North East Steelers - April 24th

[Nick Bidmade]

The next meeting of the North East Steelers will be on 24 April, 12 noon at the Buck Inn, Thornton Watlass. No backing tracks to send out, but we will have backing on the day.
Tunes to be covered are:
Sing Me Back Home in D
Jealous Guy in G
Crazy in C
Spanish Eyes in A
Heartaches by the Number in D
Your Cheatin' Heart in C

We'll be without Keith for this meeting as he's still in NZ but we will be joined by Ken Byng who will be stopping off on his way to Scotland for their meeting on 26th.
All are welcome - we could do with a couple of additional members. you'll be assured of a warm, friendly welcome, whether experienced player or beginner, plank or pedaller.
Hope to see you there!!

[Ken Byng]

My room at the Buck Inn is booked. Looking forward to seeing you all, particularly Tony, who I haven't seen for some 40 years or so.

[Tony Russell Davis]

Some catching up to do Ken! Looking forward to meeting you again

[derek evans 15]

Thanks Tony, I haven,t figured out how to send the tracks out yet ,as i am not
very good with computers. I have just recently bought an apple computer ,and i,m not used to it yet.
The Tunes are well known so I'm hope it will be alright on the day. Must confess to struggling with
Jealous Guy . Kindly Nick sent me some tab so i,m working on it .
I,ll se if i can send them too all of the guys . Regards Derek .

[Ken Byng]

Well, that was a most enjoyable afternoon session with Tony, Nick and Derek. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Photos to follow.

[Nick Bidmade]

Yesterday's meeting was absolutely knock-out! We were in thrall to Ken's playing, all-round musical knowledge, anecdotes and his encyclopaedic knowledge of pedal steel guitar and players - on both sides of the pond. We were treated to some really beautiful playing from Ken and a 'tour' of his guitar and amp set-up. The tone Ken produces is rich and complex but with amazing clarity and string separation. I was so ga-ga I only took one photo on my phone and it's rubbish, so I do hope Ken can post one or two when he has returned from his trip up to Gartcosh. Ken showed us some new and great-sounding licks (I hope I can remember them!) and what I took away most of all was Ken's use of 1st string raise (F# to G#) and 6th string lower (G# to F#). He also very cleverly uses 'half-lever' stops (no feel stop - just lots of practice to get it right, I guess, and a good ear). I have those changes on my old guitar but use them only infrequently and then only where blindingly obvious - I'm going to be throwing a lot more of these changes into my playing at home in the hope that some of them sound anything like as good as I heard yesterday afternoon.
Ken had sorted out a copedent problem Derek has been struggling with for ages before he'd even taken his coat off and he very kindly replaced the pot on my Goodrich vp during the afternoon.
Ken and Tony apparently go back a very long way and I know they spent both Saturday and Sunday evenings catching up.
We had a great time and on behalf of Derek, Tony and myself, thank Ken for his time, generousity and great company. I hope the trip to Gartcosh goes well!
We had hoped for a few more attendees but, sadly, with Keith away in New Zealand, there were only the three of us to welcome Ken, despite a few 'promises'.
The next meeting will be at the Buck Inn, 12 noon, on Sunday 26 June. New members particularly welcome. Contact me for details.
Nick

[derek evans 15]

Nick i could not of put it better. I look forward to seeing every one at our get together ,pity about the turnout.
My thanks to Ken Byng for a brilliant display of Pedal steel playing and all his help for us to improve our playing.
And thanks to him for fixing my steel, a problem I've had for sometime. Many thank,s to all at the Buck Inn,
Regards Derek.

[Ken Byng]

Thanks chaps - much appreciated.

[Malcolm]

Nick and Derek, I am sure that when you receive the invoice from Mr Bling for work carried out you will pleased with his rates.

[Ken Byng]

Thankfully they know me differently Mr McMiser. If they are happy then that is payment enough.