Duet for Theramin and Lap Steel

Sure to be a very artsy show, Scott Burland (theremin) and Frank Schultz (steel) will perform at Conundrum Music Hall in Columbia, SC. Also, filmmaker Robbie Land will be screening his abstract imagery alongside the duo's performance.

Saturday, August 13, 2011
9pm (doors at 8pm)
$6

www.conundrum.us/concerts/

Big Branson Steel Show This Weekend

Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Branson, MO. Details on the Steel Guitar Forum.

Friday - July 29
2:00 - 2:25 - Ronnie Fisk
2:35 - 3:00 - Larry Baker
3:10 - 3:35 - Wayne Morton
3:45 - 4:10 - Ron Plumlee
4:20 - 4:45 - Ron Frederiksen
4:55 - 5:20 - Bill Myrick
5:30 - 5:55 - Ray Qualls
6:05 - 6:30 - Bill Dobkins
6:40 - 7:05 - Dave Flanagan
7:15 - 7:40 - Jerry Foster
7:50 'til ? - Ron Symank

Saturday - July 30
10:00 - 10:25 - Eddie Lane
10:35 - 11:00 - Don Reed
11:10 - 11:35 - Curt Shoemaker
11:45 - 12:10 - Mike McGee
12:10 - 12:25 - Leona Williams
12:35 - 1:00 - Lefty Schrage
1:10 - 1:35 - Austin Stewart
Lunch Break 1:35 - 2:15
2:15 - 2:40 - David Wright
2:50 - 3:30 - Joe Wright
3:35 - 4:00 -"Wright Brothers"
4:10 - 4:35 - Kevin Clemens
4:45 - 5:10 - Mike Sweeney
5:20 - 5:45 - Buck Grantham
5:55 - 6:20 - Fred Justice

Sunday - July 31
10:00 - 10:45 - Church Service, Jerry & Venda Hanley
11:00 - 11:25 - Mike McGee
11:35 - 12:00 - Jerry Newberry
12:10 - 12:35 - Louie Hallford
12:45 - 1:10 - Buck Grantham
1:20 - 1:45 - Mike Sweeney
1:55 - 2:20 - Austin Stewart
2:20 - 2:35 - Leona Williams
Lunch Break 2:35 - 3:15
3:15 - 3:45 - Wright Brothers
3:55 - 4:20 - Fred Justice
4:30 - 4:55 - Marty Neer
5:05 - 5:30 - Jerry Roller and Carlene
5:40 - 6:05 - Dean Holman

Dave Easley

Found a good interview with jazz steel guitarist Dave Easley in the South Bend Tribune:

Click Here

Suspending Publication

This site hasn't attracted the viewership I had hoped for. It's hard to justify this much work for a handful of regular readers. I'm suspending the frequent "almost daily" publication now. May resume at a later date.

See the Event Announcements section of the Steel Guitar Forum for announcements of upcoming steel guitar events.

Oklahoma City Steel Jam Saturday

The Oklahoma City steel jam is a monthly event at the Oklahoma Country Western Museum Hall of Fame in Del City, OK. Leroy Wood, who organizes the jam, writes, "We have a full staff band with a pro front man, vocals, and MC. These guys know all the real country songs, and make any steel picker sound good." It's open to the public - everyone is invited to bring their steel guitar or just show up to listen.

Oklahoma City Area Steel Jam
Saturday July 16, 10 AM - 3 PM
Oklahoma Country Western Museum Hall of Fame
3925 Southeast 29th Street
Del City, OK (Google map)

Maybe someone could send me a picture or two for next month's announcement.

Michigan Steel Show, July 17


The Michigan Steel Guitar Association will be hosting their annual Steel Guitar show on July 17th at the Harrison Moose Lodge in Harrison, Michigan. This show features half-hour sets by each of the region's best steel guitarists, backed by an excellent house band. It's all packed into one day, but if driving a distance you'll probably want to book a room as the show runs late into the evening. Here is the schedule of performers:

2:00 Jerry Hendrix ( Manistee, MI)
2:35 Mike Kyle (Flint, MI)
3:10 Barry Francek (Harrison, MI)
3:45 Wayne Hetzler (West Sunbury, PA)
4:20 Gene Calkins (Cedar Springs, MI)
4:55 Tim Rowley (Pinconning, MI)
5:30 Bob Wright (Kingsley, MI)
6:05 Del Shorts (Farwell, MI)
6:40 Danny Hullihen (Harrison, MI)
7:35 Herby Wallace (Sevierville, TN)
8:30 Mike Sigler (Rushville, OH)
9:25 Rusty Rhoads (Nashville, MI)
10:20 Super Jam

Harrison Moose Lodge (Google map)
5185 N. Clare Ave
Harrison, MI 48625

International Steel Guitar Convention Schedule


DeWitt "Scotty" Scott has announced the schedule for the 2011 International Steel Guitar Convention, to be held September 1-3 at the Millennium Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. Here it is:
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
Talent Search 12:00 noon to 5:00pm.
Steel Guitar Hall Of Fame, Inc. Fund Raising Show 7:00pm - 10:00pm. Jimmy Queen and our staff band will host the event again this year.

Friday, September 2nd
Bill Stafford - Neil Flanz - Mike Idhe & Norm Zocher - Rusty Rhodes - Joan Cox - Zzne King - Mike Jones - Joe Wright - Kenny Kitching, Australia - OPENING CEREMONIES not completed as yet - Herby Wallace - Ron Elliott - Doug Jernigan - Russ Hicks - Siley Roberts - Al Bresco - Chuck lettes - Lynn Owsley Show with Billy Robinson, Donna Jackson and the Calhoun Twins.

The Late Friday Night Concert will be held in Main Ballroom rom 1:00am - 3:00am. Russ Hicks is furnishing the band and also a few top country artists will join in. Not selected at this time.

Saturday, September 3rd
Dell Mullen - Al Vescovo - Eddie Lange - Mitsuo & Steve Sanford - Austin Stewart - Tommy Dodd - Jim Cohen - Bobbe Seymour - Doug Jernigan, Larry Sasser & Jay Dee Maness - Mike Sweeney - Ron Elliott - BREAK Steel Jam with up to 6 players, not selected at this time (Jim Vest has a desire to join in) - Herby Wallace - Joe Wright - Dan Tyack - Terry Bethel and Mike Sigler. There are a few open slots and am waiting for confirmation from the players.

Doug Jernigan will do the teaching seminar on the E9th tuning on Friday. 10:00 - 4:00.

The Hawaiian Gathering will be on Friday starting at 10:00am. The Jazz Show will be on Saturday starting at 9:30am. The Gospel show will also be on Saturday starting at 3:00pm. All three events will be held in the Jefferson Rooms this year.
See ScottysMusic.com for pre-registration and hotel reservations. Late-breaking news and discussions can be found on The Steel Guitar Forum.

Leigh Ivin Touring Canada with The Re-mains

Australian pedal steel guitarist Leigh Ivin has rejoined The Re-mains for their Canadian tour, now in progress. Leigh was one of the original members of the band in 2002, but has been absent from some of their recent endeavors because of distances involved. The Re-mains are a popular country rock band in their native Australia, where they tour extensively and have played all of the big festivals, including Tamworth Country Music Festival, Splendour in the Grass, The East Coast Blues and Roots Music Festival, and the St. Kilda Festival.

The band's personnel varies from time to time based on the availability of musicians. The line-up for this 6-week tour includes leader/songwriter Mick Daley, Tom Jones on bass, Allan Fisk on drums and Leigh Ivin on pedal steel. The remaining dates for the tour are:

July 9: Trash Twang & Thunder Festival, Calgary, AB
July 12 & 13: Wild Bill’s, Banff, AB
July 14-17: NESS CREEK MUSIC FESTIVAL, Big River, SK
July 19: Java Express, Moose Jaw, SK
July 20: The Cavern Club, Winnipeg, MB
July 21: McNally’s Tavern, Regina, SK
July 22 & 23: Lydia’s, Saskatoon, SK
July 25: Black Dog Freehouse, Edmonton, AB
July 27 & 28: Rolla Pub, Rolla, BC
July 29: ARTSWELLS FESTIVAL, Wells, BC
July 30: The Legion, Jasper, AB
July 31: The Legion, supporting Fred Eaglesmith
August 2: Tito’s, Grande Prairie, AB
August 3: Java Domain, Peace River, AB
August 4: Wunderbar, Edmonton, AB
August 5: Tracks Pub, Olds, AB
August 6-7: MOUNTAIN VIEW MUSIC FEST, Carstairs, AB
August 9: The Ironwood Stage & Grill, Calgary, AB
August 10 & 11: The Drake, Canmore, AB
August 12: The Palomino Smokehouse, Calgary, AB
August 13: The Ship & Anchor Pub, Calgary, AB (2pm show)
August 13: The Hideout, Red Deer, AB with Romi Mayes

Remembering Jack Kondora


There will be a steel guitar show to honor the life of Jack Kondora this Saturday at the Moose Lodge near his hometown of Harrison, Arkansas. Jack passed away on May 24, 2011. He was a superb steel guitarist and an active member of the Ozark Steel Guitar Association. It's said that "No man loved the steel more", and he is surely missed by his many friends and fans.

The event will begin at 10:00 AM on Satuday, July 9, at the Harrison Moose Lodge (Google Map). A list of performers has not been published, but there will certainly be some great steel playing in Jack's honor. See the Steel Guitar Forum announcement for up-to-date information.

Steel on the Internet

Just a couple of items from Steel Guitar Forum Central today:

SteelGuitarForum.com had a bandwidth upgrade last weekend. It's measuring about 3x faster on the outgoing traffic, and reports from users have been very positive. Also, a faster Google-based search page has been added to the system.

Bobbe's Tips, the email newsletter from Bobbe Seymour of Steel Guitar Nashville, has never been archived online. I've taken on that task - you can now read back issues of Bobbe's Tips at http://b0b.com/bobbeSeymour.

Thanks for following SteelGuitarNews.com.

Lucky Oceans on John Bennett's New CD


John Bennett and Lucky Oceans

Many American steel guitarists of a certain age remember Lucky Oceans as Asleep At The Wheel's first steel guitarist. These days, his name is too often preceded with "What ever happened to..." here in the states. Not so in Western Australia. Lucky moved there 3 decades ago to become a popular and celebrated musicologist, hosting The Daily Planet on Australia's ABC Radio National. And of course he's also WA's foremost steel guitarist.

The big musical news from Western Australia this week is that indigenous singer/songwriter John Bennett has just released his first CD, and Lucky Oceans is playing steel all over it. Lucky laid down his parts in the studio before meeting John, as they live at opposite ends of the huge province. They are getting together this week, though. John and Lucky will be performing in concert at ABC Perth's Studio 620 on Monday, July 4th. Then Lucky will be featuring John Bennett on his radio show Tuesday afternoon.

Cowboy Country Revisited


Scott Gerber, Bobby Lee and Cousin Elmo

There's not much news for this holiday weekend, so I'll engage in some shameless self-promotion. In the 1980's Scott Gerber, Gordy Lynch, Tom Bischoff and I formed a band named Cowboy Country. We played honky tonks and social events in Sonoma County, California. The band broke up after about 5 years.

In February 2010, three of us from the original band got together for a living room jam session at my home in Cloverdale. We hadn't played together in over 20 years, but it was like falling off a log. I recorded the event and assembled the best tracks onto a personal CD. I've uploaded the songs from that CD to my music pages at  b0bLee.BandCamp.com  for your listening pleasure.