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Topic: Recommend some good steelers in the Alt. Country Style. |
Dustin Rhodes
From:
Owasso OK
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 10:41 am |
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| Hey I'm new around here. I love alt. country especially things like Son Volt, old Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, Jayco Bros. I'm wondering what bands like them have some good steel players. Thanks for the help. |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 10:57 am
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You need to check out the Hacienda Brothers. Forum member Dave Berzansky plays steel for them.
One of the best bands around.
"Western Soul" baby!
www.haciendabrothers.com
_________________
Mark |
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Tim Bridges
From:
Hoover, Alabama, USA
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 10:57 am
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| Ryan Adams & The Cardinals (Jon Graboff is the steeler), Robbie Fowlkes (Tom Brumley), Robert Earl Keene, Steve Earl, Joe Ely, Gram Parsons (deceased) and a bunch more...these will get you started. |
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Dustin Rhodes
From:
Owasso OK
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 11:26 am
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| Cool thanks guys. I already listen to some of those so I guess I'm on the right track. |
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Jonathan Shacklock
From:
London, UK
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 11:35 am
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Welcome to the forum Dustin 
Richmond Fontaine, Paul Brainard the steeler - another formite I believe. |
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Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 11:47 am
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not sure if this qualifies as "alt." country but I really like what Jeremy Wakefield did with Wayne Hancock, and also Andy Gibsons playing with Hank III.
both kinda old school style no pedals.
I've been tryin to find some "alt." stuff to listen to and it just doesnt seem like there are many bands in the genre other than Uncle Tupelo and the splinter groups that followed. Its kind of a confusing genre label, like most widely open for interpretation. To my mind the best "alt-country" player would be Ben Keith with Neil Young. I'm not sure where the hellbilly stuff like Hank III, or stuff like Scott Biram or Bobby Bare Jr. or Drive By Truckers (to me thats "southern rock") fit in? theres steel in it tho and its good stuff.
when I hear people talk about alt country usually i hear:
wilco
son volt
uncle tupelo
jayhawks
gillian welch
what else is there?
is dwight yoakam alt?
then I hear some peopl talk about alt as Parsons, byrds, Burritos etc...I agree thats "alternative" but I thought stuff was commonly called "country rock"?
genre labels are tough i know....pardon the aside. and welcome to the forum. |
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Greg Simmons
From:
where the buffalo (used to) roam AND the Mojave
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 12:00 pm
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www.ericheywood.com
_________________
<i>�Head full of this kaleidoscope of brain-freight, Heart full of something simple and slow�</i>
-Mark Heard
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Dustin Rhodes
From:
Owasso OK
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 12:05 pm
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| Admitedly I do alot of southern rock type stuff. DBT's, Cross Canadian, and other stuff like that. |
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Tom Keller
From:
Greeneville, TN, USA
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 12:07 pm
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| Take a listen to Last Train Home. The Forums own Dave Van Allen does the honors. I am not sure they exactly fit the Alt. country label. Well worth the price of admission. www.lasttrainhome.com/ |
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Tucker Jackson
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 12:17 pm
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I agree with all the above recommendations for alt.ctry with steel:
Hacienda Brothers
Ryan Adams projects (w/ the Cardinals or Whiskeytown)
Richmond Fontaine (esp. "Post to Wire" and "Winnecmucca")
Drive-By Truckers (not a lot of steel, though)
As well as the usual suspects (Wilco, Son Volt, et. al.)
Ben, yes, I agree that the labels are hard, and alt.country is pretty wide open to interpretation. It's usually applied to bands that are after the Uncle Tupelo era (late 80's/early 90's), since it was around that time that Tupelo was the most prominent band in a new movement. Also called "No Depression."
So... I wouldn't call Gram Parsons and Byrds and bands from the late 60's "alt.country." Yes, they were the heros and precursors of today's alt bands, but "Country Rock" is what most folks called them at the time. YMMV.
Last edited by Tucker Jackson on 21 Mar 2007 12:19 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Tim Bridges
From:
Hoover, Alabama, USA
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 12:18 pm
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Ben, you're right about Wayne Hancock and your other comments are right on the money. I get interested everytime this subject comes up. b0b always has a good question, "isn't it all country?". His point is well taken as is yours. I know my wife considers it all country; not unlike rock'n roll and ALL the different styles like southern, classic, punk, indi, heavy metal, etc. Semantics will kill us one of these days.
BUT, it's all good. |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 12:28 pm
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A really good band out of Los Angeles is "I See Hawks In L.A."
Local Forumite Dave Zirbel has recorded with them, and I think has played some steel on some of their gigs.
_________________
Mark |
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Bryan Daste
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 1:47 pm
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Hey Tucker,
Was that Paul Brainard on the Richmond Fontaine stuff? |
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Scott Swartz
From:
St. Louis, MO
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 1:57 pm
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You might try searching www.milesofmusic.com and www.cdbaby.com for pedal steel to find lesser know artists in this genre.
And in the shameless plug department, you might dig my band, link in my signature.
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Scott Swartz
Steeltronics - Steel Guitar Pickups
www.steeltronics.com |
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Tucker Jackson
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 2:21 pm
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| Bryan, yes, Jonathan S. had it right: that's Paul Brainard on steel with Richmond Fontaine. Very tasty stuff. |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 5:25 pm
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I second Eric Heywood. I really dig his playing, especially on Richard Buckner's "Since" CD.
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Dustin Rhodes
From:
Owasso OK
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 7:41 pm
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| Cool thanks for all the advice guys. Very cool. |
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Brendan Mitchell
From:
Melbourne Australia
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Posted 21 Mar 2007 10:08 pm
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oops
Last edited by Brendan Mitchell on 22 Mar 2007 11:25 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2007 5:05 am
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Many of the alt-country guys name Gram Parsons, The Burritos, and The Byrds as major influences, so you're well-served by absorbing as much of that as you can - what was "country-rock" is pretty much "alt country" now. But Parsons, Hillman, Clarence White, Gene Parsons, Sneaky Pete - those guys were molding the whole sound, and even though their roots were different, they can be used as a "root" for learning the alt country "vibe"..
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Dustin Rhodes
From:
Owasso OK
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Posted 22 Mar 2007 7:51 am
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| I definitely see those guys as the forerunners of the current alt country genre. |
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Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
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Posted 22 Mar 2007 9:51 am
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Dustin,If you can find it..There's an Austin City Limits that Jon Graboff did with Ryan Adams that I found to wonderful,John's approach on the steel guitar is so great,And he shows his "Love For The Song"Stu
_________________
Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
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Roman Sonnleitner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 22 Mar 2007 10:02 am
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Another vote for Richmond Fontaine & Paul Brainard, one of my favorite bands, they just put out a new album ("Thirteen Cities"), though for steel playing you'd best check out "Post To Wire".
Other bands with some good steel playing:
Calexico, Lambchop (both with Paul Niehaus on steel), Friends of Dean Martinez (Bill Elm on lap steel), Western Electric, The Scud Mountain Boys, Lucinda Williams.
And I'm not sure whether you'd classify them as "alternative" or "real" country, but The Derailers have some great steel-playing on their albums. |
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Dustin Rhodes
From:
Owasso OK
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Posted 22 Mar 2007 10:06 am
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| Roman Sonnleitner wrote: |
And I'm not sure whether you'd classify them as "alternative" or "real" country, but The Derailers have some great steel-playing on their albums. |
I was listening to them last night. Good stuff. |
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Michael Pierce
From:
Madison, CT
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Posted 22 Mar 2007 1:53 pm
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| If you like the Derailers, you might also enjoy the Hoyle Brothers out of Chicago. They have two excellent CDs out. |
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Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2007 3:33 pm
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this is kind of another aside (forgive me again please) but one thing I've noticed and am kind of surprised by is that most of these so called alt steelers take a kind of retro approach to the instrument. This surprised me because the music is generally more rocking and the players are younger, you'd think (I thought) maybe you'd hear a fuzz box or some rock licks, but in general what you hear sounds very Lloyd Greenish to my ears. I can see why Lloyd is such a big influence, I know his history with contry rock and even with some of the newer alt groups, and of course I love his playing. Just strikes me as a bit odd that the oyounger crew seems to want to emulate the older sound more-so than making it into something more "modern".
anyone have any thoughts on that or care to recommend an alt steeler that breaks out the fuzz? its almost as if the thread Sneaky Pete started was just left to dry up, no one I'm aware of has really ran with that. but im fairly ignorant of whats out there so maybe someone has? |
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