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More steel
players probably cite Jerry Byrd as the single
most influential player in their early musical
development than any other musician. He almost
single handedly defined the steel sound of early
Nashville and created an extremely personal style
whose trademark vibrato and lush tunings became
the most-imitated way to play Hawaiian music.
Jerry Byrd was
born March 9, 1920 in Lima, Ohio. His country and
western steel guitar playing can be heard in his
work with such artists as Chet Atkins, Jethro
Burns, Marty Robbins, Hank Snow, Roy Clark, Ernest
Tubb, Red Foley, Burl Ives and numerous others.
His work with Hank Williams was done on a
Rickenbacker BD-6 lap steel tuned to
C6 tuning. This guitar is now in the
Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee.
Byrd was a lifelong exponent
of traditional Hawaiian music. In the 1960’s, he
grew weary of the super-hyped, pressure cooker
world of commercial country music. Byrd moved to
Honolulu in the early 1970’s and became a revered
and much honored presence for his efforts at
teaching native Hawaiian youths about steel guitar
- ironically, their own instrument! He composed
several tunes that have become steel guitar
standards including “Steelin’ the Blues” and
“Steelin’ the Chimes.”
Jerry Byrd passed away on
April 11, 2005.
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