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Topic: After a nine year layoff from steel guitar ... |
Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)
From:
Greenwell Springs, Louisiana (deceased)
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Posted 22 Sep 2009 11:39 am |
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About a month or so ago, an old steel guitar student of mine, Danny Dees, paid me a surprise visit to find out why I'd not been playing steel anymore. While he was visiting he introduced me to YouTube and, when I saw that there was nothing on Gary Hogue, I uploaded a bunch of old videos I'd taken of him and Junior Knight way back in the early '80s.
As I started watching these old videos, something in me that had been deeply asleep began to reawaken ... it was that first love of pedal steel. When Danny paid me a follow-up visit about a week later, he got me to finally sit down at my steel and play something. I was hooked again, but really shocked at how much I'd lost over those years of not playing.
Then, roughly about a week ago, Danny came back over and saw me watching those videos of Junior and Gary playing and suggested that I play along with one of them and send it up to YouTube so that I'd have something "current" on there instead of just videos of past bands I'd been with before I stopped playing. I got brave, chose one of the videos to play along with and did it.
There were several things that plagued me as I did this new video. First, I kept looking up toward the camera because Danny was sitting over there giving me little hand signals to go up or down in volume as my amps were across the room and I didn't want to be too loud while playing (this was a spur of the moment thing and totally unrehearsed. All I did before playing it was to listen to the song a couple of times).
Second, when I actually got into playing the song I suddenly realized that this isn't like playing twin steels ... with me playing along with the video, there were three steels and I had to suddenly be very careful and try not to sound like a train wreck (I was a bit nervous doing this video thing).
I chose Junior's "They'll Never Take Her Love Away From Me" as the song to play along with. My plan was to stay way in the background during Junior's part, then "twin" Gary's ride and then play harmonies throughout the rest of the song.
What I didn't plan for was the emotional impact that happened next. I survived the first part of Gary's ride (I think) but when playing the second part of the ride, several things hit me all at once: the fact that I was actually playing something after nine years of doing nothing with steel, years of pent up emotion that I hadn't expressed musically, the fact that I was playing the exact same Mullen guitar that Gary was playing in the video, the feel of the song itself; it just all came crashing in at once and, though I'm not given to always shedding tears when I play, they started flowing which really blurred my vision as I played. I ended up being late releasing my 2nd string knee lever in one spot and I was slightly behind Gary's playing that I was twining with and didn't get my control back until the ride was over and I started harmonizing. 
Then to top everything off with a comical twist, Max (the golden retriever you see at the start of the video) stepped on the power strip and turned it off just as I was hitting the last note!  So, I had to go back in, record a new "last note" and edit that onto the end of the video. Then I followed that up with a little narrative (Danny's suggestion) and uploaded it to YouTube.
Today, Danny paid me another visit and, after telling him I uploaded the video, he asked if I'd placed a post about it. When I said, "No" he said, "What? You just uploaded it to YouTube and didn't tell anyone in the Forum about it? Man, you need to do a post and share this with our steel guitar brothers out there. That's what the Forum is all about". Then I thought ... you know, Danny's right. That is what the Forum is all about; sharing everything about steel guitar including our steel guitar experiences and efforts. 
So, (sorry for the long intro above) here it is ... for better or worse, this is my first real attempt at "doing something" with steel after being away from it for so long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raynS6i7Buk
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1986 Mullen D-10 with 8 & 7 (Dual Bill Lawrence 705 pickups each neck)
Two Peavey Nashville 400 Amps (with a Session 500 in reserve) - Yamaha SPX-90 II
Peavey ProFex II - Yamaha R-1000 Digital Reverb - Ross Time Machine Digital Delay - BBE Sonic Maximizer 422A
ProCo RAT R2DU Dual Distortion - Korg DT-1 Pro Tuner (Rack Mounted) - Furman PL-8 Power Bay
Goodrich Match-Bro by Buddy Emmons - BJS Steel Bar (Dunlop Finger Picks / Golden Gate Thumb Picks) |
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Jody Sanders
From:
Magnolia,Texas, R.I.P.
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Posted 22 Sep 2009 12:28 pm
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| Hi Jim, you done good. Your right hand and left hand positions are still right on. Hang in there about an hour each day and you will be smokin' in no time. Jody. |
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Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)
From:
Greenwell Springs, Louisiana (deceased)
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Posted 23 Sep 2009 12:17 pm
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Thanks, Jody ... it really means a lot to hear to say that. More than correct notes, I was going for technique as I played.
_________________
1986 Mullen D-10 with 8 & 7 (Dual Bill Lawrence 705 pickups each neck)
Two Peavey Nashville 400 Amps (with a Session 500 in reserve) - Yamaha SPX-90 II
Peavey ProFex II - Yamaha R-1000 Digital Reverb - Ross Time Machine Digital Delay - BBE Sonic Maximizer 422A
ProCo RAT R2DU Dual Distortion - Korg DT-1 Pro Tuner (Rack Mounted) - Furman PL-8 Power Bay
Goodrich Match-Bro by Buddy Emmons - BJS Steel Bar (Dunlop Finger Picks / Golden Gate Thumb Picks) |
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Paul Wade
From:
mundelein,ill
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Jody Sanders
From:
Magnolia,Texas, R.I.P.
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Posted 23 Sep 2009 5:12 pm
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| Thanks Paul. Real nice Jim. Jody. |
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Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)
From:
Greenwell Springs, Louisiana (deceased)
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Posted 24 Sep 2009 6:45 am
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Thanks, Paul, I don't mind ... man, you're way too kind.
Ah, yes, that MP3 was that noodling thing while messing around on the steel. I don't even know if it's actually a song or not. Just one of those little "tune things" that pops into your head while noodling during practice.
Thanks a million, Jody. Before I try to break myself into any kind of fast or speed picking, I'm just messing around with my guitar right now trying to play the slower pretty stuff to get my hands used to it all again.
_________________
1986 Mullen D-10 with 8 & 7 (Dual Bill Lawrence 705 pickups each neck)
Two Peavey Nashville 400 Amps (with a Session 500 in reserve) - Yamaha SPX-90 II
Peavey ProFex II - Yamaha R-1000 Digital Reverb - Ross Time Machine Digital Delay - BBE Sonic Maximizer 422A
ProCo RAT R2DU Dual Distortion - Korg DT-1 Pro Tuner (Rack Mounted) - Furman PL-8 Power Bay
Goodrich Match-Bro by Buddy Emmons - BJS Steel Bar (Dunlop Finger Picks / Golden Gate Thumb Picks) |
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this man got's the touch .hope you don't mine jim 