PSG in a duo or trio

[Jim Pitman]

Are any of you doing this?
I've been doing it for a few years now. Seems the gig scene has directed me there as bar gigs that pay enough for a full band are rare in my area.
We still have small venues around that have live music though so I have adjusted. On an average I may make a little more money than I made in the late 70s in a duo I am ashamed to say, but it makes me happy and fulfills my music playing Jones so I keep doing it.
The duo or trio is interesting in that you need to fill the sound up and what I would consider overplaying in a band situation is called for in the small combo..
I find my roll calls for a more "rhythm" guitar approach. My U12 is good at this. IMO, the master of this was Buddy Cage.
Thoughts?

[Jerry Overstreet]

No, but I'd love to. I had a couple chances to play pedal steel at mass with just an acoustic guitar. Very enjoyable and fulfilling but one has to be on top of their game when it's just 2 or 3 if used to playing in a full band.

[D Schubert]

I've backed a singer/songwriter a time or two. One vocal, acoustic guitar & pedal steel. Seems that the best approach was to play less, not more, to fill in the sonic space.

[Howard Parker]

Absolutely,

I've done dozens. Always with the principals of my full 5 piece band. We'd just rearrange the bands repertoire for acoustic guitar, Tele and steel. Typically laid back and quite enjoyable. A "kinder and gentler" sound, focusing more on the vocals.

You learn to adapt to the situation at hand.

h

[K Maul]

I do a lot of duos using pedal, lap steel and Weissenborn guitars. This is where the low notes of C6, Universal or extended E9 really come in handy.

[Chuck Lemasters]

Played in a trio for two years….a few jobs as a duo….I agree that less is more…we were playing mostly singer-songwriter acoustic tunes, along with some country music. The steel in James Taylor’s early music, for example, is beautiful, but sparse. In a setting like this, the steel guitar can begin to sound less majestic, less striking if not limited somewhat. If I padded the chord changes , I tried to stay VERY much in the background.

[Bob Carlucci]

I used to do it a lot.. Mostly duos.. Its ok, not my favorite way to gig, I miss the bottom end of a bass player.. Drums?.. meh.. No drums never bothered me... I agree, overplaying is not the answer// The vocals are typically "the show" in gigs of this type..

[Richard Sinkler]

I do sometimes. The leader of one of the bands I play with does duet gigs at brewpubs, farmer's Markets, etc. He only plays rhythm guitar, so I don't have to worry about covering that. The band is a full 5 piece band with him on rhythm, me on steel, a lead guitar, bass, and drums. I don't have to cover rhythm in the full band.

Another band I play with is only a 4 piece with lead/rhythm guitar, steel, bass, and drums. When the guitar player plays lead, I cover the rhythm. I've been doing that in bands for 50 years.

[Austin Tripp]

When not on the road, I’m 1/2 of a duo. I enjoy it and hate it at the same time. I enjoy it because the guy I work with is a wonderful singer and guitarist so he holds the rhythm down extremely well and I get to play,, a lot. That’s also the reason why I hate it. I’ve drilled into my brain when to play and when not to play in a song and when you’re the only other instrument, you play 99% of the time. I find myself repeating the same licks several times in a song and getting sort of stuck in a rut. While it’s fun to be the center of attention, it also musically drives me crazy. I could live without guitars in the band but I miss a bass and drums. I love being able to throw crazy timing licks at the rhythm section and them being able to hold it down. When you’re a duo, that can/will end in disaster.

[D Schubert]

Just my opinion. If you're backing a singer/guitarist you are there to serve the song. Applies to guitar, dobro, mandolin, harmonica, etc as well as steel guitar. Sometimes you just need to put your hands in your pockets for a couple of lines or a whole verse. One of the hardest practical lessons I've learned, and re-learned, and re-learned over the years.

[Rich Ertelt]

I did a gig early this summer, bass player on upright, me on steel and a bit of guitar.
Willie, Waylon, Haggard, Cash kind of stuff.
It worked fine. I had to cover a lot, singing harmony and even some lead, and play a lot of stuff. It was a farmers market, they wanted low key and low volume and they got it, lol.

[Larry Allen]

A bass man and I have done a Duo for 17 years, occasionally add a Sax. Extended E9, both of us sing, on many show tunes I read the piano book. We’ve done 100’s of weddings, supper clubs Luaus and private partys. No band issues!

[Steve Cattermole]

I played in a duo for the last ten years with my guitarist buddy, and loved it. We played Sheraton and Hilton hotels mostly, we got 175 $ each for 3 hours and it was close to home. I played melody the first time through, then he would solo, then we would do whatever we wanted, like trade 4's . we were playing American Song Book, Standards. We had backing tracks with bass and drums only and we were not loud. Except for learning 50 instrumentals it was a walk in the park , . I played C6 only with no vocals . We had played music together for 50 years which helps. It just ended because my buddy moved to Georgia

[Erv Niehaus]

I have done a lot of playing with just myself and a rhythm guitar player.
I play chordal style and that helps fill out the sound.
Erv

[Ricky Davis]

Here's me and Weldon doing a duo; like we do many times at full gig; but also hired to play duo.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BNh9sYbZk/
(you don't need facebook; just click the link and click the "X" on sign in and click the Volume on Video and there ya go)
Also anyone know the name of this old classic from out west????
Ricky

[Jerry Overstreet]

Nice job Ricky. Great sound. Nice vocals.

The song is titled Satan's Jewel Crown. It is an old county gospel Louvin Brothers tune written by a guy named Edgar Eden. I first heard it on a Emmylou Harris LP back in the 70s. Recognized it right away.

[Rich Ertelt]

Here's me and Weldon doing a duo; like we do many times at full gig; but also hired to play duo.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BNh9sYbZk/
(you don't need facebook; just click the link and click the "X" on sign in and click the Volume on Video and there ya go)
Also anyone know the name of this old classic from out west????
Ricky

Nice, and at the Spoke too!

I get Sin City on the link. Funny thing, I've been doing some pedal steel in a honky tonk band (filling in) once a month, lead singer was out of town, so I sang some, did Sin City. Now I get why pedal steel players don't sing, lol.
One of my all time fav songs.

[Ricky Davis]

thanks Jerry and you are very very close; but this is "Sin City"> you nailed it Rich
https://youtu.be/cWYxkwgml6o?si=nxvghxwRTtBEiBd_
yeeehaaa... neither of us are big Gram Parson fans; but when he sang this with Emmylou; Life stops for a moment.
Ricky

[Jerry Overstreet]

Yeah, of course. I got the titles confused. I should have remembered that. I believe one of JD Crowe's bands did it also.

[Ricky Davis]

Yeah you're on to it Jerry; you know your stuff.
Ricky

[Carmen Acciaioli]

I’ve been in this trio sometimes 4 piece for 45 years.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5 ... _Txk66Q86t

[Donny Hinson]

Early on, I played trio many times - just steel, bass, & drums. This was mostly because the lead players in my first country band seemed to have a problem with drinking, and with the constabulary. Our first lead player often got drunk and missed the gigs (or was in jail, as I was told), and the guy we hired to replace him was an Army guy, and it seemed he had a problem with the MP's for going AWOL. I remember one night we had just started playing at the old Southern Inn in Dundalk, and the MP's walked in the door. Mel (the lead guitar man) took quick note, dropped his guitar right on stage, and climbed out a back window of the club to get away! This "circus" went on for almost two years. Anyhow, as a result of situations like that, I had to get pretty good at playing rhythm and lead guitar parts on pedal steel, along with learning the techniques and sounds of other instruments, and trying to cover everything from organ, piano, and violin sounds, to banjo licks, and even a little Travis-style thumb picking. That was all back in 1967-1968.

As I moved on into other bands with steady (and more) members, I used those techniques less and less, but threw some of them in whenever I could, just for variety. I feel pedal steel is capable of far more sounds and styles than most people realize. This is true especially today, because most all players seem to have patterened themselves after one of only two or three famous players, and a lot of the varied stylings and sounds of the past are seldom heard now. Some of this is also due to the narrow minds of producers, who almost refuse to let the pedal steel shine or do anything different on the mass-market popular music, becoming a far more limited and homogenized sound.

Pity.