Hey Guys and Gals, I just returned home fron the most amazing exibition of steel playing
I could ever imagine. Robert Randolph appeared in Birmingham tonite(Friday)and if you were ever into Jimmi Hendrix,Stevie Ray
Vaughn,Duane Allman or Dickie Betts you would have appreciated how well Robert fit the steel into that mode.My preference for steel guitar has always been Country and Western Swing with a some Hawaiian thrown in. So to my ear, yes indeed, Robert is loud and he uses effects and distortion that rival anything Hendrix ever did. Robert uses a volume pedal but only as a foot rest. It was WAO the entire time.
Randolph is a human dynamo on stage. He came out blazing, sat front and center for almost 3 hours and was still going strong at the end of his performance.Maybe I should clarify my use of "sat front and center". For many folks the imagine that comes to mind when you mention steel guitar player is one of a guy who is more or less a fixture behind this odd looking contraption , is not animated in any way and shows litle or no emotion what-so-ever. Describing myself here I suppose but keep in mind that most of the people who share this vision have never seen Buddy Emmons or Joe Wright in action.Randolph was all over the stage and his interaction with the other members of the band and the audience was fantastic. And He did on occassion make the thing sound like the steel guitar we all know and love. No fuzz, no distortion, just good ole smooth steel guitar.
The music hall where he appeared tonite was
packed with young people and Robert reached
most of them and had quite an audience participation thing going. The area in front of the stage was void of seats, resembled a
huge dance floor, and the Crowd gathered right at the stage almost close enough to touch Robert. I overheard a converstaion between a couple of youngsters in which one of them said to the other, " so thats a pedal steel guitar, huh? First one I have ever seen. Man that thing is cool!" A good question for many of the naysayers on this forum to ask them selves..... "How many people have I introduced to the instrument"?
Like his type of music or not, I recommend you get out to see Robert Randolph if he
appears in your vicinity.
There is another recent thread concerning Robert that may still be active.If so I am sorry to infringe on it but I just came in and in my rush to get this posted before I go to bed I failed to look. 
Bill
[This message was edited by Bill Hamner on 23 November 2002 at 02:13 AM.]
