If you take a look at the music recorded in the last 30 years, theres a good chance youll come across the name Greg Leisz. February 21, 2023. Read More. Powered by Infopop www.infopop.com 2000 I play on two songs [Not to Blame and Borderline] on that record. I didnt play live with her. Leisz is no stranger to rock n' roll, and always has the ability to add grit and bite to songs. The C6 tuning for 6 strings is (beginning with string 1): E C A G E C. Lap steel players have been spelling their tunings from high to low for many years. He was inspired to pick up the pedal steel after hearing Sneaky Pete Kleinow and Buddy Emmons. They did a lot of interesting stuff with what I played. I already knew it and I came out of the Sixties and had a folkie background and could understand that stuff. from $995.00 $1,773.00 Sale SOLD 2022 Electro Hawaiian Model 1 Lap Steel Custom $3,900.00 Sold Out Sale 2022-2023 Asher Electro Hawaiian Junior Lap Steel Trans Cherry with Gig Bag! I found out the day before the Super Bowl. We did a video where Jackson is getting a heart transplant. T Bone wasnt even there to tell me it was good. Lang, and Bob Weir and Wolf Bros. I dont know how to comprehend everything Ive done, he says. He didnt introduce anyone. Click HERE to hear me play Moon of Manakoora recorded on the D9th lap steel tuning, which is nothing more than dropping the 4th string on your C6th from a G note to an F#. I never even listened to the Dead. Leisz is playing subtly, yet the sound he creates enhances the track nicely. The group released their debut album, WPA, on September 15, 2009. On the fall leg, Van Morrison didnt do it. It was Steve Gadd and [organist] Walt Richmond and Doyle and Eric. Steel guitarist Greg Leisz, who first made his name playing on Americana records from Dave Alvin, Lucinda Williams and Bonnie Raitt, has more recently been playing on progressive-jazz albums. Thats what he did. So tasteful! What I remember is that was right around the time she was diagnosed with MS. Maybe it was after. Thats what they called New Wave at the time. And the Japanese version has a bonus track thats almost a pedal-steel instrumental. I love the Victoria Williams song Crazy Mary. You play on that. When she was making Car Wheels, that was really at the end stages of the record. I got a job as a janitor and as a substitute mailman for a while. I went to his home studio and worked with his engineer. A detailed look at one of the most challenging and mysterious aspects of steel guitar playing: the right hand An In-Depth Guide to Picking and Blocking How to Efficiently and Accurately Play Notes on Steel Guitar with Info, Advice, and Tips Great for Pedal Steel, Lap Steel, and Console Steel Guitar To jump forward here, can you tell me about the formation of the Funky Kings? It was actually just one day. Its called Horizon. Its probably on Spotify now. When I ordered my Williams, Bob Rudolph told me that he uses S-12 Extended E9th tuning. Some of it is credited and other things arent properly credited since that thing was a mess in the latter stages of that record. Greg's toured or recorded with Dave Alvin . I think I was working on another record at the time, a Jakob Dylan record. I really had no idea it would become what it became. Another funny story is that when we were in the studio, he had a banjo. I love that song. I love that song too. Girlfriend is a classic My absolute favorite steel player. When I look at Discogs and AllMusic, I go, I forgot about this record and that record But for me, its the breadth of the stuff that Im most proud of, not necessarily the number.. It really wasnt like I saw the Beatles on TV and said, I want to be like them. I never really did that. I basically was just playing music with my friends. While Greg ranges widely stylistically, he can also play excellent straight-ahead country style, as on some of his work with Rosie Flores. mastering by Greg Calbi. I asked her if she had any ideas for the song when we started. Thats someone I met many years earlier when he played in Ace in the Seventies. They had two different studios in the same complex. And then Paul Carrack. His playing on this track sits well in the mix with a tone that hooks the listener. Log in, Steel Guitar Forum LLCPO Box 237Mount Horeb, WI 53572 USA. They had the chorus. Do whatever you want to do.. He stays genuine with the instrument, while still allowing its breadth of expression to add value to each recording. Tony Berg is a producer Ive worked with quite a bit. His heart gets taken out because its broken. 8 bars over a 1:3m:4:5 chord sequence - bliss! How has your pandemic year gone? Having options for playing minor scales or modes in 6ths can be beneficial when playing in minor keys, over chord vamps, and over certain chords in a progression. But she was fine with it. As far as chords on different frets, one of the essential techniques for playing steel (as opposed to just slide . I didnt really listen to the radio. I was pedal steel and lap steel and some mandolin. Classic country shuffle styles for Band-in-a-Box, by BIAB guru Jim Baron. They did two version of that song. That record was Album of the Year at the Grammys. Youre on Becks song Sissyneck from Odelay. Hed been with her for a pretty long time. He originally just wanted me on Killing the Blues. I just worked with his engineer. Leiszs tone is crystal clear on this one, and is captivating. Fortunately, my mother was musical, even though she sang more opera. I cant really believe it myself. And my wife and I spend a lot of time together during the pandemic since were both musicians. your profile | join | preferences | help | search. All Rights reserved. He was doing a record with her. Long story short, we made one record. Use the modes of the C major scale in the open pedal position to play over chord changes. Playpedalsteel.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. At the 2:44 mark check out Leiszs cool harmonic lick that echoes the vocals. Lindley's style led me to Greg Leisz, my greatest inspiration. With origins dating back to the 19thCentury, the steel guitar found its way to Hawaii by courtesy of Mexican settlers. One lesson that will aid your set of lap steel guitar lessons nicely is this one from your friends at the National Guitar Academy: Slide Guitar Tuning: The Essential Guide. I overdubbed on the song. Thats just a huge, huge record. Were going to try and match the sound and have you play the 12-string in the parts that arent there. If you look at the credits, it has two players playing 12-string on the song. I had met Victoria before that. Theyd stick it in their wallet and maybe theyd lose it, or maybe theyd write it down. Great for diving into single note playing possibilities and runs on the tuning. "A lot of people that I've worked with, you think they're going to be intimidating, but they're so good at making you feel comfortable," says Greg Leisz. Time and time again, Leisz shows that his ear is always adept to the present musical situation he finds himself in, creating in the moment. Pedal Steel Guitar: Why Its So Hard To Play, Pedal Steel Guitar WEIGHT (Lighter vs. Greg Leisz is my favorite modern pedal steel player. I saw Rosie play in San Francisco a couple years ago - she was great! Lap Steel. A couple of months later, a box came to my house and it had a banjo in it. Everything was recorded onto a Zoom R24 then ported to a PC for mastering using Reaper. Four years later, I worked with her again on Taming the Tiger. That was the first thing I did with her. Gretsch Custom Shop Tour. Im pretty proud of that. While Frisells guitar playing is unique and bends genres in its own right, Leisz complements this so well. You wouldnt think of Beck as an artist to employ pedal steel much, but when you hear the sonic space that Leisz fills within his music, its understandable why any musician would want to utilize him. His tone (on recent recordings) is, in my opinion, the best you will find in the world. He also writes songs. And until the record came out, I didnt even see the producer until after I finished the session. Feb 12, 2008. My first musical experiences were hearing her sing around the house. She did a tour with an orchestra [in 2000], but it was last time she went out and played guitar with a band. Are you vaccinated? They were amazing. It was just that Billy Corgan was allowing James to do one song on a double album. I saw her on Saturday Night Live. ------------------Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning. For more ideas on utilizing the pedal steel sonically, check out the page below, Stay up to date on articles, tabs, and more, The pedal steel is much easier than it seems if you approach it with certain essentials in mind. I was listening to Jeff Beck and going, Shit, what is that? I was learning to play guitar while he was playing Bob Dylan songs. Up until that time, it seemed like there was always some kind of a studio you worked in. Brian recommend to her that maybe I should do it. It was the sound of it. Im going to make a list and send it to people. He told me the band, that he wanted Willie Weeks and Steve Jordan to be the rhythm section and Doyle and Chris Stainton. She was taking parts off and replacing them. That was kind of a cool thing. Hes added so much great pedal steel playing to Frisells albums over the years, that listening to Frisells work is perhaps one of the best ways to learn what the pedal steel is capable of in Leiszs hands. This is the same type of lap steel that Greg Leisz used (along with his Bill Asher steel) when I saw him with Bill Frisell. That was enormous, yeah. With his ability to add texture to the music, and unconventional sonic expressions to the music, his playing feels like putting the final piece into a puzzle. But when we got to the song My Woman Got a Black Cat Bone, he featured me in the song the whole way. "Legends of the Incredible Lap Steel". I grew up in a family where I didnt have older brothers or sisters. I was usually to shy to go up and talk to anybody about it, but I just kind of absorbed the music. I didnt listen to contemporary music for a long time, probably from around the late Seventies until the late Eighties. The best way for me to do that was, I felt, I needed to play music, not sit around and wait for something to happen. I actually didnt think much about a career. Its insane. I love the layering and devotion to the song instead of the instrument. Interestingly enough, there is this thread between Victoria Williams and Joni Mitchell. I just went in and overdubbed on one song. The early Eighties must have been rough then. And now hes one of my best friends. She was living in Nashville and he was in Los Angeles. Greg Leisz - lap steel guitar & electric guitar Gary Novak - drums Written by Mai Leisz & Greg Leisz Engineered by Kevin Smith Recorded at Groove Masters Studio in Santa Monica, CA Mixed by Alan Hertz Mastered by Joe Gastwirt. As a janitor, Id work at City Hall, just cleaning bathrooms and stuff like that. I really enjoyed his work on the recent Blue Ridge Rangers" album (John Fogarty). Lang record Ingnue. It has really great songs, but it had some amazing pedal steel by Buddy Emmons. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, lap steel and pedal steel guitar I missed that whole era. He tried to get a deal as a solo artist and he was told that he should get a band around him. Help Related Stories They had gotten interested in doing stuff with live musicians. Greg's playing on Bon Iver is some of my favorite steel playing of all. You dont meet the artists. Im not one of those people that went, This is what I want to do with my life. Its weird to call it a hobby, but I guess thats what my parents would have called it. Married to Mai Leisz . We got a record deal because of Jack Tempchins past of writing songs for the Eagles on their early records. This is a gorgeous Asher Acoustic Hawaiian Teardrop Lap Steel owned and played by Greg Leisz who had been using it for recording and touring with Jackson Browne. I was able to play a lot of different kinds of music. I overdubbed on that. They had all these songs and they basically just let me play what I heard. My understanding is he uses a '66 bolt-on push/pull for most of his studio work. In 2010 and 2011, Leisz toured with Ray LaMontagne as a member of his backing band, The Pariah Dogs. Thats another very interesting one. On pedals,he plays both necks very well and he told me he's been playing a U-12 Sierra on the Bill Frisell gig.On lap,he plays a number of tunings and seems to come up with nice stuff even if it's a tuning he just made up to suit a certain song.No slouch on standard guitar either.I've been trying to get him on the forum as he's aware his name I havent been on a plane for about 14 months or something. Theres one song where you can really hear how its cut up and moved in the track. I didnt really know what to call it. Later, I did play on a James Iha solo album [Let It Come Down] that Jim Scott produced. He felt it would be too many musicians and that it should be more stripped-down. The Steel Guitar Forum Rolling Stone interview series Unknown Legends features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and veteran musicians who have toured and recorded alongside icons for years, if not decades. He introduced Jules to Jack and vice versa. Whats more interesting to me is that much later they had me play on Western Stars. The people that you meet and have a connection with, suddenly theres another connection later on. I guess because of that, Ive been fairly active. It was from Eric. Violin (5:18) Amos Lee: Vocal, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Fuzz Guitar, Vibraphone Jaron Olevsky: Rhodes Electric Keyboard, Organ Joey Burns: Piano, Electric Guitar, Baritone Guitar, Upright Bass Greg Leisz: Pedal Steel Alot of T-Bone Burnett records have Greg playing steel. Greg's always been one of my favorites, from his work with KD Lang to Peter Case to Bill Frisell--I have dozens of CDs he played on that I bought just to hear him. Pedal Steel. There are so many great recordings with him playing, and listeners have plenty to treat themselves to. By the next year, the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan. Well, in those 10 years, I spent a lot of time playing in clubs, basically. This is a great album all around, with world class musicianship. Every one of the past 30 years has been that busy in the studio, and hes still found time to tour with the likes of Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Eric Clapton, K.D. Id sometimes listen to the band just to hear the pedal-steel player. Ive worked with Lucinda a lot since then, and even co-produced two of the last three albums [The Ghosts of Highway 20 and Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone] that shes made. All are renowned in the business, but some are less well known to the general public. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time I never saw that coming. She didnt want a lot of guitar parts. Greg Leisz net worth is $800,000 Greg Leisz Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family Gregory Brian Leisz (pronounced "Lease") (born September 18, 1949, Buffalo, New York, United States) is an American musician. ------------------Brad's Page of Steel A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars, Too bad I procrastinated for more than 20 years. We spent two hours on the phone with Leisz, and just barely scratched the surface of his life and career. I actually went to college for a while and studied geology. I know. It was an amazing experience. Tell me your first memories of being a kid and hearing music that really reached you. Free Shipping if you live in the North American US - email me directly for shipping everywhere else. Actually, Ive been working a lot with Jackson Browne. Continue with Recommended Cookies, Tabs can be a great way to reference musical patterns and learn new playing ideas on the pedal steel guitar. Youre touring with Bob Weir now. Did certain pedal-steel albums influence you? I actually went to the same high school as Jackson. Eventually, when I finally got one, I had friends that I could play along with.