The Slide Brothers

The Slide Brothers, standard bearers of the sacred steel tradition, have revitalized the sacred steel tradition in the modern era, carrying the style born in The House of God Church more than 80 years ago to mainstream secular success before concert and festival audiences around the world. The Slide Brothers are (from L to R) Chuck Campbell, Phil Fletcher, Calvin Cooke, Cameron Fletcher and Jason Whitehead, each of whom was raised worshiping and performing in The Church of the Living God. They were an ad hoc family, traveling and learning from the other dominions in their communities in cities from Nashville to Chicago to Newark. Calvin Cooke was born into a musical family in Cleveland, Ohio in 1944 and would go on to become known among the ranks of Nashville’s premier country steel guitarists as “the B.B. King of gospel steel guitar.” Cooke is hailed today as the most influential living pedal steel guitar master within the Sacred Steel tradition. Chuck Campbell began playing the lap steel guitar at the age of twelve and is renowned for his innovative approach to the instrument, both technically and musically. His choice of the Lap Steel is a direct reflection of the influences that he has blended in becoming the most emotional player of The Campbell Brothers musical tour de force. The Slide Brothers shift easily between genres, incorporating both traditional gospel repertoire as well as secular material such as the music of Elmore James, the Chicago blues legend who made his mark as a master of the slide guitar technique that would later influence greats like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Duane Allman. “It has long been a vision of all of ours to be able to this,” says Chuck Campbell. “Instead of us meeting at a church convention we were able to get everyone together in the recording studio to play secular songs and religious songs with the same conviction. We feel blessed that we have finally been able to do this.” The three guitar attack by Chuck, Calvin and Jason Whitehead immediately serves notice to the remarkable musicianship honed by years of playing in church and at sacred steel conventions. “Growing up in church, traditional blues music always came off to us as a little bit sloppy,” explains Chuck Campbell. “It was not as precise as Sacred Steel where it is always about mimicking the voices heard in the church. We wanted to play these songs with the same conviction we have in church—playing the steel so that you can almost hear the words as if they were sung by a voice”. John McDermott The Slide Brothers, standard bearers of the sacred steel tradition, have revitalized the sacred steel tradition in the modern era.