Artist: Calvin Cooke
Deep Dives: The Roots of Sacred Steel
In 1997, Arhoolie Records released its first disc of Sacred Steel music, a gospel tradition with deep roots in the African American holiness churches of the...
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The Chris Strachwitz Collection
As founder of both Arhoolie Records and the Arhoolie Foundation, Chris Strachwitz has been collecting, documenting, recording, and promoting regional roots music for over 60 years....
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Sacred Steel Archive: Sonny Treadway Interview
Sonny Treadway was born and raised in Michigan and grew up playing steel guitar with Bishop Ron Hall and Calvin Cooke under the guidance of “Uncle” Felton Williams. As a young man, he traveled throughout much of the United States with Church of the Living God Chief Overseer Bishop Mattie Jewell to play for worship services, assemblies and revivals, usually accompanying steel guitarist Bishop Lorenzo Harrison on standard (fretted) guitar.
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Sacred Steel Archive: Calvin Cooke Interview
Calvin Cooke lived most of his life in Detroit and is now retired to the greater Atlanta area. As his family first belonged to the Church of the Living God and later joined the House of God, he immersed himself in the steel guitar musical traditions of both denominations.
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Sacred Steel Archive: Chuck Campbell Interview
A resident of Rochester, New York when we met in 1996, Chuck Campbell was one of the first steel guitarists from outside Florida I documented. As a pioneering pedal-steel guitarist in the House of God who possesses a solid knowledge of music theory, he led the way in incorporating the pedal-steel guitar into the House of God musical tradition, which the non-pedal or “lap” steel guitar had dominated for decades.
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Sacred Steel Film
Watch the Complete Film Now! Sacred Steel Directed by Robert L. Stone The Arhoolie Foundation, in cooperation with the Documentary Arts Foundation, produced this documentary film...
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