Pedal Steel Music

Hello fans and fellow players,

Why steel guitar? Because it’s a musical instrument that sounds different from any other one. A band or orchestra is a combination of several instruments that all sound different from each other. All have different qualities to add to the group as a whole. If players of other instruments would realize this, they wouldn’t be looking down on steel guitar and thinking it’s a novelty instrument. If they were in a band with a great steel player like Maurice Anderson, they would surely gain new respect and he may also bring their ego down several notches being the great musician he is.

Steel guitar is an instrument that can do anything. A great musician that plays steel guitar can pretty well show the world that it’s not a novelty instrument only good to open up cartoons from the thirties. No instrument can replace bass in the band because we have to have low notes to complete the audio spectrum. That means bass guitar, bass fiddle, a bassoon or a steel guitar with the correct strings tuned low.

We also have to have great rhythm instruments in a band like piano, guitar, drums and similar instruments. A good band has got to have instruments that play rhythm and instruments throughout the whole audio spectrum, instruments that play pizzicato and instruments to flow very smoothly, all kinds of instruments.

Just like that famous rock n roll producer in Nashville, Tommy Cogbill. Tommy told me one time in the middle of one of our motorcycle rides that no matter how wild and screaming his rock n roll productions were, he wanted to produce something beautiful in every song he produced. Every song no matter what, needs something pretty in it.

He produced a song called Angel of the Morning with Merrilee Rush. Tommy used me on several of his rock recordings and overdubs. He was a wonderful guy that made a big name for himself in Memphis during his rock years.

Some of the greatest recordings and productions in the world have used brash horns, violent rhythm sections and beautiful string sections. Barry White, Andy Williams, Elvis P. and thousands of others. I really don’t understand why steel guitar is not used on everything because it definitely adds one of the most beautiful parts to any recording.

I’ve mentioned working with four piece groups many times in my newsletters. Bass, drums, guitar and steel. Think about it. With a very great steel player and guitar player, this is about all that should ever be needed. It just gets a little boring hearing this combination over and over and over all night at a club unless the players are truly exceptional.

You may ask, why not replace the steel with a piano? My answer is a piano can be a little too staccato after a long period of time. Steel guitar can be smooth and soothing. The guitar can do the staccato part. The steel can do the big chords, be pop, jazzy and corny. All it takes is a great player. Some of the greatest music I’ve ever heard in my life was the Phil Baugh Quartet with the great Curly Chalker on steel.

Show me a band without a good steel guitar player and I’ll show you a band that’s missing something it needs. I’m not talking about a steel player that just plays E9th country, as that is not enough. I’m talking about a steel guitar player that’s a musician that can play anything, any style. These guys should work forever and the people hiring them should work forever including the band leader.

If you’re sweetheart didn’t give you a new steel guitar for Valentine’s Day, I’m giving you free shipping on any steel guitar from now until the end of the month. Just don’t expect candy from me. Of course, this goes along with the standard discounts on all we offer. I will allow you a minimum amount for your film camera, 35mm or two and a quarter square format.

All equipment that I take in trade on steel guitars and amplifiers is being donated to a local film photography school. I’ll give you what I can for it, but nowhere near what they used to be worth.

Check out our monthly specials at www.steelguitar.net/monthlyspecials.html and we’ll try to save you a lot of money.

The friend of all bar holders,
Bobbe Seymour
www.steelguitar.net
sales@steelguitar.net
www.youtube.com/bobbeseymour

Listen To Steel Guitar Music Streaming 24 Hours A Day!

Steel Guitar Nashville
123 Mid Town Court
Hendersonville, TN. 37075
(615) 822-5555
Open 9AM – 4PM Monday – Friday
Closed Saturday and Sunday

Hello fellow players,

Here is an email I got from Aaron Doyle in reply to my last newsletter. I think it speaks for itself.

Here it is:

Well said, Bobbe. At some point many of us are fortunate enough to own 2 or more guitars. As you know I am a guitarist who owns 12 guitars and, each one has its own tone and personality. Some have one gauge strings with certain tonal qualities while others have a different tone and sound.

Obviously, the difficult part of owning 2 of anything when first starting out is money. My first 3 years as a professional player I owned one guitar as to the cost of owning 2 was not possible.

Later as I played more often and made more money, I purchased another and another. The groups I played in as the years progressed always carried extra amps, mics, cords, etc. Oh! My cousin, Dennis Crouch, owns a number of high quality bass guitars so it is not just us guitar players.

Weather here in the Quad Cities (Upper western Illinois is cold). I am working on putting ‘sets’ together with a new Alesis SR 18 and Digitech vocalizer. Finally getting some energy back after a long 4 year battle with lymphoma, so, I am hoping to play some solo gigs. It is not that I want to play alone (I really like the camaraderie of fellow musicians) but, as I am entering my 60s it has become more difficult to get musicians to commit to a schedule of rehearsals, jobs, hours etc. And not all are retired as I am.

Have a blessed day,
Aaron

Thank you Aaron for that email. I hope it encourages other players to think as we do.

For anyone not familiar with Aaron’s cousin Dennis Crouch, Google him and you’ll find out what an accomplished Nashville player he is. He is one of the co-founders of The Time Jumpers. Here is a link that will get you started: www.bassfrontiersmag.com

Dennis is the upright bass player Maurice and I used on our show when we recorded our Nashville Jam Session DVD which you can order at www.steelguitar.net/videos.html

One more item then I’ll call it quits for today. I am taking trade-ins of any brand of old film camera to donate to a film photography school. So if you’ve gone digital and have an old film camera around collecting dust, let’s make a deal.

Once again, I’m offering free shipping within the continental United States on any guitar bought through the end of the month.

See our monthly specials at … www.steelguitar.net/monthlyspecials.html.

The friend to all bar holders,
Bobbe Seymour
www.steelguitar.net
sales@steelguitar.net
www.youtube.com/bobbeseymour

Listen To Steel Guitar Music Streaming 24 Hours A Day!

Steel Guitar Nashville
123 Mid Town Court
Hendersonville, TN. 37075
(615) 822-5555
Open 9AM – 4PM Monday – Friday
Closed Saturday and Sunday

Hello fans and fellow players,

Now I’m going to harp about this at least one more time and put the facts right out on the table. If you are a steel guitarist that works for money and you only own one guitar, you’re still a hardcore amateur. You have to have several guitars for several reasons. If you’re recording, you need several for the different tones they provide. It’s hard to play like Ralph Mooney on an Emmons guitar and sell it authentically.

Different guitars for different styles. Lapsteels for that Hawaiian sound. Jerry Byrd Rickenbacker for that big, fat, wonderful tone that he had. Fenders will give you a different tone than any steel you could think about replacing it with. Then there’s the fact that if anything happens to one guitar that you’re using, you are going to need to grab something else quick to take to the job to make money with.

If you’re a carpenter, you own more than one hammer. If you’re a pipefitter, you own more than one pipe wrench. If you are a professional auto mechanic, you’ll have hundreds of wrenches and tools.

You think steel guitars are too expensive? Why worry? You’ll get all your money back plus when you sell it or trade it in. Steel guitars are tools. They are beautiful, they go up in value and played correctly with a smile, will make you money.

Think about this. If you had an extra couple thousand dollars to put into your gear and the people that hired you knew that you had a lot of this gear, your phone will most likely ring a lot more no matter where you live in the world.

I have steel players come into my store all the time wanting to borrow a steel guitar or an amplifier or even rent one and I do rent them at times, but I think it’s very foolish for them not have an extra guitar or amp at home because if they don’t, it will cost them money they don’t need to be spending on rental fees.

Maybe you are that auto mechanic that works all week on folks automobiles, but only play in church on weekends. With the investment that you get back on a steel guitar, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have other guitars and watch them go up in value.

Buy the right guitars of course. Don’t buy the wrong guitars. Guitars that don’t seem to go up in value. I’ll be glad to help you stay away from. There are many guitars that continue to keep going up, several of which I wish I had more of myself. There are even two or three brands of amplifiers that are collectible, but be very careful collecting these. Parts availability and condition mean everything on these amplifiers just like steel guitars.

How many guitar players do you know that only have one guitar? In Nashville, when you hire a guitar player, he’ll show up with about eight guitars in his car and have a cartage service show up with about fifteen more for just one session. He may only use one, but then again, he may use five or six different ones, shake his head and say, “Darn. I wish I had brought my D’Angelico.”

But all guitar players have many different kinds of guitars to cover the job. How many times have you seen rock bands with guitar and bass players that switch guitars between every song and sometimes in the middle of a song?

All us steel players lay back and wonder why we’re not getting any work. It may be something as simple as not having enough tools to do the job right. Chad Udeen is one of those players who comes to a country job loaded for bear. He is working with Gary Allan and earns every bit of his money. He is a brilliant young player that can play hard rock, hard country and is continuing to expand his limits. I see him and wonder why other steel players don’t apply themselves so willingly and diligently.

If you are a steel player that’s trying to fill out your working collection of equipment, if you buy more than one thing at a time, pro or not, I will give you a tremendous discount on your second instrument.

We still have free shipping within the lower 48 on any steel guitar you buy between now and the end of the month.

Check out our monthly specials at www.steelguitar.net/monthlyspecials.html and we’ll try to save you a lot of money.

The friend of all bar holders,
Bobbe Seymour
www.steelguitar.net
sales@steelguitar.net
www.youtube.com/bobbeseymour

Listen To Steel Guitar Music Streaming 24 Hours A Day!

Steel Guitar Nashville
123 Mid Town Court
Hendersonville, TN. 37075
(615) 822-5555
Open 9AM – 4PM Monday – Friday
Closed Saturday and Sunday