back to playing P.S.G and in a band

Paul Wade · From: mundelein,ill

how many have gotten back into playing again after long time
of not playing and still playes in a band let here your story

p.w

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

What’s a long time?
I haven’t played steel in a band for over a year and it seems like forever. Unfortunately not much opportunity in my area, but I’m working on it.

Paul Wade · From: mundelein,ill

Let"s say a 1 - 10 years to start with

P
W

Dave Hopping · From: Aurora, Colorado

I got into a relatively steady band after 5 or so years of just bouncing around playing maybe one casual a month. Somewhat to my surprise, I found that outfit's hobbyist incompetencies much more annoying than that kind of shortcoming used to be and bowed out after a year or so of playing 2-3 times monthly.

"If you have to rehearse the setlist, something's wrong!"

Brett Day · From: Pickens, SC

Not really in a band with steel, but the last time I played steel was in a jam session in early 2018, then in July, the man who was in charge of the jam sessions I played on Monday nights died, and I'd picked up the dobro to add to the steel, and in October of 2021, I started thinking about how much I've missed playing pedal steel, and the next year, I was listening to 90s country songs with guys like Paul Franklin, Bruce Bouton, Dan Dugmore, John Hughey, Steve Hinson, and Sonny Garrish playing steel, so last year, I got excited because I found out that Emmons Guitar Company is now in Sevierville, Tennessee, so in February, I visited the Emmons Guitar Company, and as soon as I walked in, I was seated at a 1994 Emmons and tried out maybe two or three steel bars, and the bar I liked using the best was an Eezzee polymer bar, and decided to find a polymer bar, and I thought about what polymer bar I could get, so then I found out about Clinesmith polymer bars. I'll try out my current Clinesmith bar to see how it works on steel-I'm ready to start playing steel again. I started playing steel in 1999 when I was eighteen and decided to add dobro in 2017, but in 2021, I thought about how much I've missed playing pedal steel because it's the instrument I've loved since I was eight years old.

Larry Jamieson · From: Walton, NY USA

Bought my fist steel in 1973, started teaching myself. In 1974 I went to the Hank Thompson School of Country Music at Claremore Jr. College in Oklahoma. Got private lessons from Gene Crane, played in a college country band and played with a Tulsa based band on the weekends. In 1976 my wife and I moved to Stillwater and went to Oklahoma State Univ. There, i was invited to play guitar in a 3 piece lounge band. We played standards, not much country. My steel was in the closet for a long time. In 1985 I moved back to New York to go in business with my dad in his music store. Had two kids and one on the way. In 1998 Rob Laing came into my store and said he wanted to start a country band. At that time, I got the steel back out. Talk about rusty... I had to learn all over again how to play that thing. We did get a good band started and played hundreds of shows. I retired in 2022 from playing with that band. At 74, I wanted more weekend time for my family.

Kevin Fix · From: Michigan, USA

I got out of playing when the covid outbreak started in early 2020. All of our shows were canceled that year. The group I was playing with prior covid decided to do a late 2021 show. Three weeks after the show, one of our guitar players came down with covid. He passed away shortly after. After that, I decided 40 years of playing Pedal Steel in live bands was enough. Time for a break. In 2020 I created myself a YouTube channel. Have about 60 videos on there of me playing along with cover tunes. I have close to 35,000 views. This is not the end of the story!!! Back in January of this year, some old band buddies were putting a group together. All top shelf players and vocalists. They called on me to get back into playing, I told them I was retiring from live playing. I can't drive anymore because of my vision and can't carry my gear anymore!!! That did not stop them!!! They came after me and told me, YOU CAN'T QUIT!!! Now they come and pick me up and carry my gear for me!!! It was a great year. We did County Fairs and Festivals all year long. Was the most fun I have had playing in years!!! My Daughter put together a surprise birthday party for me at one of our County Fair shows. I turned 70 this year. It was my bucket list for playing music!!! Playing music is like being in the Mafia!! No getting out!!!

Paul Wade · From: mundelein,ill

Great stories guy's let here some more!!!

chuck lemasters · From: Jacksonburg, WV

After starting out playing crummy bars nearly fifty years ago, and after only an occasional gig in the last five or six years, I became the third member of a group, playing acoustic guitar and steel…a mix of seventies singer songwriter music, James Taylor, Jim Croce, etc., along with traditional and nineties country music….low volume gigs, early hours, mostly 7-10, no dive bars, playing with guys with no egos, no bad habits….So far we have been well received, a pretty good scenario for an old guy who isn’t ready to give it all up….

Paul Wade · From: mundelein,ill

Mike Preuss · From: Mount Vernon, Washington, USA

I bought my first pedal steel guitar as a music student in college and fell in love immediately. I quickly started playing it in my bands and ensembles. About 4 years later I had a medical emergency. I sold all my valuable musical instruments to pay medical debt. At this time I also was undergoing a bit of a transformation. I had wrapped up much of my self identity with music and guitar. It wasn't bringing me joy the way that it once had.

So I stepped away from music altogether for about 12 years. Shifted my efforts towards career and family. Then, with a solid footing on life, I felt the itch to play pedal steel again. I've been back on the horse now for almost three years. With a new perspective and better psychological balance I'm having fun like a kid again. Less striving for attainment, more just enjoying the bending crying sounds that mesmerized me decades ago. I've been in a band now since summer, playing occasional shows and having a blast just enjoying the ride.

James Holland · From: Alabama, USA

Not in a band but just started back. Right after getting my first pedal steel, my cover bands kinda took off, set lists were less suitable for pedal steel, so I dropped it. One band retired, and the other retired after the leader got sick and died. I took a badly needed break from bands and regular gigs. Then I got a call about a fill in for band with a regular steel player, so I got it out, woodshed a good bit. Gig went well, plenty of the right material. It helped me resolve that I could do a band again, with a light schedule.

Brendan Mitchell · From: Melbourne Australia

I started on the pedal steel around age 30. I played in bands for about 5 years and put it away for the next 15 while we raised a family.At age 50 I got the urge to play again and man it was hard! I didn’t realise how much I had forgotten. The first 10 years were harder than the first 5 but I finally got to an”acceptable” stage and have been playing in bands since then. If only we had YouTube and steel guitar forum back in the day.

Rick Grieco · From: Long Island, New York, USA

I've been playing guitar and bass since 1969. I'm self-taught and play by ear. I bought my first pedal steel in 1976. It was a Little Buddy student model with 3 pedals and 1 knee lever. I played it with a country/rock band I was in from 1981-1984. Shortly after that, someone knocked it over and the body cracked...it wasn't exactly a high quality guitar, so I wound up tossing it as in spite of everything I tried, it would no longer play in tune. I stopped playing steel completely....got married and concentrated on getting a house, etc....then in 1992 my cousin offered me his 1971 Sho-Bud Maverick that had been sitting in his closet for years. Same set-up as the Little Buddy, but markedly better in quality. I played it at home and recorded with it sporadically. Then, in 2012 I re-grouped with my bass player to form a classic rock/originals band, which is still active today. As much of the music we play doesn't need steel, I didn't include it. Now, on the brink of retirement, I bought a brand new Justice S10 3x4, and I'm having the time of my life playing again. There's a learning curve with the additional knee levers, but I'm having a ball finding all these new changes that weren't possible on the old steels I had. I'm no great player, but I can manage to coax out some nice sounding stuff once in a while. It may creep in to a future gig, although most of the places we play have a small foot print for the band to set up in. At the very least, I've started recording with it and playing at home. I'm so glad I came back to it and made the decision to buy the Justice...it's an incredibly well-built instrument that sounds as good as it looks. So there's my story, and I'm sticking to it, Paul!!
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Justice S10 3x4 Blue Ripple
1975 Fender Deluxe Reverb
Peavey Bandit 112 Sheffield
Gretsch G5422-12
Martin GPC-16E
Gibson SG Standard T

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