Eric Heywood - Great action shot of live steeling

[John Scanlon]

Watching Eric Heywood, one of my personal favs on the PSG, play along with Ray LaMontagne live on Letterman.

His solo is from 2:58 to 3:22.

In the middle of the solo, from about 3:08 to 3:12, there is a great camera angle of him doing a run up the fretboard. The shot is from behind his right hand, and if you watch the changer fingers, you can see the strings being lowered and raised as he makes his run up. Really great shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhz_MYkxIXw

[Miguel Saldana]

Thanks for the post. Its an interesting camera angle, and I enjoyed the playing as well.

[Steve Pawlak]

Very good band
I really like the bass line too

[John Scanlon]

Yeah, the band is killer. This guy hasn't really been on my radar for a few years until I ran across his "Storytellers" on Palladia the other night. I've been mesmerized ever since. Plus, like I said, I love Eric Heywood.

[Michael Robertson]

I love the tone of that Williams plus it is nice to see an appropriate dress code for the steeler as well as the others.
Great music and a great presentation.
Thanks

[Roy Thomson]

Those Beautiful sounds just made my cocktail hour!
The Williams and the player both great! Thanks for
posting.

RT

[b0b]

I love the visual effect of the Williams changer fingers. When I was playing a Williams and someone asked "What do the pedals do?", I'd point to changer and say "Watch!". Most people got it real quick.

[chris ivey]

he made that williams sound like a thin toned jerry garcia.
i've heard his and ray's name alot. they seemed a little tentative.
i don't get it. how do all these people get names, press, spots on letterman ..and then come up with a weak performance. i just expect more under the circumstances. and i keep telling myself not to say anything but then can't help myself.

[Finbarr O'Sullivan]

I agree with Chris again whats wrong with me.

[Ransom Beers]

They're just holding back for the "BIG" finish(whatever that is)

[b0b]

This sounds really good to me, Chris. I'd be proud to play in a band like that, and to get that steel tone on a concert stage. It's the classic folk rock sound.

Maybe you just don't like this kind of music compared to, say, country or blues. That's no reason to knock it down. This was not a "weak performance" - it was absolutely true to the singer/songwriter folk rock genre.

The steel part was spot on, in my opinion. Notice how the whole band kicks together at the end of his solo at 3:16. Weak performance, my ass!

[chris ivey]

darn it! i knew i should have kept quiet. now i've got the voice from above raining down on me.

[John Scanlon]

Nothing wrong with you, Finbarr, or with Chris - like Chris said, he just doesn't get it. That's fine - there's a lot of music out there I don't get, either. However, this guy's on Letterman, and has played on a ton of great records, and we're sitting here talking about it. One of us is doing it right, and it ain't us, or it ain't me, at least.

I'm glad b0b and I do get this, though. Very tight and very tasty. I think the steel was extremely appropriate for the tune, and the playing served the song very well. Anything "more" wouldn't have been right for the song. Personally, I really dig these kinds of tube tones, too, with just a shade of the edge of amp breakup, as totally clean solid state just doesn't always do it for me. There's definitely more than one way to skin a cat. In an interview I read, Heywood said he kind of developed his steeling independently of the "steel fraternity" and all the Nashville licks that the rest of us try to learn. Makes sense to me that he'd sound like he does.

[Roger Shackelton]

There is a much better performance of this tune on "The Jimmy Kimmel Show" from about 6 months ago.
Eric gets alot of face time & seems like he plays more on this tune.
I'm unable to locate it again.

Roger

[John Scanlon]

Yeah, I've seen it done other places, too, but I initially posted this b/c of the great camera angle on that shot mentioned above. I don't think the Kimmel appearance has the same shot.

[Clyde Mattocks]

At last, a TV show with the steel up in the mix! Nice.

[David Mason]

You can play behind the beat and not be "wrong." If anything, I'd say they were all behind it, exactly together, like a "click in the ear." Which I had thought of as "swing", though it can manifest as "sloppy" too .... One of the great indignities of the modern age is the reliance upon click tracks, because some great bands used to "breathe", i.e. speed up and slow down together with great results. And horrible too, but that's a whole 'nother thing.

[Bob Carlucci]

I liked it.. Its NOT about technical wizardry.. Todays alt country and neo folk performers could certainly hire a "better" steel player.. However Heywood has a great discography, better than many much more technically advanced players.. Artists choose players that match their sound and style.... bob

[Curt Trisko]

When you guys talk about the technicality of steel guitar playing, are you talking about chicken pickin'? If the ability to play fast and sharp is the main criteria, then there's a problem. I don't think most people have a taste for that kind of sound out of a steel guitar anymore.

Regarding the tone of Heywood's playing, I had always thought that was just the different kind of tone that a Williams guitar produced.

[Tony Glassman]

It's not my cup of tea either, but who am I to criticize? He's the guy playing on David Letterman and I'm the guy sitting at home in a recliner.

[John Scanlon]

I'm with the bobs (b0b and Bob).

Here's another example of Heywood's tone that I adore, and I'm sure may be reviled by some purists around here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIHtFySoo6U (warning - banjo content).

Solos are at 2:23-2:54 and 3:53-4:10.

No, not the perfectly clean sound oft discussed here, but just a tad of the edge-of-tube-breakup sound that I think works really well on PSG, esp. against a few other acoustic instruments and no other electric guitar.

[b0b]

What does "technically advanced" mean, when discussing a sideman's performance? The art of commercial music requires one to suppress the urge to overplay, to simplify one's melodic parts for the less educated ear. Nowhere is this more true than in folk-rock, where the music is often simply a vehicle for the singer/songwriter's poetic lyrics.

I see nothing in these performances to indicate that any of the musicians are not "technically advanced". This isn't jazz. They stay true to form. It's a job, and they do it well.

[Tommy Janiga]

Here's another example of Heywood's tone that I adore, and I'm sure may be reviled by some purists around here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIHtFySoo6U

Thanks John - I loved that clip - great sound! That may be my favorite Son Volt song, and it's on my daily practice playlist, too.

[Alex Cattaneo]

I love Eric's playing with Ray Lamontagne. Thanks for posting John.

[Tim Tyner]

Very nice!Thanks John.This gentleman played exactly what was needed in this performance,no more,no less.Very tasteful playing.I enjoyed it very much.I liked the six string playing as well.Many times less is more,a lesson I have to remind myself of often.