Sacred steel is a musical style and African-American gospel tradition that developed in House of God churches in the 1930s. Members and nonmembers refer to the church as the House of God. Its full name is the House of God Which Is the Church of the Living God the Pillar and Ground of the Truth Without Controversy, Keith Dominion. Brothers Troman and Willie Eason introduced lap steel guitar

Lap steel guitar

The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....

 to worship services in place of the traditional organ. This new instrument was met with great enthusiasm and taken up by others including the Bishop J.R. Lockley. The three toured together and later Willie put the new style down on record, recording a total of eighteen sides in the 1940s and 50s. Sacred steel has since become an integral part of the Pentecostal House of God's Sunday services.

Since then, sacred steel has grown and flourished within the House of God churches which are located today mainly in New York, Kentucky, and Florida. The most famous practitioner is Robert Randolph of the Robert Randolph and the Family Band. Randolph, the son of a deacon and a minister, took up pedal steel guitar at 17. Just seven years later, he has become one of the most original and talented practitioners of the sacred steel form.

Willie Eason's nephew Aubrey Ghent has also become a celebrated steel guitarist, preserving the sacred steel tradition and bringing it to a wider audience. Ghent's father, Henry Nelson, was also schooled by Eason and played sacred steel for over 50 years, sharing the stage with such gospel greats as Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an Amercian pioneering gospel singer, songwriter and recording artist who attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock and roll accompaniment...

 and Mahalia Jackson

Mahalia Jackson

Mahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...

. Unlike Robert Randolph and the Family Band who have crossed over to doing more secular music, Aubrey Ghent has stayed closer to the gospel roots of tradition.

Notable performers

• Robert Randolph and the Family Band
• The Campbell Brothers
  The Campbell Brothers
  The Campbell Brothers are an American Sacred Steel gospel group from Rush, New York composed of three brothers and one son.The ensemble features prominent pedal steel guitar and began as the house band for a House of God Keith Dominion congregation. The pedal steel player, Chuck, uses his own...
  
  
• Aubrey Ghent
• Sonny Treadwell
• The Lee Boys
  The Lee Boys
  The Lee Boys are a funk and gospel band based out of Miami, Florida. The band plays in the Sacred Steel tradition that arose out of the musical stylings of the House of God Church. The band plays a mixture of funk music and gospel lyrics, staying true to their roots as a religious group...
  
  

External links

• A Brief History of the House of God Steel Guitar Tradition by Robert L. Stone
• Sacred Steel and The Empire State by Robert L. Stone
• With The Spirit by Robert Stone
• Aubrey Ghent Music and biography
• “Sacred Steel”: Traditional Sacred African-American Steel Guitar Music in Florida Various Artists (links to samples from the CD)