| FA2577 | Elton Noble learning gospel steel guitar from his mentor Aubrey Ghent - Fort Pierce, Florida | | Gospel music
African Americans--Music
Gospel (Black)
Religious music
Musical traditions, Sacred
Ethnicity, African American
Ethnicity, African diaspora
Teaching of folklore
Popular music
Songs
Electric guitar music
Musical instruments
Stringed instruments
Guitar
Electric guitar
African American guitarists
Instrumentalists
Gospel musicians
African American musicians--Florida--Saint Lucie County--Fort Pierce
African American entertainers--Florida--Saint Lucie County--Fort Pierce
African American men--Florida--Saint Lucie County--Fort Pierce
Mentoring in the arts
Apprentices
Electronic musical instruments | /fpc/folklife/fa2577.gif |
| a_s1640_24_tape15 | Elton Noble submission for the 1994 Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program | Sound | Steel guitars
African Americans
Gospel music | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/audio.jpg |
Elton Noble submission for the 1994 Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program
- Date
- 1994
- Description
- One audio cassette. Noble demonstrates his lap steel abilities for the Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program application. He was apprentice to Aubrey Ghent. In 2017, Noble was inducted into the Sacred Steel Hall of Fame. For more information, see S 1644, box 11, folder 24.
- Collection
| flp_eason | Folklife People: Willie Eason | Interactive Resource | Gospel, Sacred Steel | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/folklife_people.png |
Folklife People: Willie Eason
- Date
- Description
- Willie Eason was a pioneering figure in the African American "Sacred Steel" guitar tradition of the House of God, Keith Dominion Holiness-Pentecostal churches. He influenced dozens of musicians and inspired many to play the steel guitar for worship services in nearly 200 House of God churches found in more than two dozen states. Florida is home to more than 40 House of God churches, more than any other state. Eason used the steel guitar to imitate the ornamented, improvised singing he heard in church and became known as "Little Willie and his Talking Guitar." His reputation increased as he made seven 78 rpm records in the 1940s and 50s for black gospel labels. Eason and his family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida in 1986 where he continued to play for House of God services. He received the Florida Folk Heritage Award in 1995.
- Collection
| fls_sacred_steel | Folklife Subject: Sacred Steel | Interactive Resource | Religious Music, Gospel, Worship Music, Steel Guitar | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/folklife_subjects.png |
Folklife Subject: Sacred Steel
- Date
- Description
- Since the 1930s, the sounds of steel guitar have been heard in an unlikely place, far removed from Nashville or the Hawaiian islands. Musicians in the Pentecostal House of God church use the steel guitar instead of the often-heard organ or piano to lead their lively, music-driven worship services. The very human, voice-like qualities of lap and pedal steel guitars are perfectly suited to underscore a spirited sermon or lead an ecstatic choir in praise. In 1992, while serving as State Folklorist, Bob Stone unearthed what became known as Sacred Steel music in South Florida.
- Collection
| a_s2034_02_cd04-002 | Friday performances at the 2004 Florida Folk Festival (Main Stage) (Disc 2) | Sound | Singers
Guitarist
Musicians
Festivals
Folk festivals
Folklore revival festivals
Special events
Performing arts
Music performance
Singing
Steel guitars
African Americans
Gospel (Black)
Gospel songs
Gospel musicians
Religious music
Religious songs | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/audio.jpg |
| a_s1576_67_c97-070 | Friday program at the 1997 Florida Folk Festival (Folklife Narrative Stage) (Tape 10) | Sound | Artisans
Artists
Musicians
Guitarist
Folk festivals
Folklore revival festivals
Festivals
Special events
Oral performance
Life histories
Interviewing
Arts, Jewish
Jewish Americans
Jewish art and symbolism
Ketubah
Calligraphy
Marriage contracts
Decorative arts
Arts, Mexican
Mexican Americans
Paper art
African Americans
Steel guitars
Musical tradition, sacred
Gospel (Black)
Gospel musicians
Gospel music | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_audio.jpg |
Friday program at the 1997 Florida Folk Festival (Folklife Narrative Stage) (Tape 10)
- Date
- 1997-05-23
- Description
- One audio cassette recordings. Side A: Catalina Delgado, a trunk and Mexican paper artist and Eileen Brautman, a Jewish paper artist are interviewed by Laurie Sommers. Delgado discusses paper-cutting techniques and how designs are made. Brautman explains traditional and contemporary calligraphy and paper cutting according to the European tradition. She tells of making stories from the Bible, use of animals and other designs and the making of a Ketubah (Jewish marriage contract). Side B: Sonny Treadway (Deerfield Beach, FL), sacred steel guitarist is interviewed by Laurie Sommers. He discusses sacred steel guitar and gospel music as well as his musical influences such as his father, other family members and church musicians. He plays by ear and has written several original songs.
- Collection
| a_s2044_02_tape18 | Glenn Lee interview for the Sacred Steel Guitar Recording Project | Sound | Guitarist
Singers
Fieldwork
Steel guitars
Guitar music
Performing arts
Guitarists
Music performance
African Americans
Religious songs
Religious music
Gospel songs
Gospel musicians
Gospel (Black)
Musical groups
Churches
Religion
Christianity
Protestants
Interviews
Life histories
Personal experience narratives
Oral histories
Oral history
Bands (Music)
Musicians | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/audio.jpg |
Glenn Lee interview for the Sacred Steel Guitar Recording Project
- Date
- 1994-03-07
- Description
- Three audio cassette recordings. Interview with steel guitarist Glenn Lee at his Perrine residence. He discussed his family (including uncles, steel guitarists Willie Blue and M.J. Harrison), learning steel guitar, Keith and Jewel Dominion churches, steel guitarists Henry Nelson, Darrel Blue, & Aubrey Ghent, influence of country music (Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Dolly Parton), playing Spanish guitar, fiddle, & banjo, his education, steel guitar tunings and playing styles, various people he has trained, playing the National Assembly in Nashville, and the lack of female sacred steel guitarists. The Sacred Steel Guitar Recording Project originated in 1992 when Florida Folklife Program folklorist Robert Stone discovered that several predominantly African American House of God churches (a sub-sect of the Pentecostal church) in the St. Petersburg area were using steel guitars in their religious services. The practice began by Willie and Troman Eason in the 1930s, and expanded upon by players such as Henry Nelson and Lorenzo Harrison. Realizing that this was a unique musical tradition, labeled Sacred Steel, the Florida Folklife Program to applied for a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to conduct fieldwork and create a music album for public dispersal. The aim of the project was to increase public awareness of the gospel steel guitar tradition, as well as document it for future generations. Matched with state funds, the grant period originally ran from October 1993 through October 1994, but was extended for another year. In that time Stone, along with sound engineers William Dudley and Mike Stapleton, interviewed and recorded several steel guitarists in the St. Petersburg area. An album entitled Sacred Steel was released in 1995. It was then re-released through an agreement with Arhoolie Records in 1997.
- Collection
| a_s2044_02_tape10 | Glenn Lee performing Pass Me Not Oh Gentle Savior | Sound | Fieldwork
Steel guitars
Guitar music
Performing arts
Guitarists
Music performance
African Americans
Religious songs
Religious music
Gospel songs
Gospel musicians
Gospel (Black)
Bands (Music)
Musical groups
Churches
Religion
Christianity
Protestants
Guitarist
Singers
Musicians | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/audio.jpg |
Glenn Lee performing Pass Me Not Oh Gentle Savior
- Date
- 1994-03-07
- Description
- One audio cassette recording. For more of Lee, see tapes 2 and 4. The Sacred Steel Guitar Recording Project originated in 1992 when Florida Folklife Program folklorist Robert Stone discovered that several predominantly African American House of God churches (a sub-sect of the Pentecostal church) in the St. Petersburg area were using steel guitars in their religious services. The practice began by Willie and Troman Eason in the 1930s, and expanded upon by players such as Henry Nelson and Lorenzo Harrison. Realizing that this was a unique musical tradition, labeled Sacred Steel, the Florida Folklife Program to applied for a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to conduct fieldwork and create a music album for public dispersal. The aim of the project was to increase public awareness of the gospel steel guitar tradition, as well as document it for future generations. Matched with state funds, the grant period originally ran from October 1993 through October 1994, but was extended for another year. In that time Stone, along with sound engineers William Dudley and Mike Stapleton, interviewed and recorded several steel guitarists in the St. Petersburg area. An album entitled Sacred Steel was released in 1995. It was then re-released through an agreement with Arhoolie Records in 1997.
- Collection
| a_s2044_02_tape02 | Glenn Lee performing sacred steel music with a band at a House of God church | Sound | Guitarist
Singers
Fieldwork
Steel guitars
Guitar music
Performing arts
Guitarists
Music performance
African Americans
Religious songs
Religious music
Gospel songs
Gospel musicians
Gospel (Black)
Musical groups
Churches
Religion
Christianity
Protestants
Bands (Music)
Musicians | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/audio.jpg |
Glenn Lee performing sacred steel music with a band at a House of God church
- Date
- 1994-03-07
- Description
- One audio cassette recording. (Duplicate can be found on tape 5.) Recorded at a Church of God church (not during church services)in Perrine, Florida. The band consisted of Glenn Lee (steel guitar), Alvin Lee (bass), Benjamin Beckford (drums), and John Hampton (guitar). Excerpted from a longer recording (see tapes 18-20 in S 2044). The Sacred Steel Guitar Recording Project originated in 1992 when Florida Folklife Program folklorist Robert Stone discovered that several predominantly African American House of God churches (a sub-sect of the Pentecostal church) in the St. Petersburg area were using steel guitars in their religious services. The practice began by Willie and Troman Eason in the 1930s, and expanded upon by players such as Henry Nelson and Lorenzo Harrison. Realizing that this was a unique musical tradition, labeled Sacred Steel, the Florida Folklife Program to applied for a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to conduct fieldwork and create a music album for public dispersal. The aim of the project was to increase public awareness of the gospel steel guitar tradition, as well as document it for future generations. Matched with state funds, the grant period originally ran from October 1993 through October 1994, but was extended for another year. In that time Stone, along with sound engineers William Dudley and Mike Stapleton, interviewed and recorded several steel guitarists in the St. Petersburg area. An album entitled Sacred Steel was released in 1995. It was then re-released through an agreement with Arhoolie Records in 1997.
- Collection
| FA2624 | Gospel steel guitarist Aubrey Ghent - Fort Pierce, Florida | | Gospel music
African Americans--Music
Gospel (Black)
Religious music
Musical traditions, Sacred
Ethnicity, African American
Ethnicity, African diaspora
Teaching of folklore
Popular music
Songs
Electric guitar music
Musical instruments
Stringed instruments
Guitar
Electronic musical instruments
African American guitarists
Instrumentalists
Gospel musicians
African American musicians--Florida--Saint Lucie County--Fort Pierce
African American entertainers--Florida--Saint Lucie County--Fort Pierce
African American men--Florida--Saint Lucie County--Fort Pierce
Mentoring in the arts
Electric guitar | /fpc/folklife/fa2624.gif |
Listen: The Assorted Selections Program
