Steel, is it getting pushed out???

[Charlie McDonald]

I have to keep checking the OP for what it's about.
Maybe it's the topic that's getting pushed out.

If steel is getting pushed out, maybe it's because players are playing too much.
My experience in a trio is that you play less. In that trio, the guitarist occasionally brought out a Tele; endless fills like bad PSG.
The space was there and he took it up. A trio must embrace the space.
The future of steel guitar rests with tasteful players.

[Tony Prior]

If steel is getting pushed out, maybe it's because players are playing too much.

The future of steel guitar rests with tasteful players.

Maybe part of the problem is we are not very good players

I got fired from the first Country Band I was in for that very reason ! And they were right !

But I looked like a real Pro sitting behind that shiny new Black Sho Bud Pro III in my expensive Western Shirt ! !

[Charlie McDonald]

Just trying to evocatively tie the thread together.

Tony, I would be surprised if you weren't fired from your first country band. Otherwise you wouldn't move on and get better.
I'll bet you learned to play smarter, to match your outfit. Gotta have aspirations.

Yes, I'd like to hear what chris would have to say long about now.

[Tony Prior]

Just trying to evocatively tie the thread together.

Tony, I would be surprised if you weren't fired from your first country band. Otherwise you wouldn't move on and get better.
I'll bet you learned to play smarter, to match your outfit. Gotta have aspirations.

Truth be known Charlie, although I played (owned) a really nice D10 for several decades, it wasn't until two decades into the journey that I actually sat down with a serious mind about it all. Sure I played countless gigs over the years but probably the same dozen or two licks with limited growth. It was probably more like Ground Hog day . IF I could pin point when I really began growing ( studying) it would be around 2000 which was 25 years later than when I started . Better late than never I guess.

There , I feel better now

[b0b]

Maybe if steel players learned to play more styles and techniques, instead of just being the "country sound effect", they would be included in more of the "modern" country bands.

[Barry Blackwood]

Maybe if steel players learned to play more styles and techniques, instead of just being the "country sound effect", they would be included in more of the "modern" country bands.

I knew lots about styles and techniques but most of the "modern" country bands hired me for one reason - to be the "country sound effect." They knew little to nothing about PSG nor did they care. Just sayin'...

[Jonathan Lam]

But if everyone became a well rounded musician while also playing steel, wouldn't people come up with steel guitar parts that maybe don't sound like steel guitar?

Wouldnt there would be threads like "Is it even steel guitar anymore?"

[Fred Treece]

Is this even steel guitar anymore? Is a well-rounded musician playing it? Is this modern country?
Yes, Hell yes, and if only it were...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMyUjGdqBps

[W. Van Horn]

Jonathan Lam.
Nathan Lojam.
You be the judge.

From the "Christchurch Press", 1987:

Nathan Lojam is the best-known name for the masked guitarist of hair-metal band Giant Spray Can. He wreaked havoc at a June 15, 1986 concert in Christchurch, NZ by playing nothing but 32nd note pentatonic scales on an SG guitar. Lojam's flury of notes caused a lighting technician to drop several stage lights, creating a fire which engulfed all musical space and subsequently the 3,000 school children in attendance. This event is commonly known as the "pocket-less, talent-less, no groove hack attack".

From TDPRI:

Lojam's whereabouts are currently unknown. It is rumored he has recently resurfaced poorly playing Hawaiian music for very, very small audiences outside of Blue Bottle in Brooklyn.