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An anchor of the classic mid-century Nashville sound, the pedal steel guitar has been a trusted part of the broader pop palette at least since Jerry Garcia added affable, if primitive, pedal steel to ...

Jerry Fessenden builds a pedal steel guitar in his Montpelier workshop Credit: Jeb Wallace-Brodeur “This is a horrible little shop,” Jerry Fessenden says as he opens the door to a shack abutting the ...

I’ve always been fascinated by the pedal steel guitar. Used in a wide variety of music, the steel guitar’s glorious sound can make listeners thirsty for a Budweiser, dance a Cajun two step and cry in ...

When you hear steel guitar in a song, it’s usually used as supplemental instrumentation, adding texture to the tunes. You generally don’t expect to see the men and women of steel in the forefront, and ...

MONTPELIER Jerry Fessenden feels that he was born for the pedal steel guitar. "It was something about the way my mother carried me in the womb," said the 62-year-old musician and instrument builder.

CARBONDALE The pedal steel guitar, a staple of the country music sound, is a staggeringly complex instrument. Although the numbers vary from instrument to instrument, the pedal steel generally ...

The pedal steel guitar is, for many, inextricable from its roots in country music — but its well runs much deeper than providing some smooth twang. An anchor of the classic mid-century Nashville sound ...