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Author Topic:  Does anyone play steel and sing at the same time?
Doug Cassell

 

From:
San Antonio Texas, USA
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 6:32 am    
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Seems like it would be a tougher since you need to pay more attention to the PSG than with a 6 string. Couldn't find anything with the search function.
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Jim Cohen


From:
Philadelphia, PA
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 6:35 am    
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Yep, there are quite a few of them. Off the top of my head: Joe Wright, Sara Jory, Pete Burak, Chuck Back, Mike Sigler, Lionel Wendling, just to name a few...
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Skip Edwards

 

From:
LA,CA
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 6:36 am    
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Chuck Back and Rick Schmidt do it, and do it really well.
They do it the smart way... sing a line, play a line, because it's not considered good form to play over the vocal, even if you're the one singing....
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Doug Cassell

 

From:
San Antonio Texas, USA
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 6:42 am    
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Skip Edwards wrote:
Chuck Back and Rick Schmidt do it, and do it really well.
They do it the smart way... sing a line, play a line, because it's not considered good form to play over the vocal, even if you're the one singing....


That makes sense, it's the only way I could conceive of doing it!
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Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 7:15 am    
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I usually finish up having to do backing vocals when I do 'Always, Patsy Cline'. Singing into a mic while keeping one's eyes on the fretboard is a challenge!
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Dick Wood


From:
Springtown Texas, USA
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 7:28 am    
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I don't sing but I was at a studio once when I noticed the band laughing in the booth. I took off the phones and they asked if I knew I hummed real loud when I played. I never realized I did that.
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Last edited by Dick Wood on 20 Mar 2018 10:27 am; edited 1 time in total
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Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 7:35 am    
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That's funny, Dick.

Back in 1969 I was putting a guitar overdub on Peter Sarstedt's 'Where Do You Go To, My Lovely' (which went on to be a massive international hit and a #1 in the UK) at Lansdowne Studios.

They were beside themselves trying to track down this elusive tone leaking into my mic. Eventually they worked out that it was me humming, and even I was completely unaware that I was doing it!

I think it's a sort of nervous concentration...
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Tucker Jackson

 

From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 8:12 am    
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Portland steeler Harley James not only sang, he fronted a band a few years ago, The Buckles.

You don't often see the steel front and center on stage, but Harley laid down the law on both lead vocals and push-pull!
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Jeffrey McFadden


From:
Missouri, USA
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 8:58 am    
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I do. I started playing guitar to sing with, 50 years ago, and my objective has never changed. I sing about 1/4 or slightly less of the songs my band performs. I sing while I practice, even as a beginner. I've been singing over lap steel for some years, so the shuffle of eyes from mic to fretboard is second nature now.
This is really rough, because I'm so early in my PSG journey, but here's an example. (I record my practice, it helps me learn.) http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6gj43e
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Robert Parent

 

From:
Gillette, WY
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 12:55 pm    
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I can for a few songs, but would much rather just play!

Robert
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Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 1:04 pm    
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Billy Phelps is another. Billy can sing and play steel at the same time, and do both really well.
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Ken Pippus


From:
Langford, BC, Canada
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 1:19 pm    
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Lynn Stafford and Dick Meis both do a fine job. Also George Duncan Sypert.
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Jim Hollingsworth

 

From:
Way out West
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 1:44 pm    
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I do it on some songs out of necessity. Sing - play - sing play.... But I prefer to play regular guitar and sing if I can.


Jim
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Jim Cohen


From:
Philadelphia, PA
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 1:51 pm    
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I'm confused. Why would anyone want to sing when they can play steel guitar...? Winking
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Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 2:18 pm    
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Jim Cohen wrote:
I'm confused. Why would anyone want to sing when they can play steel guitar...? Winking


Singers get more sex.
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Don Kuhn


From:
Poetry/Terrell ,Texas, USA
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 4:50 pm    
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Mike Perlowin wrote:
Jim Cohen wrote:
I'm confused. Why would anyone want to sing when they can play steel guitar...? Winking


Singers get more sex.


Well Darn now I have tp sign up for singing lessons Rolling Eyes
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Bill Cunningham


From:
Atlanta, Ga. USA
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 4:56 pm    
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A guitar player and mentor of mine used to work a club gig with Julian Tharpe. He said Julian would be playing a solo and look at him and say "let's do (and sing a line from a different tune) next". Shocked Shocked
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Bill Cunningham
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Jim Cohen


From:
Philadelphia, PA
Post  Posted 20 Mar 2018 4:59 pm    
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Bill Cunningham wrote:
A guitar player and mentor of mine used to work a club gig with Julian Tharpe. He said Julian would be playing a solo and look at him and say "let's do (and sing a line from a different tune) next". Shocked Shocked

One of those guys with an extra brain, eh? Joe Wright is like that too.
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Bob Carlucci

 

From:
Candor, New York, USA
Post  Posted 21 Mar 2018 5:35 am    
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I did it for years and years in good local bands in NJ/NY.. Lead vocals and high harmonies. I always had the highest voice in most bands I was in..

After a while it really became second nature and was effortless..

However as time went on, and I was playing fewer gigs as the years went by, and playing less pedal steel and more guitar, I found it becoming increasingly difficult,, and tiring, and today I doubt I could do it at all... bob
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Larry Allen


From:
Kapaa, Kauai,Hawaii
Post  Posted 21 Mar 2018 11:50 am    
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I do all the time..since going to an Ext E9 I have the same chordal accompanyment as guitar..the low E (10th) and B (9th) make the difference!.. Very Happy

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Charlie Hansen


From:
Halifax, NS Canada and Various Southern Towns.
Post  Posted 21 Mar 2018 12:18 pm    
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Jake Penrod does it very well.
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b0b


From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
Post  Posted 21 Mar 2018 12:50 pm    
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I do. I'm not a great singer, but I can do chord pads on steel while singing and sometimes even add a few fills.
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Dave Campbell


From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
Post  Posted 21 Mar 2018 2:52 pm    
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one night i tried to sing gary stewart's "she's acting single" while i played steel. i had practiced it with the band in rehearsal and it was great. on the gig i bombed on it in a way that i've never bombed on anything. i've been afraid to try again.
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Frank Carter

 

From:
Yuma, Az
Post  Posted 23 Mar 2018 7:39 pm    
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I did for 25 years lead & harmonies
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Earnest Bovine


From:
Los Angeles CA USA
Post  Posted 23 Mar 2018 9:27 pm    
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I can't even sing Giddyup Go and play steel at the same time.
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