Steel Guitar

A Love Through The Years...


Jack has played the steel guitar off and on for a number of years and remains a big fan of all music using the steel. Through the years we have attended many steel guitar concerts including 12 years of the annual International Steel Guitar Convention at St. Louis, Missouri (it's the big one) and many of the Gospel Steel Guitar shows at Indianapolis, IN.

Gospel Steel Guitar Shows

Unfortunately it was announced on January 14, 2009, that the Gospel Steel Guitar shows were over and no more would be forthcoming. There are many other steel guitar shows around the country, but none in that vein. We were fortunate to attend 11 times in the 16 years they were held. There are reports on the years listed on the buttons below.


Equipment

For those musicians in the audience, Jack uses a mid-1970's single neck Sho-Bud, E9th tuning, with 4 knee levers and 3 pedals. Playing through a Peavey Vegas 400 amp with a Sho-Bud volume pedal; no other toys.

1976 International Steel Guitar Convention

On The Internet Archive they have a page with a lot of steel guitar music taped at the September 1976 convention. Most of the songs are of good quality, but some of the artists are not identified. Nevertheless it is a great resource for any steel lover.

You Tube Videos

There are now thousands of steel guitar videos on this popular medium. They range from stunning performances by the masters to experiments by beginners. Plus there are many hours of great instruction to help both the novice and the advanced player. The late Bobbe Seymour was one of the better players that also provided a lot of teaching videos.

One nice example of superb style is the noted Lloyd Green playing Farewell Party at the 1992 International Steel Guitar Convention.

Links

Like all things these days, the internet is loaded with great steel guitar sites. Probably the best place to start, and a good spot to check daily, is the Steel Guitar Forum. It is the single best place to keep up on most of the players, new ideas, technical information, items for sale, and much more.

Some other related links in no particular order: