer]

I know sometimes it difficult to imagine there’s a whole other world of people outside of the SGF. Lol

What PF contributes to the steel guitar world is knowledge, an example of respect for the instrument’s history, and the pursuit of excellence as a professional musician. What he does away from the steel guitar world is continue to be a consummate music professional. If you don’t know what that entails then you won’t really understand the breadth of all that is involved in that.

Paul is not a young gun anymore, but if he has the passion for music the way he did when he was younger, then he will be young in his heart forever. That is a great example to follow.

[Fred Treece]

I know sometimes it difficult to imagine there’s a whole other world of people outside of the SGF. Lol.

Not really sure what you’re trying to say there, Mike. Safe to say, 100% of us have real lives going on outside our refuge here.

Nobody here is casting doubt on Mr. Franklin’s professionalism and what he has done and continues to do to maintain it. Mr. Spaulding seemed to believe that a jab had been lobbed in that direction, and he defended himself and his client. An opinion was given, and it was misunderstood. Imagine that.

This forum is at its best when members stick to the facts. I will do my best from now on.

[Mike Neer]

I know sometimes it difficult to imagine there’s a whole other world of people outside of the SGF. Lol.

Not really sure what you’re trying to say there, Mike. Safe to say, 100% of us have real lives going on outside our refuge here..

The point I am making has nothing to with anyone’s personal lives but instead the tunnel vision of steel guitar players and their focus on the playing at a molecular level.

It is nice to be recognized by the community but I can also imagine that at such a high profile that it can be frustrating to constantly endure people’s expectations. Our “refuge” is a pretty good safe zone, but the tendency over the years has been an extreme resistance to the changing musical environment.

Anyway, I regret weighing in.

[Fred Treece]

The point I am making has nothing to with anyone’s personal lives but instead the tunnel vision of steel guitar players and their focus on the playing at a molecular level.

Heh...Thanks, clear as mud

Please don’t regret weighing in. You are highly respected here, you know that. I wouldn’t have responded if I thought it was a frivolous point you were making.

I agree with you on the perception of general “resistance to changing musical environment”. When that change is a 30-year throwback, it is bound to ruffle some feathers, especially with the contingent that would much prefer a 50- or 60-year throwback.

Nostalgia is a handicap of sorts, and a job hazard for older musicians. Adapting to the change of which you speak is a skill and a compromise. I have done plenty of that myself, and I am nobody. I just assume most musicians who have been playing for 50 years have had to do something similar. There’s no law that says you have to like it, or hold it in higher regard than your personal ideals, though. So, I don’t. It is a challenge to bring my own ideals into the fold I find myself in sometimes, but it’s manageable and I don’t get fired...Much.

[Mike Neer]

The point I am making has nothing to with anyone’s personal lives but instead the tunnel vision of steel guitar players and their focus on the playing at a molecular level.

Heh...Thanks, clear as mud

Please don’t regret weighing in. You are highly respected here, you know that. I wouldn’t have responded if I thought it was a frivolous point you were making.

I agree with you on the perception of general “resistance to changing musical environment”. When that change is a 30-year throwback, it is bound to ruffle some feathers, especially with the contingent that would much prefer a 50- or 60-year throwback.

Nostalgia is a handicap of sorts, and a job hazard for older musicians. Adapting to the change of which you speak is a skill and a compromise. I have done plenty of that myself, and I am nobody. I just assume most musicians who have been playing for 50 years have had to do something similar. There’s no law that says you have to like it, or hold it in higher regard than your personal ideals, though. So, I don’t. It is a challenge to bring my own ideals into the fold I find myself in sometimes, but it’s manageable and I don’t get fired...Much.

Thank you, Fred.
The beautiful thing about music is the appropriation—wait that’s negative connotation—the adaptation of music filtered through different lenses. When I was growing up in the 70s and 80s and becoming involved in playing music, I loved rock. Hard Rock, Southern Rock, not so much Punk Rock. To hear this music now on the CMAs does nothing for me personally, but they have brought rock to a new audience when the actual Rock genre has suffered. The thing that those who lament the loss of traditional country sounds in Country music ignore is the rise of traditional country sounds in….Rock! As more players gain skills in playing steel guitar, I think the overall musicianship is going to continue to grow. Musicians today are incredibly skilled and driven.

[Joachim Kettner]

Listening to his song Traveller (with Robby Turner on steel) helps me a little to cope with the loss of my cat who ran away and it's very cold over here. I pray that she returns or at least found a warm place to stay in somebody else's home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2M0PNa-dzg