NPR article about PSG

Susan Alcorn · From: Baltimore, MD, USA

I debated with myself whether to reply to on this thread or not, but I guess my impulsive side won out, so here goes.

It's always nice to be mentioned in the press as long as they spell your name right and don't tear you apart, but for some reason the article left me feeling a bit embarrassed. The article mentioned Buddy Emmons and a few other more mainstream steel guitarists, but that wasn't the focus of the article - the focus was on people who were doing something different from what we usually hear, much of it in the outer boundaries of the music world. Granted this, especially these days, is quite a wide net to cast because there is often little commonality except for the fact that they're not playing country or western swing - divergences in genres (free jazz, ambient, hiphop, indie rock, experimental, etc.) and divergences in approach to the instrument, so painting them (myself included) with one brush is troublesome.

Since I was named in the interview (and talked to the author by telephone), I'll mention a couple things about myself, knowing that each of us is really different. I've been playing steel since the very early seventies, and I spent half of my life playing country tunes in beer joints and dance halls, playing all the steel parts exactly like the record (that's the way it was back then in Houston with the crowd I fell in with), so I worshipped Buddy Emmons, Lloyd Green, Jimmy Day, Curly Chalker, Tommy Morrell, and Maurice Anderson who I consider to have been my mentor - it would have been nice had they been mentioned more, because I feel that everything that BJ Cole, myself, and a few others do is based on the music of that magical generation.

And it would have been nice to have seen Paul Franklin and Tommy White in the article somewhere because I believe that, regardless of genre, those two are the best steel players of the generation I happen to have been born into. But that was not the focus of the article - the article was on people who for the last ten years or so have been doing something different with the instrument.

Another thing is that I don't think steel players should be too hard on the author. Like most journalists, he started out not knowing anything - think about how long it took us to know the history of the steel, the details of the "Slowly" pedal, and the great music that has been made on the pedal steel guitar over the last 60 years or so. For some reason I get interviewed a lot these days, perhaps because the steel guitar is unusual in the music I play, and at times I can keep up with some of the musicians who play that style. Journalists conducting an interview will make mistakes. Sometimes an assistant will call to fact check, but even then there is a good chance they'll get some of the facts wrong. "Primitive" is not a word I would use to describe Jerry Garcia's solo on TYC - most of us would agree that Garcia was no Buddy Emmons or Lloyd Green, (but it was a good solo that fit in with the song), so maybe we should give him a pass on that. He got a few things wrong about me as well. It happens all the time.

It saddens me a little when people say that those who are breaking conventions are not good musicians, implying that they are lazy and never take the time to learn their instrument - it's easy to move a bar around and get cool sounds with pedals; to my ears, that's what some do, but with others you have to listen more closely. It's not the pedal steel guitar that most of us are used to hearing, there's a bit of a disconnect when we listen to it. Our ears need to accustom themselves to something different, and for some that's simply not possible, so if you don't like a certain music, that's fine, but don't insult the musician.

A little bit about my outlook on the pedal steel guitar. As I wrote above, I played country music for a long time, and I love that music, especially with the steel guitar. I think of those classic licks each as small (as in short) jewels. I take the craft of playing the pedal steel guitar very seriously, and since this is all I do, I keep a disciplined practice schedule (I'm not as talented as those who can go for two days without sleeping, drink two bottles of whiskey and never miss a note - if I don't practice every day, I'll screw up, for one, because it is, for me at least, difficult to play the music that's running around in my head).

Musicians are and always should be free to do whatever they want on their instrument - that's how things move forward. And people should be free to play as traditional as they want to - that's how we have tradition and continuity - one is not better than the other.
For me personally, I'm a little bit of both. I play outside of the box I came up in (because that's where my musical taste lies, and I have to follow it - in this one life, at least be true to yourself with music), but I am also conservative in the fact that I take technique (and taste) very seriously. The musicians I respect the most are the ones who take their craft seriously and develop a lifetime relationship with their instrument, the beauty that it can express, and those rare moments that go beyond beauty and beyond emotion. We are not rock dabblers.

If I or any one of us were writing it, we'd probably come up with different names of people we think are important. I would have included Dave Easley, more on Chas Smith, and Bob Hoffnar's work with microtonality for musicians who are doing something really different and valuable. So maybe give the author and the musicians a break - they're trying to do the best they can. Like all of us hopefully.

OK, that's my rant and I'm sticking to it (while ducking my head).
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"So this is how you swim inward. So this is how you flow outwards. So this is how you pray."
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Daniel Morris · From: Westlake, Ohio, USA

Well said, Susan.
There's no way one article can encompass the history of pedal steel, and indeed, that was not the point.
I was unaware of some of the music that was linked in the article, and now plan on ordering a few discs.
(Of course, there are those who simply noodle and won't buckle down and learn the instrument.)

Glad to see you, Susan, in company with BJ Cole (who also plays 'straight' steel). THE NEW HOVERING DOG is an absolute early classic that shows just what can be done with pedal steel.
And for those who haven't heard this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKo0mW8e96M
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1979 MSA U12 Pedal Steel
1982 Kline U12 Pedal steel
2019 Sierra U12 Pedal Steel
2011 Bear Creek MK Weissenborn
Milkman 40W Mini amps w/Telonics 15" speaker.
Dr. Z Surgical Steel w/TT 15" speaker.
Frenzel MB-50 head.
Spaceman, Empress, Origin, Eventide, Pigtronix.

Jim Fogarty · From: Phila, Pa, USA

Dave Hopping · From: Aurora, Colorado

scott murray · From: Asheville, NC

it's great to see the pedal steel get some attention in the media. I just find it ironic that the author chose to single out Garcia as a "primitive" player and then focus on so many current players who actually play much more primitively than Garcia ever did.

I'm all for journalism that spotlights my instrument of choice, but I have a hard time with the pigeon-holing and downplaying of the enormous impact of so many players who might be considered "country" and therefore too traditional for this article.

I love every player who pushes the boundaries of their instrument, but in the end no one has pushed the boundaries as far as the true greats: Emmons, Chalker, Rugg, Jernigan, Franklin, White, and so many more that this article seems to have overlooked, including Robert Randolph.

similar to the Ken Burns country music documentary... when key players are left out of the historical recounting, then an incomplete and ill-informed narrative is what the general public is left with.
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1965 Emmons S-10, 3x5 • Emmons LLIII D-10, 10x12 • JCH D-10, 10x12 • Beard MA-8 • Oahu Tonemaster

Daniel Morris · From: Westlake, Ohio, USA

Clyde Mattocks · From: Kinston, North Carolina, USA

Despite my post being one of the more critical, I have enjoyed the discussion here. Susan's post was eloquent and she certainly has no cause to duck her head. On the point of taking the steel guitar in new directions, there could not have been a better spokesperson. In articles such as this, the authors always seem to want to suggest that people who go in different directions are somehow bringing it out of the dark (hence country) ages. Susan made the point that most of the players who play jazz on the steel are 30-40 years behind the times and I would not argue with her assessment. She is certainly more of the authority on that than I. I would view what they are playing as be bop and is certainly reminiscent of an earlier time. But we still revere the music of Jimmy Rodgers and the Carter Family and we're coming up on 100 years with that. It is inevitable that what we accept as cutting edge today will be seen as passe in 60 years.
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LeGrande II, Nash. 112, Harlow Dobro

Fred Rogan · From: Birmingham, AL USA

Dang, Susan I wish you had written that article. Great points.
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Russell Willis · From: Houston, Texas, USA

The target demographic for this article is the average NPR reader who knows nothing about the pedal steel. None of us fit that description. Those of us who play live have been approached countless times after our sets by people who ask what this crazy instrument is and if it's different than an electric guitar. This article is meant for them.

I would be interested in knowing if anyone here has received feedback from friends or family who are not familiar with the steel guitar. I posted the article on Instagram and hope that some of my friends who have no real interest in pedal steel enjoy it.

Clyde Mattocks · From: Kinston, North Carolina, USA

You're right Russell. Besides that experience, I have been sent videos of the Rolling Stones doing Bob Wills is Still the King with the expectation that I am going to be blown away by the steel playing. While I do appreciate them doing that and the steel is appropriate in that setting, anyone who plays would recognize that is as elementary as it gets.

I tell people I got into music because most people can't tell if a steel guitar is being played well or not. All these years later, I am still in it for the same reason.
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LeGrande II, Nash. 112, Harlow Dobro

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

Ross Shafer · From: Petaluma, California

Russell quote: "I would be interested in knowing if anyone here has received feedback from friends or family who are not familiar with the steel guitar."

I've had several non-steeler friends send me the link to this article. While some of them recognize the sound of pedal steel and have an inkling of what it is (mostly due to knowing about my involvment)...all thought the article was cool mostly 'cuz it exposes steel being used outside country, which is where they're used to hearing it.

I think NPR deserves big kudos for the article whether it turns us steel nerds on or not.

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