Lap Steel Blues
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Lap Steel Blues uses horizontal slide guitar or steel guitar technique for sustained, vocal-like blues lines, often with rich vibrato, gliding chords, and ringing open tunings. Its sound can be Hawaiian-influenced, country-adjacent, sacred, or electric bluesy, with notes swelling and bending more continuously than standard bottleneck guitar.
History
Lap steel entered blues through early Hawaiian guitar popularity, medicine shows, country and Western swing, sacred steel church practice, and electric steel developments. Casey Bill Weldon, Kokomo Arnold, Black Ace, Hop Wilson, Freddie Roulette, Aubrey Ghent, Robert Randolph, and The Campbell Brothers connect prewar blues lap steel to postwar electric and sacred steel traditions. Lap Steel Blues influenced country steel, Western swing, sacred steel, blues-rock slide, and modern roots guitarists seeking long vocal sustain.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- I Believe I'll Make a Change — Casey Bill WeldonSpotifyYouTube
- Milk Cow Blues — Kokomo ArnoldSpotifyYouTube
- Black Ace — Black AceSpotifyYouTube
- My Woman Has a Black Cat Bone — Hop WilsonSpotifyYouTube
- Endless Sleep — Freddie RouletteSpotifyYouTube
- Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus — Aubrey GhentSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Bob L. Stone, Sacred Steel
- Jas Obrecht, Early Blues
- AllMusic
- The Blues Foundation