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Steel after 50 (Page 1)
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The Steel Guitar Forum
Pedal Steel Archive
Steel after 50 (Page 1)
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| This topic is 2 pages long: 1 2 This topic was originally posted in this forum: Pedal Steel |
| Author | Topic: Steel after 50 |
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Steve Benzian Member Posts: 209 |
posted 25 October 2001 06:22 PM
What effect does age have on your playing? For example, can you still play as fast. Or, can you still remember the cool arrangement you worked out if you haven't played it for a month or two? Is there any upside (steel guitar related) to getting older.....? |
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steve takacs Member Posts: 1256 |
posted 25 October 2001 07:00 PM
I try to play fewer notes and hope they have more meaning. Also, I need to be more careful when carting equipment so as not to hurt my back. Playing is just as enjoyable as it ever was when I was younger. |
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Jerry Roller Member Posts: 3906 |
posted 25 October 2001 07:03 PM
At age 62, I have a titanium right wrist that still manages to ache. I was told before the surgery that titanium has no nerves in it. A rebuilt heart that can't handle carrying a D10 upstairs any more and more of a love for the instrument than ever. I guess I enjoy it more because I realize that I don't have as many years to enjoy it as I did when I never thought about such a question as you ask. There is no doubt that I play with more feeling and emotion than years ago but I don't have the agility in my fingers I once had. Shoot I don't know, give him a good answer Bobby Bowman! Jerry [This message was edited by Jerry Roller on 25 October 2001 at 07:05 PM.] |
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Frank Parish Member Posts: 2327 |
posted 25 October 2001 07:34 PM
I turned 50 just last month and am having a ball. I admit I'm thinking about a lighter guitar but I've had back problems all my life because I was a drummer before this so it's not much difference. The only thing I have trouble with is sleep so my concentration isn't what it should be. I work a lot of hours at the job (about 75) and I was having the sleep thing before so I can't tell if it's the sleep thing or just the job interfering with my music. There just isn't enough hours in the day for me. |
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B Cole unregistered Posts: 2327 |
posted 25 October 2001 07:45 PM
If it feels good do it and if it hurts just do it a little less. And now back to the steel hell at 63 I'm much to young to feel this damn old |
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Steve Stallings Member Posts: 2065 |
posted 25 October 2001 07:47 PM
I turned fifty last monday (15th). I enjoy playing right now more than ever. The biggest problem for me has been long 2-3 hour drives home after gigs. I recently bought a thirty foot RV. Now we load up the RV, go to the gig, camp overnight, and come home Sunday. Works much better. ------------------ |
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jim miller unregistered Posts: 2065 |
posted 25 October 2001 08:01 PM
50? I was only 5 years younger than that when I started on steal.I'll be 64 in a month and a half. If I'm not playing I am very very hard to get along with. I love it! Of course I don't carry a D-10 around. It's a U-12 Kline, so not to heavy. I will play as long as God grants me that privilage.(sp) Jim Miller I'D RATHER BE STEELIN' |
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chas smith Member Posts: 3168 |
posted 25 October 2001 08:48 PM
A few years back, I was whining about something to do with a gig I had played and I was admonished with: "Do you realize how many men your age dream of doing what you are doing?" Needless to say I do less whining now. What I've noticed is I don't learn new material as quickly as I did, I never could play fast so I've had to concentrate on playing well and musical, I still have to practice every day, but then I always did, I'm more comfortable playing and the babes don't look at me anymore. |
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Jim Cohen Member Posts: 8715 |
posted 25 October 2001 09:37 PM
quote:Well, I couldn't say from personal experience mind you, but from what I hear, there may be the following upsides to playing steel as an "older" character 1. You have had enough time to develop something called taste. 2. You have gotten to the point in life where you're not trying to prove something to someone, other than yourself. 3. You're willing to read the entire thread on "laying out" and take it to heart. Now, mind you, this is all from hearsay, from people I know who have gotten older. Your mileage may vary. ------------------ [This message was edited by Jim Cohen on 25 October 2001 at 09:38 PM.] |
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Jack Stoner Sysop Posts: 8119 |
posted 26 October 2001 03:36 AM
Steel after 50 gets better. I may not be as fast as I once was (debatable if I ever was fast) but I'm a lot more comfortable picking now. I just go do my thing and don't worry about it. |
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Tony Prior Member Posts: 4672 |
posted 26 October 2001 04:19 AM
After 50..yes, there is an after 50 !. At 53, I have just returned to Pedal Steel after about a 5 year self induced lay-off and no steel. It seems that we could all argue and have different opinions on which guitar sounds better ( the Black one's ? ) who's best , what should a steel record sound like ..BUT, all over 50 seem to have the same logistical opinion. It seems that I am approaching playing with a totally different view than whan I was playing regularly thru the 70's and 80's. I will use this word with caution, I think I am playing smarter.I didn't say I am smarter mind you. I never stopped playing guitar all these years and have been playing out of the "Robben Ford" school of blues which is several modes and diminshed scales as well. Well once again I am applying what I 've learned on guitar to steel again. I find I am really listening to what I'm playing instead of just playing, I doubt I will ever be able to pick like I did in 80, but I am not sure I want to. Even Michale Jordan said a few years ago that he had to play smarter because his body wouldn't allow him to "FLY" like he used to. My new phrase which may apply " You can't teach an old Dog new tricks, but the old Dog may know a ton of tricks that the new Dog never heard of !" Now for the reality of it all, My wife just told me it's past my bedtime, and it's only 7:30 !!! TP Back after a few... |
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Bob Strum Member Posts: 317 |
posted 26 October 2001 04:26 AM
When I turned 60, I received a plaque that said, "Sixty aint old for trees!" It didn't help at all! But the steel is a way that lets my soul sing and soothes the rough paths. Bob |
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Robert Thomas Member Posts: 358 |
posted 26 October 2001 07:26 AM
I am very close to 68 and I play 3 and 4 times a week. I have been able to become a one-man band, so I sing, play and I am having a ball. Many years ago, to be able to sing and play I couldn't do, but with practice and a lot of dtermination I found just about anything is possible. I am having the time of my life and plan to continue until I can't lift a finger. Age is a number and will always be if you don't give up. Steeling is fun, and I have a wonderful wife who thinks it is the greatest. If you can't tell, I am having the time of my life. |
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Steven Knapper Member Posts: 425 |
posted 26 October 2001 07:48 AM
I am 51 as of last month, been playing guitars since I was 12, for $$$ since I was 14 YO. I STARTED playing steel at 50 after destroying both of my rotator cuffs trying to act like I was still 20. At the point where I can get out now and gig and am having a blast just like when I picked up the 'ol Strat. Age is a stated of mind if you are blessed with physical health, a little harder if you are not. My shoulders will hurt the remainder of my life, but I can always play steel for hours(I hope). Good luck to all us older guys and I liked what Jim Cohen said---words of wisdom!! Blackie Taylor is 20 years my senior and I hang onto every word like gold, he's been there and done it----WISDOM SHARED. Steve |
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BobbeSeymour Member Posts: 5664 |
posted 26 October 2001 08:33 AM
Boy, You guys make it sound good! I can hardly wait 'till I turn 50 ! Jim Coen,I think you , along with some others,put it VERY well. (yep,50,wonderful) (are we talking I.Q. or age?) |
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Erv Niehaus Member Posts: 5803 |
posted 26 October 2001 08:54 AM
I appreciate our beloved instrument more now at 62 than I ever have. I've been picking steel since about 10 years old. I really appreciate the advances that have been made over the years in instruments, electronics, etc. I love what can be done with backup via computers. I recently started working on the C6th neck and hope the Lord lets me stick around long enough to understand what's going on with the various pedals. I think maybe 20 years should be enough to get a little handle on it. Erv |
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Donny Hinson Member Posts: 9192 |
posted 26 October 2001 08:56 AM
I still play fast. (I think speed is more technique than it is dexterity, anyway.) The biggest difference for me is that I only play gigs I know I'll enjoy. The days of needing the money are past, and if I play out twice a month, that's OK. If I play out twice a year, that's OK too. I don't have put up with any bullcrap just to play, and that's a good feeling! I've noticed some of the pro's "play it safe", rather than make a mistake in front of an audience (like at a steel show). But I tend to "push the envelope" when playing. I'd rather make a mistake here and there than to lay back and "just play some nice stuff". The day you stop pushing (when playing out) is the day start slipping. When I make a remark about this to someone, the response is always "but he really has a nice tone!" If a good tone was my only goal, I'd have never started playing the thing. Hell, everybody makes mistakes... Go for it! |
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Bill Fall Member Posts: 188 |
posted 26 October 2001 09:09 AM
Post-50 (and then some): I get faster as I get older. Have to! Cuz I gotta get up & pee a lot more...and a lot more urgently! |
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Darvin Willhoite Member Posts: 2322 |
posted 26 October 2001 09:23 AM
I turn 50 in 5 more months and this is a real inspiration to me. I think I play better (more tasteful) than I did when I was 25, I have much better equipment, and I have learned a lot in the last 25 years. It looks like we have some players in their 70's who are still going strong. ------------------ |
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Gary Lee Gimble Member Posts: 932 |
posted 26 October 2001 12:06 PM
One cannot avoid how the hour glass affects the physical being although a healthy diet and some form of exercise might assist you in beating out the worn out syndrome. The challenge is your mind. If you think and preach old, then that you will be. Think young and not talking about pushing 50 or 65 is just as healthy as a high fiber diet. If your hair is graying prematurely, buy some white out or just don't look in the mirror. Remember, mind over body and some delightful tannins will have you squashing pedals while your pushing 90. Gary Lee |
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Jack Stoner Sysop Posts: 8119 |
posted 26 October 2001 01:05 PM
Who is this guy Seymour? I don't know how he can offer any advice as old as he is. When you get that age your at the "kiddie" stage and starting all over.   |
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B Bailey Brown Member Posts: 606 |
posted 26 October 2001 01:11 PM
I turned 55 last Monday, and as far as I am concerned I am playing better than I ever have. The band might have a different opinion, but they still pay me after every gig and let me do whatever I think needs to be done (and sometimes even smile at me when I do it!), so I guess I am cool with them. I really don’t think being over 50 has made much difference, other than it is more years on a bandstand gathering experience learning what to play and when to play it. Probably more importantly, what NOT to play and when NOT to play it.  I don’t really play any faster and in fact probably a little more slowly, but hopefully more tasty notes that fit better with what is happening. I will say that I do tend to get to a job earlier than I used to so I can take my time unloading. I am also usually the last to leave because I take my time packing up. Yea, after the big 50 you really do have to be more careful how you sling that heavy stuff around! Additionally, after the big 50…not that many of the barmaids are hanging around trying to take me home, so what is the rush?! Life is good!! B. Bailey Brown [This message was edited by B Bailey Brown on 26 October 2001 at 01:16 PM.] |
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John De Maille Member Posts: 521 |
posted 26 October 2001 01:47 PM
I am 52 this year, soon to be 53.What I find interesting and sometimes amusing, is the younger guys I know, who all play like the dickens, telling me how they loved to hear me play way back when.The sound I got was just great, and the clarity, and so on.I know that I have lost a few steps so to say. But. I ain't done playing yet. Not by a long shot!! And yes, I tend to go over the top sometimes and play beyond my means, but, I really enjoy PLAYING and do it whenever I can. So, in closing, let me say to all you young guys, keep telling me about the old days because I'm still living there and playing my steel |
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Eldie Weisner New Member Posts: 1 |
posted 26 October 2001 01:54 PM
Hi fellows. Talkng about playing after fifty. Wait until you guys reach 83 yrs. I'm still playing my pedal steel each day for some two hrs. and play some at the nursing homes.No more playing in beer joints for me. ------------------ |
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Jim Eller Member Posts: 267 |
posted 26 October 2001 02:25 PM
50 is when I started. It took me that long to save enough to buy all the gear I needed and a truck to haul it in. |
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Herb Steiner Member Posts: 6119 |
posted 26 October 2001 02:52 PM
I turn 54 next Thursday, so all of you in Austin come out to Jovita's for our regular Cornell Hurd extravaganza, which are becoming quite the "scene" in South Austin.  Anyway, my old compadre B. Bailey, who used to hang with me when we were both in our early 20's, said it all perfectly, especially about the barmaids! ------------------ |
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Larry Miller Member Posts: 975 |
posted 26 October 2001 03:02 PM
I'm almost there! I find that I need to wear my glasses to to set up my guitar, and also to see the fretboard. Also, I think I got a hernia from carrying my Session 500. [This message was edited by Larry Miller on 26 October 2001 at 03:03 PM.] |
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Ray Montee Member Posts: 4090 |
posted 26 October 2001 06:23 PM
Glasses to set up your g'tar? Heck, I can't remember where all those wires go! I don't remember there being that many when I was young and a star! I quit trying to tear down my Emmons as I couldn't figure out how to get all those pieces in the case. I've been carrying it in and out of gigs all set-up, for years now. When I was much younger, there was always a bunch of folks anxiously awaiting the opportunity to carry my guitar and amp, etc. Nobody ever said it was going to be this way. |
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chas smith Member Posts: 3168 |
posted 26 October 2001 08:13 PM
When I was young and virile, I could make that thing behave, I'd wake up in the morning, And it'd stand and watch me shave. But now I'm old and feeble, ............Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts |
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Al Marcus Member Posts: 7471 |
posted 26 October 2001 08:53 PM
Yeah, glasses! I can't even see the strings without em.On your post, Steve, after 60 years of playing steel, I tend to play with less passion but still with feeling, if you know what I mean. I also have been sticking with the lighter guitars and amps. I not going to pull my arms out of their sockets. I have had twin reverb, etc. now I have a old original Crate amp with 12' speaker, weighs 29 Lbs. not 60 like my old amps. My Carter S12 8/8 weighed 32.5 lbs. My GFI U12 7/5, 31 lbs. My Sho-Bud S10 Professional 5/5 35 Lbs. I can still handle that yet. |
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Paul Graupp Member Posts: 3199 |
posted 26 October 2001 11:47 PM
Boy, I don't feel near as old as I used to after reading all of this ! I read the other day where someone always packed his stuff up each night and even on a Fri-Sat gig. I can't do that any more !! And read all of the "laying out" thread at one setting is out too. I'd have to take a nap before I finish that one. Maybe it's a senior moment but I think someone told me that Bobbe had a student once, named Sol Hoppi. Don't know if that's true or not but I think he's a lot younger than I am. Oh, BTW... 70 in a few months.... Slow Regards, Paul |
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Gene Jones Member Posts: 5796 |
posted 27 October 2001 04:48 AM
No comment......I'll just let folks think I look this way because of "high-mileage" rather than birthdays! |
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B Bailey Brown Member Posts: 606 |
posted 27 October 2001 11:44 AM
I thank you for the kind words brother Steiner, but I sometimes read these things and try and relate something from my past experience. Yes, the Herbster and I did hang together in the early ‘70’s, but that was in Los Angeles! (That’s that place out on the left coast!) At that time there were probably only 10 Steel Guitar players in that whole city of 4 or 5 million people. Lets see, there was me and Herb…JD, Red Rhodes, Sneaky Pete, some guy named Emmons , and some more we probably never found (Like Hank De Vito down in Long Beach). Somehow, Red, Sneaky and Buddy never made it over to the Checkers in North Hollywood. Oh well, they probably would have laughed and pointed at Herb and me at those jam sessions anyhow. Ahhhh…well at ME for sure! Probably not at Herb, because back then he actually knew what he was doing! (What a concept)Further more, brother Steiner and I would probably still hang together…if he was ever in Austin when I was there!! I am going to have to have a talk with this boy. Something is not right here. B. Bailey Brown [This message was edited by B Bailey Brown on 27 October 2001 at 11:48 AM.] |
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Steven Knapper Member Posts: 425 |
posted 27 October 2001 02:01 PM
More great words of wisdom from Al Marcus. Wish I have been playing steel for ????, 10 years???, instead of 10 months. Bobbe S. and Jack Stoner have good stuff too, and Chas, you one funny guy!!! This has been a great topic, fun and wisdom. Now we have all have admitted our ages, what else ya wanna share or cop to???? I'm gonna go practice now !!!! Steve PS All you guys posts were great!! [This message was edited by Steven Knapper on 27 October 2001 at 02:07 PM.] |
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Bobby Lee Sysop Posts: 14849 |
posted 27 October 2001 03:08 PM
I'm 52 now, and my playing has never been better. I'm not improving real fast, but I am improving with each passing year. I can feel the difference. ------------------ |
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Bob Mainwaring Member Posts: 918 |
posted 28 October 2001 10:45 AM
I'm 58 'till March then I get a little older. I'm not too worried yet as I'm the youngest in the band and have to hold a candle for that!! - only thing is though, it definately takes longer to figure moves out on the old plank but it seems better for listening to in the end Bob Mainwaring. Z.Bs. and other weird things. ------------------ |
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Paul Graupp Member Posts: 3199 |
posted 29 October 2001 06:37 AM
Some of us here were laughing at chas smith's post and remembered this: When I was Young and in my prime .........Jumpin' Bill Carlilse Live in 1955 Regards, Paul |
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Chris Schlotzhauer Member Posts: 1217 |
posted 29 October 2001 07:16 AM
I can't wait till I turn 50 so I can reflect on how much better I am now than at 48. And I hope I am having as much fun playing as I am having now at 48. |
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Kenny Dail Member Posts: 2583 |
posted 29 October 2001 11:58 AM
I am 72 and still active although limited. I am no longer playing the bars or any area that has a smoke filled environment since I have emphysema. My breathing is getting quicker and, I can't hold my breath as long as I could as a young man. As mentioned above, I feel my taste has improved. I never was a speed freak so I don't feel my speed is affected yet. It has been said the best act in town is watching me load and unload my equipment. I have some very good friends to do my road work for me. I also only play for the enjoyment anymore. The money scene just doesn't make it worthwhile anymore.Who is "Bobbe Seymour"??????? ------------------ |
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David Weaver Member Posts: 575 |
posted 29 October 2001 06:56 PM
I'm 58 I wouldn't mind being young again, but I'd hate to be stupid again. When I was young,I wanted to be good, but I didn't practice. After going over the hill a ways, I don't care if I'm good or not, but I love to practice. I would like to try playing in a band but I don't want anyone forcing me to do gigs when I'd rather be skiing, traveling, or taking a nap. I don't need to be paid, and I don't want to play with a group that has professional ambitions. I don't want to miss "Law and Order" and I don't want to be around people I don't like. In other words, as far as the steel guitar world goes, its not a bright future for me in terms of making my mark as a musician. But I'm very happy...and I love steel guitar. |
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