Pedal Steel Music

May 16, 2013

This is Bob Hempker and I’m curious to know what you guys listen to music wise. Usually these newsletters concern themselves with us giving you our opinions and hopefully passing on a little useful information, but this week I’d like to turn it around and ask you some questions.

What is your favorite genre of music to listen to and why?

Are there any particular soloists that you like to listen to, steel guitar or otherwise?

What type of things do you practice when you practice?

What sort of things frustrate you about music and steel guitar?

How long have you been playing and what skill level have you achieved?

Do you play out or do you play strictly at home?

What or who inspired you to take up steel guitar?

If you were only allowed to listen to one steel guitar player for the rest of your life, who would that be?

For you guys who are weekend warriors, how do you juggle a full time job, playing, practicing and keeping a family life?

What kind of equipment do you use and what kind of equipment would you like to add to what you already have?

If you could make any changes to your equipment, what changes would you make?

How do you normally handle it when you’re feeling really burned out?

I personally have taken a couple of sabbaticals from playing during my career. I quit one time for seven years. I have found that when I develop a negative attitude towards playing and the music environment, that’s the best thing for me to do.

When I come back to the music, I’m like a kid with a new toy and I attack it will renewed zeal. I’m not recommending this for anyone else, this is just the way I’ve dealt with it. I’ve often wondered how other people handle it.

I’ve known a few players who had good full time careers outside the music business who put their music on the back burner until they were at a point in life where they didn’t have to take every playing job they could scrounge up, could afford to turn down opportunities to play that didn’t interest them and could pick and choose the playing jobs that they really wanted to do.

I personally have three elements that at least one of them have to be there with a job before I’ll agree to do it. The music for one thing. It has to be a great band playing great music. Or the money has to be super great. Or the people I’m working with or the working conditions have to be really super.

If a single one of these three conditions are met, I don’t play the job. I won’t work and play music I don’t like with players I don’t care to play with for little or no money and the working conditions be sub-par. I stay home and watch TV or do something.

I refuse to put myself thought that sort of torture. Again, this is a personal set of criteria that I use to agree or not agree to play. I don’t recommend it for anyone else, it’s just a simple code of rules I use for myself in judging a gig before I accept or turn it down.

Never forget that playing music is supposed to be fun and enjoyable. When a music gig ceases to be fun and enjoyable, it’s time to start looking at other playing gigs or even day jobs. It’s not worth the hassle staying in an untenable situation.

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

This is Bob Hempker. We get some questions over and over again so I thought I’d go over a few of them today.

Q: Where do you look for inspiration?

A: First off, I believe in listening to all different kinds of music and it doesn’t have to have a steel guitar in it for me to pick something up or appreciate how it’s done. We need to listen to various recordings, we need to go listen to players that we admire playing live, and again that’s not just steel guitar players.

If you to think about it spiritually, we can look inside ourselves and connect with the spiritual being that we believe in.

Q: Do you always play it safe onstage or do you push the edge of your comfort zone?

A: There are times when we need to play it safe and there are other times we will need to push the edge of our comfort zone. The key is knowing the difference.

Q: How much do you experiment? Where do you experiment, during practice or onstage?

A: I experiment a lot, both practicing and onstage if the gig allows for it.

Q: Where’s your comfort zone and when do you push it and how much do you push it?

A: It all depends on who I’m playing with.

Q: Should you be lick oriented?

A: Licks are great as long as they fit the situation and if we understand the ins and outs of the lick as far as the scale, the chord we’re playing and how it’s complimenting whatever someone else in the band is playing.

Q: How important is melody to the part the steel guitar plays in the band?

A: In commercial music the melody is one of the crucial aspects of the song. If you’re playing fusion jazz or something like that, it’s probably not important.

Q: Your tone, where does it come from, how do you get it and what effects do you use?

A: I think that your tone comes from your brain, your ears and your hands, then your guitar, amplifier, effects and other stuff. I think we have to start with a good sounding guitar and go from there.

Q: What are your thoughts on the power of music to evoke or even create emotions.

A: Music is emotion.

Q: Current Nashville news.

A: George Jones died.

Q: Do you ever get burned out? If so, how do you counter it?

A: I’m probably burned out right now. I use different ways of countering it. In a situation where I have to play, I try to work on things or listen to things that are totally outside the box. If I’m in a position where I don’t have to play, I just don’t play for awhile.

Q: How do you quiet down your guitar for recording sessions?

A: Turn the volume knob down on your amp.

Q: Do you consider yourself a steel guitarist first, musician second, or the other way around?

A: Good steel guitarists are musicians and a good musician can be a steel guitar player.

Q: What mishaps have you had onstage that taught you lessons?

A: Being chewing out by a singer for over-playing. Being fired from a gig for over-playing. Not trying to work with the band and be a team member.

Q: How do you handle mistakes during a performance?

A: Put it behind you and proceed forward. If you’re in a recording studio, you can go back and punch in and correct it. In live performance, you can’t do that. You just have to go on.

That should cover many of the common questions we get. Have a great steel guitar week.

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