Since our previous write up in 2003 we have had many more Festivals and are now running our 14th Festival on 20th and 21st June 2009. All the information is on the Club´s website  www.brissteelguitar.com  so you can drop in and take a look.

Most of our recent Festivals have comprised of Artists from around Australia and New Zealand. Australia is a large country so some of our Australian Artists have to travel further than those from New Zealand. Melbourne is 18 hours drive away and bringing a Pedal Steel Guitar to the Festivals can be expensive by plane.

Along with the Main Concert we always hold a Social Evening and have some of the club players and other interested players from around the country play on a more relaxed stage which allows the players to mix and mingle and chat about ... what else but their Steel Guitars of course.

We are also incorporating The Hall of Fame Awards into our Festivals now and that has given a nice touch to the Festival. Warren Neilson of Australia was inducted last year at our 13th Festival. Warren is a very well known Steel Player in Australia and in the United States of America. Warren also has a relaxed and very pleasing personality which shows in his playing. Warren will not be able to be with us this year due a commitment in the United States.

The late Norm Bodkin of Australia was also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008. Norm had been a big name for many years in Australia and his wife accepted his Award on his behalf. Norm had contributed an immense amount of work in Australia with recording Sessions and the great Tamworth Country Music Festival held annually in January.

The previous year at our 12th Festival Ken Kitching was inducted into our Hall of Fame. Ken is also a very well known Australian Steel player, not only for his expertise on the Pedal Steel but also on the Lap Steel. Ken has played in the United States, Hawaii, New Zealand and probably many more places. Ken has a lovely touch when he plays and is a nice friendly approachable man. Ken is living with his wife on the Gold Coast Queensland and Ken is always invited back to our Festivals.

We have a very good and comprehensive Biography page with many Biographies and photos with the players information on our website. These Biographies are of Pedal and Lap Steel Guitar players are of players from all over Australia and some from New Zealand too. These Biographies are all of players who have played at our Brisbane Steel Guitar Club´s Festivals at one time or another. We have the Biography of Michel Rose who came to make Australia his home when he left his homeland Mauritius. Michel is an exceptionally good player.

Paddy Long from New Zealand is also a World Class player who attends our Annual Festivals. (See the photocollection at the bottm of this page.)

Ken Kitching also has an interesting Biography. Ken is playing both Hawaiian style and Pedal Steel. Ken has got an attachment that he has made up that allows him to put his lap steel in front of his Pedal Steel for easy playing without having a separate stand or legs for the Lap Steel.

Bob Alloway (See the photocollection at the bottm of this page.) is a loyal club member and his Biography makes interesting reading to. Bob has bought his whole band and his wife to sing at our Festival to break up the sound a little bit and he give a really swinging full sound. Bob has backed many of our big named Australian singers, which is always an honour.

Murray Ardern who arrived in Australia to live in 1981, now plays at the Club Festivals fairly regularly. Murray who hailed from New Zealand has backed many of the big names in New Zealand. You will find more on Murray on our Biographies page.

The late great Winnie Winston also played at our Festival a few months before he his death. He made the trip from New Zealand and within 2 months of coming over to the Australian Festival he had passed on. That was a very sad time for us all and for the World Wide Steel Guitar Community. Winnie has written a book to help Pedal Steel Guitar players and I know many players have used Winnie´s book to help teach them. Many people who have made contact with us through our webpage have bought Winnie´s book.

Over the last few years we have lost quite a few of our Pedal Steel Guitarists, not only in Australia but also in the United States; names that we all know and love; John Hughey and Tom Brumley, both from the States and from Austrialia; George Xanthos and John Guye. Both George and John had contributed a lot to Steel Guitars in Australia, they are both sadly missed. See our Tributes page on our website.

We are trying to encourage younger players to begin to learn this beautiful instrument that people love the minute they hear it played. It´s sad to say but many people don´t know what a Pedal Steel Guitar is and look at you quite blankly when one is mentioned. Teaching the Steel Guitar is another trade that we are short of in the Australian Steel Guitar Community. We seem to have very few teachers in Australia so it makes it difficult to get the younger musicians to learn such an instrument.

We have a Luthier in amongst our Brisbane Steel Guitar Club members and Des Anthony, www.desanthony.com, makes some lovely Lap Steels and Dobros. We have some great wood growing in Tasmania and around Australia that lend themselves beautifully for making Dobros and Lap Steels.

Our Club meetings are held on the 2nd Sunday of the Month and for details go to the Brisbane Steel Guitar Club website. At these club meetings the players take their instruments and all take a turn in playing and getting together to chat about their Pedal or Lap Steel Guitars. We don´t have a lot of players who manage to make it to the Club meetings but there are usually around 5 – 6 players there generally and a lot of them take their own backing CDs so they don´t have to rely on a Rhythm guitarist being there. Family and friends are always welcomed so the hall we use is useful in size. The meetings are relaxed and fun for the players and most seem to enjoy their afternoon in like company.

Since we have had a website we have heard from people as far a field as Alaska. The Australia Steel Guitar Community use it regularly whether it is just to send an email saying Hi or with an item for sale or some have just wanted to find a Pedal Steel or a Lap Steel and we advertize that for them and usually they are satisfied within a fairly short time. We think our website has opened up opportunities to Australian Steel Guitarists that they didn´t have prior to that.

If anyone is ever in Australia and wants to meet some Steel Guitarist send us an email to: info@brissteelguitar.com and I am sure we can arrange something so you can meet up with some friendly musicians.

Thank you Pedal-Pro for giving us this opportunity to let the World know about our Club, Our Festivals and our Website down under in Australia.