The Hacienda Brothers

Moving back to Austin has me in the midst of embracing my Texas roots, so this weekend was the perfect time for me to be introduced to the Hacienda Brothers.  Although they characterize their music as "western soul" and the band hails from Arizona (says their bio: "Who wouldve thought that Country Road and Soul Boulevard would intersect out in the Arizona desert?") there's a manner of fingerpickin', pedal steel and country crooning that reminds me much of the Texas roots music I grew up with.

Watching the Hacienda Brothers on Saturday night at the Continental Club really made me feel at home, and happy to the point that I found myself offering up two-step lessons to my friends who were listening with me.  Alas, no one took me up on the offer.  It's really easy though:  slow, slow, quick-quick, slow, slow, quick-quick...

Here's a taste of the Hacienda Brothers - it's a live performance from SXSW this year.   

I'm so in love with the sound of pedal steel, and the more I learn about how it's played the more respect I have for the people who do it.  It seems that there aren't that many people in the world who play pedal steel, and have you ever seen a pedal steel player who sucked?  Not likely!  I figure it's probably so difficult to learn how to play the instrument (my friend likens it to "doing calculus while driving on ice") that the marginally talented players just give up, and (thankfully) all that's left are the good ones.  I'm hoping to not be proven wrong on this theory.

Learn more about the Hacienda Brothers on Myspace or visit their website.

Listen to "What's Wrong With Right" and "Midnight Dream"