wow. There was this band there doing a jimi hendrix cover....i forget the name of the song, but it was one of his more popular songs.

Whenever i watch conan he never has any kind of jam band on (he doesn't stick to a particular genre, but he stays away from anything that sounds like rnb, hip hop or funk).

This was definitely a pleasant surprise and 80% of the band rocked. The lead singer was sitting down and playing one of those flat country style guitars while bass,organ,lead guitar, and oh man...* drums * really got into it.

just making small posts. (forum equivalent of small talk?)


jason

I didn't see it, but Ben Harper plays one of those sit down counrty guitars to great effect, and has a kick ass band. Could it have been him?

ben harper's stuff is great too, but i'm certain it wasn't him. I have the episode tivoed, so when guys at my house stop watching law and order, i'll get back to you with the name.

I've never seen anyone use one of those outside of country music. what are they called?

Are those tuned like guitars are? It looks as though it'd be tough to play any chord with your hands flat on the board.

jason

He's gotta be talking about a pedal steel or a dobro-style guitar.
If pedal steel, I'd bet this is either Robert Randolph or Junior Brown.

Was it Robert Randolph? They always play with a TON of energy.

It could have also been lap steel, but robert randloph (who plays pedal steel) does a cover of voodoo chile (slight return). Can't wait to find out who it was!

I didn't see it, but a quick search of the web found this news item:

Robert Randolph is the man.

Dig his albums...and check out the project he did on Rope-a-Dope called The Word.



Randolph, John Medeski and the North Mississippi Allstars. Great album. Randolph kills on a ton of great gospel tunes. Check it out.

I happened to catch him on the Clapton guitar fest thing on PBS and I was freakin' flooored. I had no idea that anyone could make a steel guitar sound like Hendrix was playin' it. Nuff said?

Yeah...it was robert randolph. His instrument threw me off. But the overall sound was great.

jason

You could do a forum search on Robert Randolph...and read many more comments. They are spectacular.

Couple that with a spiritual message (since they started as, more or less, a church praise band) and you get a great listen.

Oh yeah, they exude love. That counts for something.

You mean Purple Haze was a love song?

Of course it is JeremyC

" S'cuse me while I kiss this guy..."

Sounds like love to me.

You know people that stop watching Law And Order? It's pretty rare in my house...

Tom

In the event that anyone missed this Friday night (seriously, who's home watching Conan at 12:35 on a Friday night? ;D ), Conan reairs on CNBC at 7 PM ET tonight.

There's a lot of good stuff on rope a dope. I wish I would've caught them on Conan. I love that band. They are a riot live.

Thanks Nick.

No prob. One of the good things about working in television is that you know when a lot of things are on the air. I am such a nerd.

I caught 2 songs by Robert Randolph and the Family on Austin City limits on Friday night(10/02/2005). 4 slide players, Robert and 3 older guys who Robert learned from plus a organ, drummer, 5 or 6 string bass and an electric guitar. Amazing, all 4 would trade off licks, and raise the level for each solo. I didn't know that lap and pedal steel guitars could sound like that. And you can play it sitting down. Something I'll look into when I can't stand and hold a bass or guitar any longer (in the later years of course). The oldest guy looked to be in his 70's and didn't miss a note.
I spent the 2 songs with my mouth open and a big smile on my face. Just amazing.

what's austin city limits? It's weird, but i cannot imagine how they get different chords out of those slide guitars. It looks as though they have a cylindrical object on the fretting hand and that would make it tough to say...play a diminished 7th chord after playing major chord x.



jason

Austin City Limits is a live music show on PBS. They've had a long and storied history of some tremendous artists gracing their stage. Check out their web page here .

Pedal steel guitars or lap steel guitars are set up in various open tunings. A lot of times, a pedal steel player may have two different instruments set up in front of them so that they can play in a couple of different keys.

& of course the pedals & knee levers expand the tunings...