| Author |
Topic: Survived my first gig! |
Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
|
Posted 21 Jun 2015 11:23 am |
|
Played my first PSG gig last night – West Coast music of the 70s! It’s an amateur group of two vocals, guitar and piano (no bass) and a pro drummer who came in on the night. This was worrying me but she (for it was a young woman) was excellent – punchy, stylish and not too loud.
The girl singer does Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt and Carole King and the guy does J.D. Souther and Eagles songs. I hadn’t realised how much pedal steel there was on non-country records of that era until they invited me in.
As I expected, I made plenty of mistakes but no-one minded – they said they loved the sound and the customer is always right. We were in a small town where the same audience turns out for rock’n’roll or Mozart and they were fascinated by my instrument as they’d never been in the same room with one before.
The biggest challenge was setting the right volume – although I said the drums were not too loud, I still had to play a lot louder than at previous rehearsals but I was comfortable by the end of the night! Same show Tuesday in an even smaller venue. Just the experience a beginner needs – couldn’t be happier 
It was also the first appearance of my homemade guitar - thanks for all the encouragement I've had on here.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
|
|
 |
Frank De Vincenzo
From:
The Garden State
|
Posted 21 Jun 2015 11:33 am
|
|
Congratulations on doing your first live performance on pedal steel. I bet it was exhilarating. I hope one day to have the skills and nerve to play in front of an audience. I am both happy for you and jealous of you at the same time! Send pictures.
All the best,
Frank
_________________
JusticeJudge |
|
|
|
Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
|
Posted 21 Jun 2015 11:34 am
|
|
Congratulations Ian! There are so many things that can go wrong with PSG's, compared to other instruments.
_________________
Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
|
|
|
Edward Rhea
From:
Medford Oklahoma, USA
|
Posted 21 Jun 2015 12:23 pm
|
|
To cool, Ian!
Curious, did you debut your home built steel, at your gig?
_________________
“TONESNOB” |
|
|
|
chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
|
Posted 21 Jun 2015 1:07 pm Re: Survived my first gig!
|
|
| Ian Rae wrote: |
It was also the first appearance of my homemade guitar - |
sounds like the stars and planets are lining up right for you, ian. |
|
|
|
Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
|
Posted 21 Jun 2015 4:24 pm
|
|
Glad it went well.Just remember the old school motto:One hour onstage is worth ten in the basement!  |
|
|
|
Tom Gorr
From:
Three Hills, Alberta
|
Posted 21 Jun 2015 4:45 pm
|
|
| Yeah that first gig on PSG is a huge step. ... Mine was playing a 20 song set of originals and discombobulated classics...no rehearsal.. no set list. .. just enough of a view of the singers hand position on his guitar to read the chords in real time. ..haha... it was like writing final exams. ..I was burned out for weeks afterward. |
|
|
|
Malcolm McMaster
From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
|
Posted 22 Jun 2015 1:08 am
|
|
Well done Ian, hope you enjoyed the experience.
_________________
MSA Millenium SD10, GK MB200, Sica 12inch cab, Joyo American Sound Pedal/ Jay Ganz Straight Ahead amp, Telonics 15inch in Peavey cab, Digitech RP150, Peterson tuner.Hilton volume pedal.Scott Dixon seat and guitar flight case. |
|
|
|
Walter Stettner
From:
Vienna, Austria
|
|
|
|
Dick Wood
From:
Springtown Texas, USA
|
Posted 22 Jun 2015 7:40 am
|
|
I remember my first time on steel at a gig after only four months of lessons.
I was playing Apartment #9, the club was packed and my Mother against every known odd had come out to this beer joint to hear me. As I was playing, I heard a loud bang. A few minutes later EMS shows up.
An off duty Cop had been playing with his gun in the bathroom and it accidentally went off shooting a guy in a wheelchair sitting in the crowd.
Hopefully you won't have many nights like that one.
_________________
Cops aren't paid much so I steel at night. |
|
|
|
Chris Templeton
From:
The Green Mountain State
|
|
|
|
Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
|
Posted 22 Jun 2015 10:55 am
|
|
Chris - here is a pic. It's a Uni 12 B6/E9 with 5 levers.
This is the link to how I built it
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=266082
Dick - nothing like that happened Saturday, but there's still Tuesday...
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
|
|
|
Chris Templeton
From:
The Green Mountain State
|
|
|
|
Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
|
Posted 22 Jun 2015 12:35 pm
|
|
That picture's a bid misleading for colour as it was a bit of a grey day - here's another.
The fretboard is just a piece of plywood stained a kind of mahogany colour with the frets painted on in gold. Cheap and cheerful - looks o.k. from a distance!
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
|
|
|
Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
|
|
|
|
Mark Wayne
From:
Wisconsin, USA
|
|
|
|
Lynn Fargo
From:
Fort Edward, NY
|
Posted 23 Jun 2015 8:45 pm
|
|
So cool. Wish I could find a band like that to play with again. I'd actually think about coming out of retirement. So happy for you!
_________________
Sho-Bud Pro II Custom, GFI Ultra SD-10, Fender Pro Amp, Fender Mustang II Amp, Morrell 8-string lap, Epiphone 6-string lap, Galveston reso, etc. |
|
|
|
Dan Robinson
From:
Colorado, USA
|
Posted 23 Jun 2015 9:44 pm
|
|
| Ian, congratulations. You are now a professional pedal steel guitar player! |
|
|
|
chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
|
Posted 24 Jun 2015 8:34 am
|
|
| Dick Wood wrote: |
An off duty Cop had been playing with his gun in the bathroom and it accidentally went off shooting a guy in a wheelchair sitting in the crowd.
|
that's funny, dick. i hope this has taught you not to 'play with your gun' in the bathroom! |
|
|
|
Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
|
Posted 24 Jun 2015 9:39 am
|
|
Thanks for all your kind remarks. Last night I survived my second gig. I didn't make any of the mistakes I made on Saturday. I made a bunch of fresh ones instead. But as before, no-one minded. I did at least play in all the right places, which is one definition of professional.
So far there are no pictures of either of these shows. (The locals don't carry phones as they have no cell signal.) But I did take one myself when I went outside in the interval to stretch my legs with some of the audience.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
|
|
|
steve takacs
From:
beijing, china via pittsburgh (deceased)
|
Posted 24 Jun 2015 5:13 pm
|
|
| Was the above a photo of the crowd, Ian? If you played half as well as you have built your steel, I'd say you're doing just fine. stevet |
|
|
|
Don R Brown
From:
Rochester, New York, USA
|
Posted 24 Jun 2015 6:23 pm
|
|
| Looks like they're just flocking to hear you play! |
|
|
|
John Alexander
|
Posted 24 Jun 2015 10:44 pm
|
|
| Congratulations, Ian. |
|
|
|
Dan Robinson
From:
Colorado, USA
|
Posted 25 Jun 2015 10:43 pm
|
|
| Hey, Ian, I'm sure I have heard of the band you're playing with. Aren't they called "EWE-TOO?" |
|
|
|
Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
|
Posted 26 Jun 2015 1:51 am
|
|
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
|
|
|
