Mike Daly

Mike Daly’s Renascence album reminds me of a modern take of when all the classic pedal steel guitarists released instrumental albums. These guys released jazz albums that would knock the socks off of today’s jazz heads. Check out Buddy Emmons or Julian Tharpe. Some of these cats attempted to push themselves in a time of experimentation and discovery for the pedal steel. The tuning was changing and many people were all sharing ideas, which was different compared to the generation before that kept their tunings secret. Country rock was on the rise and most of these players learned playing Western Swing or Hawaiian, so country music was just something they did mostly for a paycheck. Go ahead and beat me up for saying this but when they played live at weddings, dives, or roadhouses I can guarantee they did not play strictly country. – Nathan Emerson