Thanks for having me Tyler! So much fun!

"When you hear twin fiddles and a steel guitar... You're listening to the sound of the American heart..." - George Strait

As a British man who knows nothing about country, I had to put down my tea and listen to his impromptu arrangement of Amazing Grace because it evoked something in me that was so expressive and vocal that I couldn't tear away from it.

The Steel Guitar has always been the instrument that makes you feel the music in your bones. Country is not country without a Steel Guitar and a Fiddle.

Dude, this is mind-blowing: literally YESTERDAY I was thinking I wish there was a good video on the concepts of pedal steel guitar!

I could listen to the steel guitar being played all day

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to play upright bass alongside some of the greatest up and coming pedal steel players alive. Thank you for covering this incredible instrument! As a good friend and phenomenal pedal steel player said to me, “it takes at least ten years to suck at this.” I gave it a shot, and was completely lost.

I play pedal steel in a psychedelic rock band in Knoxville TN called Chameleous. So glad to see steel represented!

That rendition of amazing grace is legitimately one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard in my life! Amazing video and instrument. Thanks Tyler!

4:50 When you jam together it sounds soooo good!! Could listen to it all day!

"That's the sound we love!" That's right! We do 😁

Robert Randolph was the first person who introduced me to non-country steel playing. For those unfamiliar, he plays a bluesy shred style with gain. There are clear gospel influences, but he plays a lot of guitar style licks, just in a way very few could pull off on guitar.

I got to meet Don Helms. The steel player for Hank Sr’s driftin cowboys. Fantastic man. Traditional country and pedal steel is something special.

A great pedal steel player can subtly add so much emotion to a song. I just can’t image the point where someone sits down at one of those contraptions and decides, yep, lead guitar is too damn easy to play and carry around, I want to become a master of this guitar version of a cathedral organ and decides on a path moving forward. Amazing stuff.

Steel player out of Fayetteville, AR here. Thanks for showcasing this awesome instrument!

David Lindley passed away last year, not properly been recognised by the guitar community how important of a string player he was. Why not buy an old 6 string Supro/Oahu/National/Silvertone etc (they all had Valco pickups in them) lap steel and try some of the licks from Jackson Browne's classics? I mean Lindley pushed Dumble to develop his amps to master that sound and was therefore an important guy in the development of speakers and sound as a whole. I mean, the guy played EVERYTHING with strings on it, so the best string player ever - Absolutely. And he also helped Cooder create the Coodercaster, remember? Hot tip for anyone with a Tweed Deluxe. Use two pedals : Catalinbread Topanga and a Moore Ana Delay.... and suddenly your sound is in Ry Cooder territory!

2:39 the moment when you just have to stop the video and just look at how many GOAT's are on the stage

I worked for a company that made pickups for MIDI guitar, and at the NAMM show, I met a group of people that were in the process of making MIDI pedal steel instruments. Talk about, right down the rabbit hole!

My mind and face are both melted. Travis is a monster player

Holy Cow!! I was never a big fan of steel guitar in the way it was played in traditional country songs. But this guy just changed my mind with his ability to take the instrument into a whole new atmosphere. WOW!!

That second to last chord on Amazing grace gave me goosebumps, so cool

I worked in a guitar shop, where we had a couple of pedal steel guitars on consignment, and customers would always ask, "What is that?!" And I would tell them, "You know in that Eagles song, there's those licks between vocal lines, '...to comfort an old friend who's feeling down...' THAT'S the thing that makes THAT sound!"

My grandfather used to hand build pedal steel guitars. I was all of 3 or 4 when he stopped, I only barely remember the last one he made. I do remember getting in trouble for going near it, though. I grew up hearing stories of my mom and aunts having to hand wind the pick-ups for him, and him dissappearing into the shop for days on end. I don't know how many he made over the years. That info is lost to time. I do know that the very early Porter Wagner recordings were done on one of my grandfather's pedal steel guitars. And that one went for quite a lot of money at an auction in Michigan. For whatever reason, he stopped hand crafting steel guitars in the late 1980s and switched over to hand crafting ridiculously accurate benchrest .22LR target rifles.

I went to a show at a club in Boston. Two bands from Nigeria. The powers that be thought the headliner would be the next "Bob Marley". The "big name band was King Sunny Ade. The show was incredible. They played with a mix of traditional and "rock" instrument. Talking drums,gourds covered with shells,etc... The instrument that got my attention was a steel guitar about 6 feet long. The musician playing it was very tall. He could reach the entire length of the guitar. This guy knew how to make talk,cry,etc...I recommend giving King Sunny Ade a listen. Start with "Synchro System".

The pedal steel is one of those instruments that, when you tell someone you play it, there is one of two common responses: 1) What's that? or 2) Oh, I LOVE that sound! There really aren't many others, at least not that I've gotten. A friend of mine years ago sold me hers when she decided she wasn't going to be playing it anymore. It's a double neck MSA Classic, and it's the most intimidating thing I've ever sat down next to, behind, in front of, or really, anywhere near. I've been working at it for a while, and can make some basic chord licks with it, but I must admit, soloing is still beyond me. I'll get it, but it's a chore. I honestly believe that this is the hardest instrument around to actually master. The slide is the least of it. You are using both hands, both feet, AND your knees to make this thing work. I always find it funny that they show the player's hands when they show a pedal steel on a video, when it's BELOW the deck where all the important stuff is happening. Oh, and there is also the issue that all the serious players do their own things with the pedals and levers, so good luck trying to steal licks off of songs. You may get close, but you won't be able to do exactly what they do. This is a great instrument, find yourself one and start the journey. It's a wide open field, you can do whatever you want to with it.

I love watching the absolute joy you two take in playing together.

My great grandfather played steel lap/table guitar and even though I never got to hear him play it, I heard he was a hell of a musician.

Travis your mission is good, to get people into steel. I got one a year ago I’m 21.

Probably the best thing you’ve featured on this channel. Really cool to see another perspective.

Travis is the man! I’ve been playing for a little over a year and learned basically everything from the online course that Travis teaches.

Lovely stuff! Great to see both Travis and our instrument get the exposure they deserve.

I keep coming back to the Amazing Grace performance at 8:23, the multi-layered voicings this instrument is capable of are unreal

Wow.. this guy is incredible

Literally saw Slash play on one of those yesterday and got confused as to what that instrument was. Great video and great timing for it to get recommended to me

It brings your heart and soul down home every time you hear the steel guitar, especially songs like Amazing Grace. It surrounds your body in comfort. Banjo does the same thing.

DUDE, thank you for having this guy on!!! I loved this video

that glimpse of super mario was great, the face while doing it made it even better XD I feel like a full cover of the song on steel would sound pretty amazing

There’s something about witnessing greatness that sometimes brings tears of joy to my eyes… Travis is definitely a great musician, we can grasp that from this short video..

Scotty’s music in Overland, Mo was the place to go for me. I started with his book and a C6 lap slide. I still miss the annual conventions.

Man Tyler you have a lot of connections. Pls talk to someone to produce an affordable steel guitar. I want to play this instrument SO bad but I don’t have thousands to shell out on one and probably won’t anytime soon.

I had to put the other earbud in. This was worth listening to with both sides of my brain.

Travis is a great ambassador for the steel. He’s also one of the best playing the instrument today.

The grin on Tyler's face during the Amazing Grace piece makes the whole video worth it, just look how amazed he is by the sounds coming out of that thing! Awesome video, steel guitar is so unique and I wish it was used more outside of country music.

I bought an Emmons SD10 a few years back, but haven’t found the time to learn anything on it. It’s still my main goal in life though. It makes me happy just seeing it every day to be honest. Hopefully some day I can take my foot off the gas at work, and get to learn it and do it justice

How many people just got inspired to go learn this instrument thank you I'm not going to got enough instruments trying to learn but man what a great again thank you

I absolutely loved this video! Thank you Tyler & Travis 👌

This was cool. Great run-down of how it works.

Great job on a wonderful interview/jam. Love to hear more collaborations “outside the box”. 🤙🏽

I inherited my grandfather's lap steel many years ago. I occasionally open up the case, look at the 8 - string left handed beauty and close the case and pick up my strat....lol

As someone who has been messing around with pedal steel for years got to say this is inspirational.

Thanks I needed that. You guys are very accomplished.

Thanks for making this video! When I was a kid in the 60’s, it was the pedal steel that made me HATE country music. Also, twangy Teles made me sick. Now, the Tele is my favorite instrument, and I’ve developed a deep appreciation for the skill and complexity of the pedal steel. It is such an interesting instrument, but I’m afraid it is on its way to musical extinction. There are fewer and fewer players, and today’s version of “country” music (pop with an accent) rarely uses the pedal steel. Let’s hope someone keeps it alive!

Great video. Just watched Chris Stapleton play last night and he had legendary Paul Franklin on the steel! Holy smokes what a great show

I see pedal steel, I click. One of my favorite instruments to listen to. A while back I watched a video of Paul Franklin showing off his pedal steel.

Gentlemen, that was a cool listen. Thanks!

I never knew how one of these sorcery machines worked. Thanks, it's ever way more complicated than mere sorcery could even explain.

Not only do I marvel at Travis and his skills, but I've got to scratch my head when I think of the genious who created the pedal steel. The instrument itself is a marvel, but the skills to make it sound so great is off the chart. It's akin to going to the moon sonically when Travis plays.

Wow! As a 6-stringer myself, that was incredibly enlightening! That instrument is amazing. And so is Travis! Great vid Tyler.

One of my favorites that you have made! Great playing and chemistry between you two. I would love to hear some music with the both of you.

What a crazy instrument. Great video. Thank you.

Double D all grown up! Glad to see he doesnt hate it anymore.

There is an older gentleman on KZfaq who goes by David Hartley he rips the steel. Discovered him years ago and I’ve been intrigued since.

Thank you both.

This was amazing, thank you so much!

I have been blessed to play bass in a few bands with an awesome steel guitar and fiddle player and man it is heaven on earth 🙂

That was fascinating; I had no idea how those instruments worked. So cool!

Now that's some great playing 🤙

Awesome vid man I play steel really appreciate this

Wow wow wow... That's a lot going on for one instrument. Awesome dive into it! Thanks!

I could spend the whole day listening to this. Awesome love it.

I'm not the biggest fan of country music but I could listen to you and your pedal steel all day long. Such a pity that we don't get to hear the instrument much in other genres of music. It has so much potential, it could catch on.

All I can say is WOW 👍 Thanks so much for showing us this incredible player!

That was a great video! Good job guys!

Welp, there's a reason Daniel Lanois uses the pedal steel for his ambient electric stuff. Such nice textures.

Hey, thanks guys. I’ve always loved the steel guitar. Yes guitarist Steve Howe was a player of the steel that caught my interest in it beyond its country home. The tutorial was excellent!

Travis is the best! He’ll make anybody that plays anything, want to work on their chops!

Definitely one of the coolest instruments out there. More musician/instrument highlights please!

I've always loved the sound but had no idea how complex and versatile pedal steel is. Thanks!

I absolutely love the pedal steel. Thanks Tyler!

Travis is the bomb. One of the fastest set of hands in the trade and he keeps it musical. Love to watch him go at it.

Amazing grace made me cry

WHAT A VIDEO, man!!! 👏👏👏

How beautiful! The Uilleann pipes is my favourite sounding instrument but this can't be too far off. So emotional.

I like how he stated that out of all the flashy things he can do that people really only want to hear a few key sounds.

I had no idea what or should I say how advanced these slide laps were wow that was awesome my eyes are opened

I’m seeing more pedal steel in various genres of music these days, and they’ve been showing up with some of the more prominent modern bluegrass bands. For anyone willing to explore this, you can find the simpler lap steels to start with at very affordable prices. Pedal steel is an ultimate goal of mine to learn, and watching this video just inspires me that much more. Tyler, thanks for making this plug and posting this, I truly hope to see the pedal steel make a comeback!

Great playing as usual Travis

I can barely wrap my mind around the normal guitar.. this is other worldly.. and it sounds amazing...

Great vid Tyler, steel guitars are so cool, way outta my league for understanding, six strings are hard enough !!

Wow! Such a beautiful and nuanced instrument!

Love it, and am so enamored with the possibilities of pedal steel

This is so cool! My dad's a huge Dire Straits fan and I just associate these lap steel sounds with them. Calling Elvis, Walk of Life, On Every Street (live from On The Night). And I was thinking, what about our left handed brethern and sisters? Are there left handed pedal steel guitars? Edit: Yes, they exist, but apparently a proper pain in the ass to find and even more expensive.

I used to live in New Mexico. This is the most respected instrument in any band there.

All as I can say is I love it. Great to watch gentlemen 👍😎

Tyler that was a lot of fun. More than I thought it would be, ha. Thx

this is so interesting. thanks for this video, man

You playing along with him sounds really cool!

Yeah he's right! Lap steel is it! For sure!! Thanks for this. That opening sequence. Wow! Just wow!

Glad to see all the Robert Randolf love in the comment section. I honestly didn't know much about how this instrument worked until this video. Thanks Travis for the educational and fun video. Really great chops you have. I certainly enjoyed the non traditional chords thrown in! :)

While I love any guitar playing, the two I can't get enough of is the Dobro and a Steel. Most beautiful sounds come out of them like no other.