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Topic: Who plays both steel and banjo? |
Hans Holzherr
From:
Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland
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Posted 12 May 2003 1:39 am |
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It seems that the banjo does not rank high on the list of instruments popular with steel guitarists. I keep wondering just how many of you people, like me, play both steel and banjo? Some well-known players who do (did), are:
Jeff Newman
Bill Keith
Winnie Winston
Jerry Garcia
Barbara Mandrell
...?
I play steel in a country band, and playing just a few bluegrass numbers on the banjo is SOOOOO COOL!! |
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Sigi Meissner
From:
Duebendorf, Switzerland
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Posted 12 May 2003 2:55 am
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| Not to forget our best swiss player ever Helmut Schöni. I hope he's playing in Steel heaven too. |
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Larry Behm
From:
Mt Angel, Or 97362
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Posted 12 May 2003 3:55 am
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Add me to the list. I just bought a Goldtone electric banjo, looks like a Tele with a banjo head. No feedback.
I also play some fiddle and some lead guitar. I am really a dobro player at heart but took up steel because there was no money in bluegrass.
Larry Behm |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 12 May 2003 4:19 am
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Two others I know of: John Swain and Gary Lee Gimble. (Oops! Was I not supposed to say that publically Gary Lee?  ) |
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Tony Davis
From:
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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Posted 12 May 2003 5:41 am
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| OK!! OK !!...if I dont Fess up now....yeh I can play a bit of b@njo......if I dont own up now a certain lady in Ireland will Dob me in......I just learned ços someone gave me one......its fun in a jam session at home...and I have used it in the studio........but the best thing is that you dont have to buy strings for it.......it had strings on it when it was given to me some 30 years ago and they aint broke..so why change them ?.......same with my Dobro.....it was in tune when it was given to me..again about 30 years or so ago by different friends..so why mess it up and have to retune by changing the strings? |
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Randy Pettit
From:
North Texas USA
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Posted 12 May 2003 6:09 am
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Hans:
Add Rusty Young to your distinguished list. I picked up the b@#j0 as a teen because my hero Rusty Young played b@#j0. At that point in my early steel guitar life, I figured all steel players also played b@#j0 and dobro. I would consider myself more of a b@#j0 "owner" than a player. |
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Terry Edwards
From:
Florida... livin' on spongecake...
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Posted 12 May 2003 6:34 am
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I heard that M@rty plays the b@njo real well.
OOOPs,....sorry b0b. Can I say "M@rty" on this forum?  Or was it "b@njo".
Terry
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George Keoki Lake
From:
Edmonton, AB., Canada
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Posted 12 May 2003 6:38 am
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| In one of my other lifes, I have a Dixieland Band (7 pieces) in which I bang away at the tenor banjo, primarily as a rhythm instrument. Love it ! I take the easy (and non-legit) way out by tuning it to the first 4 strings of the Spanish Guitar. It's a fun instrument, especially when playing with good dixieland musicians. |
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Jim Eaton
From:
Santa Susana, Ca
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Posted 12 May 2003 7:02 am
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I play banjo. I was working in a music store in 1972 and started messing around with it to work on my picking without having to drag my steel into the store everyday.
I once got a session, on the recommendation of Red Rhodes, that turned out to be the theme song for a cartoon show on NBC called the "Texas Toads" because I could play both steel & banjo.
JE:-)>
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Emmons D10 8/4 P/P -75'
Fessenden SD-10 3/5
Session 400
Nashville 400
Bandit 112
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Scott Henderson
From:
Camdenton, Missouri, USA
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Posted 12 May 2003 7:08 am
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Yes,
I too play the five stringed wonder.
In fact being a "utility man" is what got me my current job. They had a local steel player who was a good player but that is all
he plays. I play a Gibson "mastertone".
Never hurts to be versitile. (The more you sell the more you get paid hahahaha)
Scott
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 12 May 2003 7:13 am
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[This message was edited by Jim Cohen on 12 May 2003 at 08:15 AM.] |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 12 May 2003 7:14 am
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This thread is starting to look like "true confessions"...  |
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Wayne Franco
From:
silverdale, WA. USA
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Posted 12 May 2003 7:44 am
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| Wow has this brought out the banjo players. I too play the banjo. In fact have an album out that I did back in about 1982 called Rural Delivery. One of the guys in the band at the time was Roger Ferguson. Gary Lee Gimble (A great banjo player by the way) was in the navy band back then and hanging around these parts of the north west. It has always been my opinion that most steel players started out playing banjo...until they found the true "mushroom of meaning". Besides, I think the steel attracts more girls. |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 12 May 2003 8:53 am
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| I play clawhammer style, not bluegrass. |
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Niklas Widen
From:
Uppsala, Sweden
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Posted 12 May 2003 9:32 am
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I do! Both bluegrass and folk styles...I guess I have to give that b@jno credit for my right hand technique - I didn't have too big problems with the right hand when I started steeling. The banjo was my introduction to fingerpicks and three finger picking. In fact, my very first musical love affair was with the banjo...when I started playing 6-string guitar when I was about 8, one of the first things I discovered was that playing ponticello made the guitar sound almost like a banjo, and I just loved that sound...but then I discovered "that..er.. machine that produces some wonderful sounds", as one of the teachers at my school once called my steel... 
/Nicke W[This message was edited by Niklas Widen on 12 May 2003 at 10:33 AM.] |
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Alvin Blaine
From:
Picture Rocks, Arizona, USA
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Posted 12 May 2003 10:11 am
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| I spent my first twenty some years as a banjo picker and the past twenty playing Tele & Steel. |
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Jesse Harris
From:
Ventura, California, USA
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Posted 12 May 2003 10:25 am
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Yup me too
Deering Mapleblossom
Whats the difference between a banjo and an
onion,....... no one cries when you cut up a banjo. |
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Anne Marie O Keeffe
From:
Co.Waterford,Ireland.
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Posted 12 May 2003 10:53 am
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| Quote: |
| I just learned cos someone gave me one |
Gave you one Tony???? You just happened to be standing beside the skip when someone threw it and you managed to grab it before it went into the garbage!!!! [This message was edited by Anne Marie O Keeffe on 12 May 2003 at 11:53 AM.] |
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Gary Lee Gimble
From:
Fredericksburg, VA.
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Posted 12 May 2003 11:13 am
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Some of my banjo milestones that include, but not limited to the following:
1) Pacific Northwest Banjo Champion 1977 and 1978
2) Studio picker for Ad-Music and countless others I just don't remember their names
3) Pissing off Bill Emerson during my audition for the Navy Band. After playing a Herb Ellis style solo on Indian, Bill leaned back in his chair with his hand on his chin and said, "Well son, do you play the Bluegrass Music?"
4) Playing Foggy Mt. Breakdown with the Ink Spots
5) Clearing out many jam circles with some innovative atonal pickin
6) Playing banjo at the Riverside Inn located south of Seattle, WA., wearing a white tux with tails...long story
7) Securing seat belts around my Mastertone, compliments of United Airlines.
 Bought my first Cadillac from banjo revenues
Now for some pedal steel guitar accomplishments..hhmmmm...hmmmm.......hhmm
hhhmmmm
hhhmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I think its cocktail hour time
C YA
Gary LeeEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
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Chip Fossa
From:
Monson, MA, USA (deceased)
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Posted 12 May 2003 12:12 pm
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Jim Eaton,
I really couldn't help myself, but........
..."Oh Santa Susana, now don't you cry for me...
...'Cause I come from California,
with a banjo on my knee"...
I like it.
Chipper |
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Ken Williams
From:
Arkansas
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Posted 12 May 2003 12:28 pm
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I grew up playing bluegrass music with my family. I started playing 5-string when I was in the 9th grade. I never was that great at it but I could get by. When I started playing steel, I got so involved with it, that I pretty much gave up the banjo. I still have one but haven't played it in years.
Ken
http://home.ipa.net/~kenwill |
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Jim Eaton
From:
Santa Susana, Ca
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Posted 12 May 2003 2:03 pm
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Chip, no problem and I didn't ever shed a tear because with the money I made from giving Banjo lessons I was able to buy my 75 D-10 PP.
JE:-)))>
------------------
Emmons D10 8/4 P/P -75'
Fessenden SD-10 3/5
Session 400
Nashville 400
Bandit 112
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John Steele
From:
Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 12 May 2003 2:30 pm
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Oh yeah. I hardly touch it anymore, but I'll always have a warm spot in my heart for bluegrass, and acoustic music in general.
-John
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Smokey Fennell
From:
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Posted 12 May 2003 2:46 pm
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Add me in with the dual threat artists. If you don't like my steel playing, I threaten to play the banjo!
I started playing the banjo and the steel at about the same time. I wanted an instrument that was easy to carry around and play. |
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Larry Robbins
From:
Fort Edward, New York
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Posted 12 May 2003 2:54 pm
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I also must confess to playing that 5 string
mideval instrument of torture for about 30 yrs.And while i'm at it,mandolin,dobro,six
string,lap steel and stand-up bass.
(sorry b0b)
Larry 
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Larry Robbins
GFI-s 10
Morrell lap steel,Reagl 75 dobro and Marshall half stack(I know,I know)
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