Andrew Goulet
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Posted 27 Dec 2024 5:45 pm |
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This will be my 15th year as a steel guitarist. Prior to this, I played Spanish guitar, wrote songs, and made experimental music with all sorts of weird devices.
I started on a 6/9 tuning on an 8-string Fender PSG, and have been playing a D6/9 tuning on an S12 Marlen PSG for about 4 years now.
I first started playing PSG in a country rock band (heavily influenced by Buck Owens and the Byrds) because we wanted a steel guitar in the band but didn't know any players. I was playing upright bass at the time. We got a new bass player and I taught myself pedal steel. I played my first gig on PSG 3 months after first laying hands on the instrument. It sounded OK. I, as is my wont, was hypercritical of my performance.
But the audience loved it. They wanted more. So I kept going.
I studied classic country steel guitar, and learned how to fit into a band. Our country rock band opened for George Jones shortly before he passed, which was a great honor and a high point of my musical career.
I began to do to studio work at this point, working with rock, pop, and folk bands.
The pandemic of 2020 set me back. I got the Marlen then, and had to learn a new guitar and tuning. Without gigs, I was adrift.
Then I joined a country and rock bar band, playing lots of covers and lots of bars. This forced me to learn how to play better, faster, and more consistently. I progressed rapidly.
I quit that band at the end of 2023. I didn't want the responsibility. I wanted to sit in with whoever, whenever, I wanted.
I had tons of fun in 2024 playing only the gigs I wanted to play. I joined a band called Animal Piss, It's Everywhere. This band has been one of the most musically and socially fulfilling band of my life. Our first record sold out, and the second record is better than the first. We'll be recording a third in 2025.
That brings us to today, where I'm learning how to play a 6 string lap steel. I think I can do 90% of my moves on this lap steel, and am looking forward to a future when I can feel as confident at a gig with a lap steel as a PSG.
Any advice on slants are welcome! 
Happy new year, all. I hope you all can take a moment to reflect on your musical journey and find joy in it.
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Marlen S12 pedal steel
SX 6 string lap steel
ZT Club and Lunchbox
Last edited by Andrew Goulet on 28 Dec 2024 9:15 am; edited 1 time in total |
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