How to Tolerate country fiddle, banjo, and steel guitar?

[pinkfloydcramer]

New generation zydeco artist Keith Frank, playing great soulful accordion on his remake of Gerald Levert's R&B classic "Casanova". I can't imagine a band playing a groove like this and people not dancing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MAJUSCULE]

Zydeco

 

I've always felt that sounds more like the name of a corporation instead of a genre of music. :idk

 

 

It comes from the French word for beans, "haricots".

[Mark Schmieder]

This literally translates as "the snap beans aren't salty" but idiomatically as "times are hard".

 

From the Wiki page. Lots of good stuff there, but I think it's only legal to quote one sentence directly. If I had linked it, no one would have gotten that far to see that funny explanation.

[EscapeRocks]

"Get back to living. Ask your Doctor about Zydeco.

 

Don't take Zydeco if you are allergic to its ingredients.

Zydeco may cause anal leakage, hemorrhagic fever, and generally make you feel worse than the disease it's curing."

--- every drug ad ever

 

[Mark Schmieder]

I have a former band-mate who likes every type of accordion EXCEPT zydeco.

 

It takes all kinds.

[psionic11]

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

[Mark Schmieder]

Theorbo is an AWESOME instrument, but super-quiet, so it's kind of funny that someone would adapt it to "metal". :-)

 

The fish-eye lens definitely adds to the effect.

[Threadslayer]

 

I {{{Heart}}} Sitar

 

and where the heck is the sitar and tambora forum ???

On the way in to work yesterday I heard a Travelling Wilbury's tune with what had to be a Danelectro electric sitar. Hadn't heard one of those in years. Can't really say I've missed it, but it does add an immediate 1960s nuance wherever it's used.

[psionic11]

It takes all kinds...

[RABid]

It takes all kinds. There are some awesome fiddle, banjo, and pedal steel players. Bluegrass banjo is especially impressive to me. Human arpeggiators.

 

Good to hear you like bagpipes.

 

My drummer's main gig is with bagpipe band Off Kilter. Their kitsch is Celtic flavored rock covers and originals. They do several annual outdoor gatherings here in Central Florida.

 

It takes all kinds.

 

Is this the band that played Epcot for years?

 

For me it is never the instrument, always the musician. Well, almost always. I have a Joan Armatrading DVD that is a good example of the wrong instrument in the wrong place. It is a live DVD and she hired a baritone sax to play the bass guitar parts. It was awful. Honk, honk, honk. So out of place. Extremely unpleasant to listen to. So good in funk. So bad in folk. And with only 3 musicians on the stage there was no hiding it in the mix.

[murphybridget]

To appreciate country fiddle, banjo, and steel guitar, start by listening with an open mind. Focus on the emotion and skill behind each instrument. Learn about their roles in country music. Over time, you might find the unique charm in their twang and melodies.

[Baldwin Funster]

Alchohol. 

And remember it could be worse.

It could be that gangsta rap country.

Not a lot of banjo in that though.

[Biggles]

 

 

[brenner13]

Steve Martin’s side project Steep Canyon Raiders offers some tasteful Bluegrass IMHO.

 

 

[CEB]

Hey Now!

 

I tolerate it by counting my money. 

[Chris Link]

My observation is that fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and pedal steel players tend to have way above average musical skills. 
 

At least compared to your average blues jam guitar player. 

[RABid]

For me it is those darn synthesizers. Like a real instrument can be based on electronics. Even worse, modular synths. Nothing but glorified noise makers. 

[Mark Schmieder]

On 6/8/2019 at 4:00 AM, Synthoid said:

These instruments just aren't my cup of tea. Add an accordion to the list and I'll run out of the room screaming.

 

Anyone else?

 

 

 

Steel guitar and accordion are two of my favorites. Fiddle depends on the player. I only like Irish Banjo and even then it is such a loud instrument that I can't take much of it, but I do like its basic sound and style.

 

I saw Bob Dylan years ago and he had an amazing pedal steel player with him, who was also the primary soloist on every song. It surprised me that Dylan would showcase a musician like that.

[bill5]

  

On 6/8/2019 at 8:07 AM, Synthoid said:

You do realize this is a parody thread, right?

 

I don't think that word means what you seem to think it means. You seem rather sincere in sneering at these instruments, which is sad, but to each their own. 

 

 

[IMMusicRulz]

I like a lot of fiddle and banjo players. I grew up liking Charlie Daniels, and while he is primarily a singer and guitarist, he was also a very good fiddle player.

[allan_evett]

I like all of these instruments. What I don't like are band members saying: " By the way, while you're covering the essential piano and/or organ parts, could you also concurrently play those fiddle, steel, harmonica and accordion lines? And that little, buried EP riff at the end of verse 2, you can grab that too. (That one was actually requested by a rather clueless, deep-in-the-weeds bassist ). 

[SMcD]

A good friend and bandmate recently said: "I think the moment country music got worse is when it stopped being about trains, and started being about trucks."

[16251]

34 minutes ago, allan_evett said:

I like all of these instruments. What I don't like are band members saying: " By the way, while you're covering the essential piano and/or organ parts, could you also concurrently play those fiddle, steel, harmonica and accordion lines? And that little, buried EP riff at the end of verse 2, you can grab that too. (That one was actually requested by a rather clueless, deep-in-the-weeds bassist ). 

I loved playing the fiddle parts on Ants Marching.  I also played some of the ceremonial tunes during wedding reception using banjo sound. Come to think of it, there was one or two songs I tried imitating steel guitar.  All great fun; more fun then listening to music with those instruments for more than 5 minutes (I guess I'm generalizing as there are some very hip songs in that idiom.)

[allan_evett]

31 minutes ago, 16251 said:

I loved playing the fiddle parts on Ants Marching.  I also played some of the ceremonial tunes during wedding reception using banjo sound. Come to think of it, there was one or two songs I tried imitating steel guitar.  All great fun; more fun then listening to music with those instruments for more than 5 minutes (I guess I'm generalizing as there are some very hip songs in that idiom.)

Don't get me wrong, prominent fiddle parts are fun to play on keys; other instruments too - as long as essential rhythm parts are covered well. Roughly 2009-13, I covered a fair amount of violin lines for a country band in Denver. My Jupiter 50 got quite a workout; the electric violin patch I'd tweaked was quite good (Love that SN/behavior modeling tech). We did have the luxury of a lead singer who covered acoustic/electric guitar rhythm parts, along with a lead-focused electric guitarist in the act. So I got to attempt all kinds of extraneous parts in the band. But since returning to the midwest I've been in 3-4 piece groups, so covering extra parts has gotten trickier; more pick and choose.

[SteveNathan]

12 minutes ago, allan_evett said:

54 minutes ago, 16251 said:

Expand  

Don't get me wrong, prominent fiddle parts are fun to play on keys;

Many years ago I did a live showcase for an artist who asked me to cover Mark O’Connor’s fiddle part from the record. I had only a DX7 to do it with. Not good!  Weeks later I ran into Mark & told him I had the unenviable chore of trying to cover him on stage, looking for a little sympathy. He looked coldly at me & said “I know. I was there”, shook his head & walked away! 

[TommyRude]

I'm not positive, but I think this has strumming banjo throughout - one of my favorite all time songs.

 

[SamuelBLupowitz]

On 6/8/2019 at 7:36 AM, psionic11 said:

My drummer's main gig is with bagpipe band Off Kilter. Their kitsch is Celtic flavored rock covers and originals. They do several annual outdoor gatherings here in Central Florida.

 

Oh wow, I don't know if he would have been their drummer 15 years ago, but a buddy and I caught one of their sets at a Disney park on a trip our senior year of high school and had a great time, bought their CD and everything. Nice bunch of dudes. Glad to hear they're still kicking.

[allan_evett]

1 hour ago, SteveNathan said:

Many years ago I did a live showcase for an artist who asked me to cover Mark O’Connor’s fiddle part from the record. I had only a DX7 to do it with. Not good!  Weeks later I ran into Mark & told him I had the unenviable chore of trying to cover him on stage, looking for a little sympathy. He looked coldly at me & said “I know. I was there”, shook his head & walked away! 

Great story! 

 

Slightly similar experience here. I'd thought the SN fiddle on my Roland JP50 was okay, at the time. I was able to get some expressiveness from it, and the band seemed to like it.  But around the same time I was with that country group, a Celtic-rock act in the area hired me as a sub for a weekend gig in Salt Lake City. I suggested to the violinist that we try harmonizing on a couple songs.  In fairness, she did let me play the fiddle sound for her, then promptly said, "Umm... no!"

[Steve Nathan]

SN fiddle??  As a younger session musician, any time I altered a factory preset to my liking, if I saved it, I always put the letters SN in front of the name.  I once had a producer drive me nuts trying to get him happy with an EP sound. Nothing I played was good enough, and finally he said he would go home and get the cartridge from his DX and bring me the sound he wanted.  Sure enough, it was called SN Rhodes, (my patch)  and one I'd already played him a couple hours earlier. 😖

[Synthaholic]

23 hours ago, RABid said:

Nothing but glorified glorious noise makers. 

Fixed!  😉