Neil Flanz
Encyclopedia
Neil Flanz is a pedal steel guitar
player living in Austin
, TX. He has played and toured for over 30 years with artists including Gram Parsons
, Emmylou Harris
, Charlie Louvin
and Joe Sun
.
, Quebec, Canada. His musical influences as a child included Jimmie Rodgers
, Wilf Carter
, Hawaiian music and the Grand Ole Opry
radio broadcasts. He began playing guitar at the age of 13 when his parents bought him a flat top guitar
; by the time he was 17, he had moved on to the steel guitar (a double-neck Fender Stringmaster
) in order to more closely replicate the sounds he had heard on country records growing up. It was the song “Slowly” by Webb Pierce
(with Bud Issacs on an early pedal steel guitar called a "tone changer") that convinced him to begin playing with pedals, and he approached steel guitarist George Essery in Montreal to modify his guitar with a pedal.
Neil's first job as a musician was with Cowboy Jack, a Montreal artist with several country music hits in French. During the ensuing years, he worked with various musicians in Montreal and began making albums of his own, including 1962’s "Neil Flanz and his Nashville Steel", and 1964’s "Get On The Star Route" (recorded in Toronto using an Emmons Stereo pedal steel guitar). The success of the two albums gained Neil considerable recognition, both in Canada and the United States. He toured in the Toronto area with Dusty King, and in Ontario with Jack Kingston and Gary Buck.
At the age of 24, Neil began the process of moving to Nashville, TN. He worked in Montreal’s "Country Palace" backing up many Nashville artists including Charlie Louvin
of the famed Louvin Brothers duet, and after obtaining his green card, Neil finally moved to Nashville, where he worked and toured with Charlie Louvin, Jean Shepard
, Billy Walker
, Ray Pillow and many other Grand Ole Opry artists. He eventually connected with Nashville’s "The Kelly Rogers Breed" with a regular engagement at the "Broadway Barn" around the corner from the Grand Ole Opry.
In 1973, Phil Kaufman contacted Neil to play a six week tour with Gram Parsons
and Emmylou Harris
. The band was called "The Fallen Angels" and also featured Kyle Tullis on bass, N.D. Smart on drums and Jock Bartley
on lead guitar. Neil cites the tour as one of the most exciting parts of his career, with “thousands of cheering young long haired fans being introduced to country for the first time … rushing up to the stage just to touch us. Gram’s Live: 1973 was recorded in Long Island, NY, and prominently features Neil's steel playing.
After the Parsons tour, Neil returned to Nashville to rejoin the "Kelly Rogers Breed," which later changed its name to "Peppertree." In the following months, he also toured with Roy Drusky
, returning to play in Nashville whenever possible. This eventually led to a regular engagement at the Deeman's Den (named after owner and singer Nancy Dee). His shows there regularly featured sit-ins by Little Jimmy Dickens
, Faron Young
, Johnny Paycheck
, Webb Pierce
, Jimmy Day, Buddy Emmons
and Jimmy Bryant
.
Over the ensuing years, Neil spent time touring the country with various groups, including stops in Austin
and Dallas, and a two week stint introducing President Jimmy Carter
on a primary tour in North Carolina. In 1980, Joe Sun
called and offered Neil a job as his full time pedal steel player. The band, called “Shotgun”, rehearsed in Key West
, FL for a month before beginning touring and playing in Nashville, at which time Joe asked the band to record with him in the studio as well. Living On Honky Tonk Time was the first album featuring the
band, and the song "Bombed Boozed and Busted" climbed the top twenty of the country charts, and remained a juke box favorite. The band played on the Austin City Limits
television show and made three trips to Europe, including shows at London's famed Wembley Stadium
. The band also toured Stockholm
, Zurich
, Amsterdam
, Germany
, and Scotland
. Two albums featuring Neil were recorded in Nashville for release in Germany on the Intercord label (German Wikipedia page: :de:Intercord) and a second album for Elektra Records
was released called I Aint Honky Tonkin' No More.
Neil currently lives in Austin, TX, where he plays regular shows with Alvin Crow. He teaches all levels of pedal steel guitar, and has recorded instruction albums for the E9 tuning, as well as a book entitled “The C 6th Chord Dictionary”. Neil currently plays a double neck Emmons.
Pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
player living in Austin
Austin
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas.Austin may also refer to:-In the United States:*Austin, Arkansas*Austin, Colorado*Austin, Chicago, Illinois*Austin, Indiana*Austin, Minnesota*Austin, Nevada*Austin, Oregon...
, TX. He has played and toured for over 30 years with artists including Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
, Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
, Charlie Louvin
Charlie Louvin
Charles Elzer Loudermilk , known professionally as Charlie Louvin, was an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known as one of the Louvin Brothers, and was a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1955.-Biography:Born in Henagar, Alabama, Louvin was one of 7 children...
and Joe Sun
Joe Sun
James Joseph Paulsen is an American country music singer, songwriter of Danish descent, known professionally as Joe Sun. Recording for the Ovation and Elektra Records labels, Sun charted fourteen singles on the Hot Country Songs charts...
.
Biography
Neil was born and raised in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec, Canada. His musical influences as a child included Jimmie Rodgers
Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)
James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...
, Wilf Carter
Wilf Carter
Wilf Carter , also known as Montana Slim, was a Canadian country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and yodeller...
, Hawaiian music and the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
radio broadcasts. He began playing guitar at the age of 13 when his parents bought him a flat top guitar
Flat top guitar
A flat top guitar is a type of guitar body model which has a flat top . The term "flat top" is usually used to refer to the most popular type of steel-string acoustic guitars; however, electric guitars such as the Fender Stratocaster, the Fender Telecaster and the Gibson Les Paul Junior or Special...
; by the time he was 17, he had moved on to the steel guitar (a double-neck Fender Stringmaster
Fender Stringmaster
The Fender Stringmaster is a series of table steel guitars produced by Fender from 1953 to 1980.Models were available with two, three and four necks, each neck with eight strings. The four neck version, known as the quad or Q-8, was discontinued in 1968....
) in order to more closely replicate the sounds he had heard on country records growing up. It was the song “Slowly” by Webb Pierce
Webb Pierce
Webb Michael Pierce was one of the most popular American honky tonk vocalists of the 1950s, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the decade. His biggest hit was "In The Jailhouse Now," which charted for 37 weeks in 1955, 21 of them at number one...
(with Bud Issacs on an early pedal steel guitar called a "tone changer") that convinced him to begin playing with pedals, and he approached steel guitarist George Essery in Montreal to modify his guitar with a pedal.
Neil's first job as a musician was with Cowboy Jack, a Montreal artist with several country music hits in French. During the ensuing years, he worked with various musicians in Montreal and began making albums of his own, including 1962’s "Neil Flanz and his Nashville Steel", and 1964’s "Get On The Star Route" (recorded in Toronto using an Emmons Stereo pedal steel guitar). The success of the two albums gained Neil considerable recognition, both in Canada and the United States. He toured in the Toronto area with Dusty King, and in Ontario with Jack Kingston and Gary Buck.
At the age of 24, Neil began the process of moving to Nashville, TN. He worked in Montreal’s "Country Palace" backing up many Nashville artists including Charlie Louvin
Charlie Louvin
Charles Elzer Loudermilk , known professionally as Charlie Louvin, was an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known as one of the Louvin Brothers, and was a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1955.-Biography:Born in Henagar, Alabama, Louvin was one of 7 children...
of the famed Louvin Brothers duet, and after obtaining his green card, Neil finally moved to Nashville, where he worked and toured with Charlie Louvin, Jean Shepard
Jean Shepard
Ollie Imogene Shepard , better known as Jean Shepard, is an American honky tonk singer-songwriter who was a pioneer for women in country music. Shepard released a total of 73 singles to the Hot Country Songs chart, one of which reached the #1 spot...
, Billy Walker
Billy Walker (musician)
William Marvin Walker , better known as Billy Walker, was an American country music singer and guitarist best-known for his 1962 hit, " Charlie's Shoes"...
, Ray Pillow and many other Grand Ole Opry artists. He eventually connected with Nashville’s "The Kelly Rogers Breed" with a regular engagement at the "Broadway Barn" around the corner from the Grand Ole Opry.
In 1973, Phil Kaufman contacted Neil to play a six week tour with Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
and Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
. The band was called "The Fallen Angels" and also featured Kyle Tullis on bass, N.D. Smart on drums and Jock Bartley
Jock Bartley
Jock Bartley is an American Musician. He is a member of the band Firefall.He studied at University of Colorado in Boulder as an art major.He played guitar in Zephyr, and released a pair of albums with Tommy Bolin on Warner Bros...
on lead guitar. Neil cites the tour as one of the most exciting parts of his career, with “thousands of cheering young long haired fans being introduced to country for the first time … rushing up to the stage just to touch us. Gram’s Live: 1973 was recorded in Long Island, NY, and prominently features Neil's steel playing.
After the Parsons tour, Neil returned to Nashville to rejoin the "Kelly Rogers Breed," which later changed its name to "Peppertree." In the following months, he also toured with Roy Drusky
Roy Drusky
Roy Frank Drusky Jr., was an American country music singer popular from the 1960s through the early 1970s. Known for his baritone voice, he was known for incorporating the Nashville sound. His highest-charting single was the No. 1 "Yes Mr. Peters", a duet with Priscilla Mitchell.-Early life and...
, returning to play in Nashville whenever possible. This eventually led to a regular engagement at the Deeman's Den (named after owner and singer Nancy Dee). His shows there regularly featured sit-ins by Little Jimmy Dickens
Little Jimmy Dickens
James Cecil Dickens , better known as Little Jimmy Dickens, is an American country music singer famous for his humorous novelty songs, his small size, 4'11" , and his rhinestone-studded outfits...
, Faron Young
Faron Young
Faron Young was an American country music singer and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s and one of its most successful and colorful stars...
, Johnny Paycheck
Johnny Paycheck
Johnny Paycheck was the legal name of Donald Eugene Lytle , a country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member most famous for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It"...
, Webb Pierce
Webb Pierce
Webb Michael Pierce was one of the most popular American honky tonk vocalists of the 1950s, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the decade. His biggest hit was "In The Jailhouse Now," which charted for 37 weeks in 1955, 21 of them at number one...
, Jimmy Day, Buddy Emmons
Buddy Emmons
Buddy Emmons , is an American guitarist.Emmons has been called "The World's Foremost Steel Guitarist" and his talent is greatly admired by fellow steel guitarists...
and Jimmy Bryant
Jimmy Bryant
Jimmy Bryant was a prominent American session guitarist. He was billed as "The Fastest Guitar in the Country".-Biography:Ivy J. Bryant, Jr. was born in Moultrie, Georgia, the oldest of 12 children...
.
Over the ensuing years, Neil spent time touring the country with various groups, including stops in Austin
Austin
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas.Austin may also refer to:-In the United States:*Austin, Arkansas*Austin, Colorado*Austin, Chicago, Illinois*Austin, Indiana*Austin, Minnesota*Austin, Nevada*Austin, Oregon...
and Dallas, and a two week stint introducing President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
on a primary tour in North Carolina. In 1980, Joe Sun
Joe Sun
James Joseph Paulsen is an American country music singer, songwriter of Danish descent, known professionally as Joe Sun. Recording for the Ovation and Elektra Records labels, Sun charted fourteen singles on the Hot Country Songs charts...
called and offered Neil a job as his full time pedal steel player. The band, called “Shotgun”, rehearsed in Key West
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....
, FL for a month before beginning touring and playing in Nashville, at which time Joe asked the band to record with him in the studio as well. Living On Honky Tonk Time was the first album featuring the
band, and the song "Bombed Boozed and Busted" climbed the top twenty of the country charts, and remained a juke box favorite. The band played on the Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States...
television show and made three trips to Europe, including shows at London's famed Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
. The band also toured Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Two albums featuring Neil were recorded in Nashville for release in Germany on the Intercord label (German Wikipedia page: :de:Intercord) and a second album for Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
was released called I Aint Honky Tonkin' No More.
Neil currently lives in Austin, TX, where he plays regular shows with Alvin Crow. He teaches all levels of pedal steel guitar, and has recorded instruction albums for the E9 tuning, as well as a book entitled “The C 6th Chord Dictionary”. Neil currently plays a double neck Emmons.
Sources
- Austin Chronicle Profile of Neil Flanz
- Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music, David N. Meyer, Villard Books, 2007. ISBN 978-0-375-50570-6
- Neil Flanz Personal Home Page
- Hickory Wind: The Life And Times Of Gram Parsons