(via Chuck Berry - Deep Feeling (1957)

Further Cosmic Pedal Steel Situations :: Winter 2024

The cosmic pedal steel scene continues to expand — and we’re here for it. Daniel Lanois, one of the godfathers of this movement, once called the pedal steel “my little church in a suitcase.” And if anything ties these various musicians together, it’s a certain kind of earthy spirituality, an openness to the myriad possibilities that the instrument offers. Check out a few of my recent favorites over at Aquarium Drunkard.

And while you're over at AD — well, we've got a fab 2024 going for you already. Check out Brent Sirota's magnificent Fourth World mixtape ... or the latest installment of James Adams' Dylan-tastic bootleg column Diamonds From The Deepest Oceans ... or Jennifer Kelly's convo with Kayla "Itasca" Cohen (her new one is ridiculously good) ... or Michael Klausman's appreciation of Butch Hornsby's lost 70s classic Don't Take It Out On The Dog ... or J. Neas' Q&A with the GBV gawd Robert Pollard ... this is all in the first couple of weeks, people! I've said it before and I'll say it again: what a cool website!

some rare red photos

Here is a gorgeous transcription of a choral piece by Olivier Messiaen for steel guitar, a lute by any stretch. Sounds like his music for Ondes martenot octet.

D Rothon - Lonesome Echoes (Awful Lonesome edition) - expanded download edition of his Clay Pipe 3" CD release

The origins of its name lost in the mists of time, the village of Lonesome emerged in the 19th century from the swampy, isolated lands between Streatham Vale and Mitcham Common. By the early 1900s intrepid reporters were already speculating on whether the place was mere myth. The intervening years saw the rapid rise and fall of Lonesome. Its prospects as a desirable place to live were compromised by the combined fragrances of piggeries plus chemical, fireworks and gas mantle factories – which would undoubtedly have overpowered the sweeter aromas from the nearby lavender fields of Mitcham. It also gained a reputation as a haunt of footpads, vagabonds and cutpurses. A failed development by one “Squire Blake” of aspirational middle class villas – which became known as Blake's Folly – helped cement Lonesome’s reputation as a ghost town. Now long subsumed into suburbia, aside from the odd street and building name little trace remains of Lonesome. Tracks 2, 6, 8 and 10 were issued as an EP by Clay Pipe Music. The remaining tracks are also taken from the Lonesome-inspired sessions. David Rothon: Omnichord, pedal steel, theremin, keyboards, Bentley Rhythm Ace, digital drum programming, acoustic, electric, baritone and bass guitars, Stylophone, percussion, Indian harmonium, harmonica, melodica, banjo Special thanks to… Ed Deegan: drums on tracks 3 and 6 Johanna Warren: flute on tracks 8 and 9 Artwork by Frances Castle (as featured on the original Lonesome Echoes CD)

With his latest release, “Ballads”, Dave Easley cements his reputation as one of the preeminent pedal steel guitarists in jazz today. Backed by an all-star band including guitarist Jeff Parker, double bassist David Tranchina and drummer Jay Bellerose, Easley puts his inimitable spin on jazz standards and deep cuts alike.

Susan Alcorn — CANTO (Relative Pitch)

Susan Alcorn's interests range far. She began, as many pedal steel guitar players do, in country bands, playing the instrument like you might expect, but she soon traveled far from Texas, exploring jazz and classical music as well as some world influences. It's a heady approach that's produced a couple decades of compelling and distinct music, but she still might be restless. New album CANTO comes from Chile, where Alcorn assembled her ensemble Septeto del Sur for a new blend of sounds crossing generations, continents and politics. The record's loveliness has an edge to it, producing a memorable new take on still-vibrant traditions.

The initial interaction, that between pedal steel and violin, makes sense, at least in theory. Both instruments (as long as you call one of them a fiddle) have long partnered in country music, but nothing here sounds like a honky tonk. Alcorn and violinist Danka Villanueva blend their sounds as if they've made a career of it. The feeling begins with the somber “Suite Para Todos,” in what feels like a controlled composition breaking into a freer section of invitation before regaining its composure (in both senses).

Much of the rest of the album belongs to the three-part “Canto,” a distinctly political suite that draws on chants from the Pinochet era. Alcorn and the septet oscillate between morning for the lost (the “disappeared”) and finding anger in the situation. These are folk musicians more interested in bending their tradition than in reinscribing it; the nueva canción sound comes in and out of focus but its revolutionary spirit guides the entire section.

“Mercedes Sosa” sounds more folk-based. Alcorn primarily provides the textures for her bandmates to play over, offering a change of tone from her own solo version for 2000's Uma. After the challenges of “Canto,” the shift brightens the album while incorporating elegaic moments into the piece. Claudio "Pajaro" Araya turns loose on the cuatro to release some of the tension in a flurry. Alcorn's own playing as long been subsumed into the larger endeavor, making the experience transporting, far less about the blend of musical cultures than about the straightforward immersion into a time and place.

The record closes with an unplanned rendition of “El Derecho de Vivir en Paz,” featuring bassist Amanda Irarrazabal on vocals and something approaching rock guitar (the quena does not approach rock flute, and that's not a complaint). The sonics turn surprisingly heavy, and the anti-Vietnam War song reminds us that resistance continues. Alcorn's latest release hits clear political beats, but it does so with an artistry driven more by curiosity and warmth than by polemic, making CANTO a beautiful and personal meeting of musics and cultures.

Justin Cober-Lake

Never trust descriptions of instruments from people who know nothing about them. His brother plays bass. And the pedal steel is not an “electronic” instrument as opposed to “analog” guitars. Yeah, it’s a forty pound “delicate instrument”… And then he calls the pedal steel an “analog” instrument.

You are not a reporter if you can’t understand what you are saying. That’s not writing. That’s just typing. Spell check is not enough.

kinda feeling impulsive tonight might join the pedal steel forum

hmm just girly things 

Luke Schneider Presents Imaginational Anthem XI: Chrome Universal, A Survey of Modern Pedal Steel

The Imaginational Anthem series kicked off way back in 2004 — but it's still rolling, thank the lord, showcasing some great sounds from the underground. Chrome Universal is an expansion of the Imaginational galaxy, giving us a selection of "modern pedal steel" players; some newcomers to the scene, some longtime veterans (some in-between). I've loved what's been coming out of the burgeoning cosmic pedal steel scene in recent years, and this comp suggests there's plenty more good stuff to come. Nashville's Luke Schneider has done a great job displaying the diverse range of approaches that the instrument encourages, from warm and fuzzy to icy and abstract. Not a dud in the bunch, that's for sure.

slay

I’m so excited to play upcoming festivals this June/July in London, Tasmania, Norway & Portugal. I’ll perform my first ever live score for Kenneth Anger’s Eaux d’Artifice at Dark Mofo and looking forward to reuniting with Peter Brötzmann for our first duo concert since February 2020(!)

11 June Grace Jones’ Meltdown Festival

17 June Dark Mofo Festival solo

18 June Dark Mofo Festival Live Score for Kenneth Anger Eaux d’Artifice (day) + Phill Niblock G2,44+ (night)

8 July Kongsberg Festival with Peter Brötzmann

15 July Jardins Efémeros Festival solo

photo by Dawid Laskowski

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to The 1998 Khmer Rouge apology, Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers’s first movie FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1932), Gali Atari, Baltimore artist Eric Block, Mayor Tom Bradley, singer-songwriter Ed Bruce, Pablo Casals, Bernard Cribbins, Rick Danko, Ted Danson, Yvonne Elliman, Marianne Faithfull, Neil "Spyder" Giraldo, New Orleans clarinetist Willie Humphrey, Scott Joplin’s 1902 song “The Entertainer,” Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna, Jude Law, Franz Liszt’s 1857 symphonic poem "Die Hunnenschlacht,” jazz-Celtic singer Laurel Massé, Clyde McCoy, Dina Merrill, Mary Tyler Moore, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, cellist-composer Kiyoshi Nobutoki, Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket), Paula Poundstone, Cozy Powell, rockabilly DJ/singer-songwriter Glenn Reeves, Jim Reid, The San Francisco Symphony, Marco Antonio Solís, Barbara Steele, The Supremes’s 1965 single “My World is Empty Without You,” Ray Thomas (Moody Blues), “Billy” Tipton, Jo Van Fleet, Jon Voight, Roger Voudouris, and my friend and musical compadre “Easy” Mark Tomeo. I lack photos of Mark and I together, so I grabbed pivotal images from Mark’s fascinating career as a champion of pedal steel, resonator, and twang guitar + singer-songwriter. He was in the Grammy-nominated “New Wave cowboy” band Rubber Rodeo (shown here)—in the 80s RR played at Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco while I just happened to be lurking nearby. The world got smaller when Mark and I met in Pennsylvania, performing and recording with Ben Kaplan, some Badlees-spinoff projects, and extensively with the band Neon Cactus. Circa 2000 I was working with Davy Jones (Monkees) on his JUSTME series of original recordings. Davy wanted a pedal steel guitarist, and I summoned Mark. Here’s “Hold Me Tight,” a Tex-Mex samba we did; the Mike Nesmith-ian arrangement was Davy’s idea: 

Meanwhile HB EMT. By the time I get to Phoenix anything can happen…

#MarkTomeo #Easy #pedal #steel #guitar #resonatorguitar #DavyJones #Monkees #Neon #Cactus #Badlees #BenKaplan #RubberRodeo #pennsylvania #phoenix #arizona #Tex-Mex #samba #Mike #Nesmith #johnnyjblair #performing #recording