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Mike "Slo-Mo" Brenner is an American musician based in Philadelphia. He is the veteran of many bands and has recorded tracks on over 100 CDs of both independent and major label artists.
Brenner first became known in Philadelphia in the late 1980s as a music writer for such publications as The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Weekly (then called Welcomat), Tower Records' Pulse and more. He soon switched course and returned to playing music, joining local band Flight of Mavis as its second guitarist. In 1990, Brenner's own project, The Low Road, was in its infancy but grew quickly and soon forced a 'one or the other decision.' Brenner left Flight of Mavis to concentrate on The Low Road, which eventually signed a deal with Caroline Records. The band put out two discs on Caroline/Passenger: The Devil's Pocket and Fidelity and toured with Los Lobos, Ben Folds Five, Barenaked Ladies, Black 47 and others.
When the Low Road broke up in 1997, Brenner was already interested in the sound of the square-necked dobro or resonator guitar. Largely inspired by Jerry Douglas, Mike Auldridge and Josh Graves, he became quite fluent in bluegrass and country dobro styles. The first project that featured his slide playing was John Train, then a duo with Brenner and songwriter and guitarist Jon Houlon. This band remains viable today and includes drummer Mark Schreiber, bassist Steve Demarest, mandolinist Bill Fergusson and electric/steel guitarist Mark Tucker. Around this time, Brenner also played lap steel with NYC country duo Y'ALL.
Brenner played dobro on the first disc by Philadelphia band Marah, "Let's Cut The Crap and Hook Up Later Tonight," and shortly thereafter joined as a touring member of this band, primarily playing lap steel guitar. He wound up recording tracks on their lauded 2nd disc "Kids in Philly" and touring the US and Europe, including many gigs as an opening act for Steve Earle, the Jayhawks, Government Mule and more.
During his tenure with Marah, Brenner began experimenting with combining the dobro and electronica beats. His initial efforts, produced by John Wicks, led to a deal with Bong Load Records in Los Angeles, produced by Tom Rothrock (Beck, Foo Fighters, James Blunt, Richard Thompson) and Beale Dabbs. The CD, titled "Novelty", came out in 2000 under the name Slo-Mo on the Acid Blues Record label. The disc featured the talents of Attraction's drummer Pete Thomas, singer/guitarist Johnny Irion, Jenny Benford and many more.
Since then, Slo-Mo has morphed into a hip-hop hybrid, mainly due to the addition and collaboration of Mic Wrecka, a Philly rapper. The 2nd Slo-Mo disc, 2005's My Buzz Comes Back, was produced by Brenner and Edan Cohen and was a local hit and received much airplay from Philadelphia Triple A radio station WXPN. The follow-up, 2007's "Smokey Mountain" continued the evolution of the band and the songwriting partnership of Brenner and Wrecka.
Female vocals have played a large part in Slo-Mo's recordings. Past singers have included Nancy Falkow, [1] Lauren Hart, Ty Stiklorius and current band members Susan Rosetti and Steph Hayes (of Stargazer Lily). Other members to pass through Slo-Mo's ranks (both recording and touring) have been trumpeter Matt Cappy (the Roots, Jill Scott) and Brian Christinzio (BC Camplight). The current line-up (as of May 2009) includes the aforementioned rhythm section of Schreiber and Demarest, plus percussionist Hoagy Wing, keyboardist Daryl Hirsch, Steph Hayes, Susan Rosetti, Brenner and Wrecka.
The newly renamed Slo-Mo featuring Mic Wrecka has played with India.Arie, Arrested Development, Robert Randolph, and is a crowd favorite at the Great Blue Heron Festival in Sherman, NY.
Brenner also has recorded and toured extensively with Magnolia Electric Company/Song:Ohia, projects led by songwriter Jason Molina. Brenner's work has appeared on numerous of the band's discs including those recorded by producer Steve Albini in Chicago.
A steel guitar is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar in that it is played without using frets; conceptually, it is somewhat akin to playing a guitar with one finger. Known for its portamento capabilities, gliding smoothly over every pitch between notes, the instrument can produce a sinuous crying sound and deep vibrato emulating the human singing voice. Typically, the strings are plucked by the fingers of the dominant hand, while the steel tone bar is pressed lightly against the strings and moved by the opposite hand.
John Scofield, sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in the band of Miles Davis, and has toured and recorded with many prominent jazz artists, including saxophonists Eddie Harris, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson and Joe Lovano; keyboardists George Duke, Joey DeFrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Larry Goldings and Robert Glasper; fellow guitarists Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Pat Martino and Bill Frisell; bassists Marc Johnson and Jaco Pastorius; and drummer Billy Cobham and Dennis Chambers. Outside the world of jazz, he has collaborated with Phil Lesh, Mavis Staples, John Mayer, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Gov’t Mule.
The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play unlimited glissandi and deep vibrati—characteristics it shares with the human voice. Pedal steel is most commonly associated with American country music and Hawaiian music.
The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional acoustic guitar, in which the performer's fingertips press the strings against frets, the pitch of a steel guitar is changed by pressing a polished steel bar against plucked strings. Though the instrument does not have frets, it displays markers that resemble them. Lap steels may differ markedly from one another in external appearance, depending on whether they are acoustic or electric, but in either case, do not have pedals, distinguishing them from pedal steel guitar.
Keys to Ascension is the fourth live and fifteenth studio album by English progressive rock band Yes, released as a double album in October 1996 on Essential Records. In 1995, guitarist Trevor Rabin and keyboardist Tony Kaye left the group which marked the return of former members Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman, thus reuniting them with vocalist Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, and drummer Alan White, a line-up that had last performed in 1979. The group relocated to Anderson's hometown of San Luis Obispo, California to make a new album and to promote their reunion with three shows at the city's Fremont Theater in March 1996. Keys to Ascension features half of the live set from the 1996 shows and two new studio tracks which marked a return to Yes writing longform pieces.
One Star Hotel was a Philadelphia-based rock band fronted by singer-songwriter Steve Yutzy-Burkey. The band also included Daryl Hirsch, Alec Meltzer, and Rick Sieber. Steel guitarist Mike "Slo Mo" Brenner contributed to the band's recordings, an arrangement and sonic result similar to Bruce Kaphan's work with American Music Club. In a city best known for its soul and R & B artists, One Star Hotel stood out because of a sound more reminiscent of alternative country or Americana music.
Paul V. Franklin is an American multi-instrumentalist, known mainly for his work as a steel guitarist. He began his career in the 1970s as a member of Barbara Mandrell's road band; in addition he toured with Vince Gill, Mel Tillis, Jerry Reed and Dire Straits. He has since become a prolific session musician in Nashville, playing on more than 500 albums. He has been named by the Academy of Country Music as Best Steel Guitarist on several occasions. He was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019. With thirty, Franklin is the most nominated person in CMA history and is notable for having been nominated for the Country Music Association Award for Musician of the Year twenty nine times but has yet to win.
A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by conducting string vibrations through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones (resonators), instead of to the guitar's sounding board (top). Resonator guitars were originally designed to be louder than regular acoustic guitars, which were overwhelmed by horns and percussion instruments in dance orchestras. They became prized for their distinctive tone, however, and found life with bluegrass music and the blues well after electric amplification solved the problem of inadequate volume.
Brian John Cole is an English pedal steel guitarist, who has long been active as a session and solo musician. Coming to prominence in the early 1970s with the band Cochise, Cole has played in many styles, ranging from mainstream pop and rock to jazz and eclectic experimental music, but has never forgotten the instrument's roots in country music. Through his varied and extensive session work and long career as a performer, he has come to be regarded as Britain's pre-eminent pedal steel guitarist. Cole also plays lap steel and dobro.
If You Didn't Laugh, You'd Cry is an album by Marah, released on Yep Roc Records in the United States and Munich Records in Europe on October 18, 2005.
John McFee is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist, and long-time member of The Doobie Brothers.
Marah is an American Rock'n'Roll band that formed in the early 1990s and is closely associated with the cities of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Brooklyn, New York. The band is known for its intense live performances, classic rock production style, and association with authors Nick Hornby and Sarah Vowell and musicians Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle.
Mark van Allen is an American musician, recording engineer and record producer, born in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Instruments he plays include the pedal steel guitar, dobro, lap steel guitar, electric and acoustic guitar, bass guitar, and the mandolin.
Pat Wictor is an American blues and folk musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, and recording artist. Known for his ethereal style, he was nominated for Emerging Artist of the Year in 2006 by the Folk Alliance, and has released a number of solo albums. In 2010 Wictor co-founded the folk trio Brother Sun, with singer-songwriters Joe Jencks and Greg Greenway, and the band has since released two full albums and toured extensively. Wictor also has an extensive discography as a sideman, playing instruments such as lap slide guitar and dobro. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.
David Alan "Ted" Turner is an English guitarist and vocalist best known for his work with the 1970s rock band Wishbone Ash, in which he was famed for his twin lead guitar instrumental arrangements with Andy Powell. Turner also contributed lap steel guitar to a variety of Wishbone Ash recordings.
Willie Clarence Hall is an American drummer best known for his work with Isaac Hayes and as a member of the Blues Brothers band.
Neil Nathan is an American rock/folk/alt country singer songwriter from New York City. Neil is best known for his folky cover of ELO and The Move's "Do Ya," featured on the Californication Season 2 Soundtrack. Praised by U.K.’s No Ripcord Magazine, as “the bastard stepchild of Jackson Browne & David Bowie,” Neil Nathan's wide range of all star collaborators include members of The Raconteurs, Elle King, St. Vincent, Midlake, Jason Molina, and Wild Pink.
Eric "Roscoe" Ambel is a New York City–based guitarist and record producer, originally from Batavia, Illinois.
Nancy Falkow was an American singer/songwriter and musician from Philadelphia.
Tom Hampton is a multi-instrumentalist, sideman, session musician and singer/songwriter. In April 2020, he joined the country-rock band Poco as guitarist and vocalist.
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