In the Club: Nashville Steel Guitar Social Club Jams Across Generations

In the Club is a recurring series in which the Scene explores local social clubs. 

Playing a specialized instrument like the steel guitar typically affords a musician the distinction of being the only steel guitarist in the room. But that’s not often the case in the steel guitar hotbed of Nashville, particularly at quarterly meetings of the Nashville Steel Guitar Social Club.

The steel guitar is both rare and on the rise, as evidenced by the more than 30 players who showed up for August’s meeting, including one who had just that week moved to Nashville to study the instrument. 

Steel Guitar Social Club started in co-founder Neil Jones’ carport with five members. The group will celebrate its third anniversary on Nov. 3 from 4 until 7:30 p.m. at Eastside Bowl. 

“The steel guitar is back,” says club co-founder Mike Drassler. “It never went anywhere, but it’s also back.”

After all the players find a safe outlet to plug into, the jam begins. The system borrows from bluegrass culture: A house band will play an extended song, and each player in the circle gets a chance to strut their stuff. To kick off and wrap up the event, they’re invited to play in unison. 

The combined sound is “heavenly,” Drassler says. 

“And hellacious at the same time,” Jones adds. 

At the August jam, people came from states away, including Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia and North Carolina. Musicians who have been playing for a couple months sit next to others who have played for decades, and play professionally with touring artists, like Jones and Drassler do.  

A common saying in the steel guitar world is that it takes two years of practice to suck at playing. It requires a lot of dexterity — players use both hands, both feet and both knees to create the sounds. Newcomers may come in nervous, but Drassler and Jones hope they quickly realize it’s all for fun. To further enforce the point, a wheel covered with potential handicaps makes its way around the circle, and players are challenged to play while wearing a blindfold or a horse mask, among other challenges. 

“In a town that’s super competitive like Nashville, where everyone’s trying to get their good gig and just be as good as they can — at our jam, it’s the opposite vibe,” Drassler says. “Everyone’s doing the silly stuff they usually wouldn’t do onstage.”

“Everybody just lifts each other up,” Jones adds. “Nobody’s judging.”

When both of the founders started out 10 years ago at around age 25, they were among the youngest in their field. In the club, they’re actually in the older crowd — most participants in the social club jams are under 30.

Nick Reed, who founded peer organization the Nashville Tennessee Steel Guitar Association in 2000, has 40 years under his belt now, having started at 31. During the social club jam, the self-taught player says he tries to watch and learn from those who have had more lessons than him, especially those with access to online lessons. 

“A lot of these guys up here can put me to shame, but I still have a good time when I come out here,” Reed says. “It’s an exciting instrument, and even if you don’t play well, they’re always accepting of people when their skill level’s not as high. It’s just a lot of fun.”

The heyday for the steel guitar was country music released from the late ’50s to the early ’70s, Jones explains, and it saw another resurgence in the ’90s. Today it’s expanding to other genres, and is featured on hits by Ella Langley, Zach Top and even Sabrina Carpenter. 

The steel guitar is versatile, a quality that’s earned it the nickname of the “hillbilly synthesizer.”

“People are pushing the instrument and seeing what else they can do with it, which is super cool to see,” Jones says. “We love country, we love jazz, but there’s so many things the instrument can do.” 

“To me, it’s like the ultimate instrument,” Drassler continues. “It just is so expressive, and you can do so many things that no other instrument can do. I think that’s why I’m so drawn to it. It can do what a banjo does. It can do what an electric guitar does. It can do what a fiddle does. It can do what a keyboard does. To me, it is the super guitar.”

If you come to the jam, you’re in the club, but if you purchase a sticker or a hat, it’s even more official. The club has also earned the approval (and sponsorship) of steel guitar makers Emmons Custom Shop and Sho-Bud, local instrument cover makers Bo Jacket, and steel guitar instructor (and Luke Bryan’s steel guitarist) Travis Toy. 

Steel Guitar Social Club’s founders say they do it because they’re steel guitar nerds. That’s a requirement, they argue. 

“It’s such a hard instrument,” Jones says. “To learn it, you have to be crazy about it.”