CAMPBELL BROTHERS
““The Campbell Brothers play music that until recently was heard only in gospel churches, with pedal steel guitar lines swooping skyward like a gospel shouter.””
““This man (Chuck) is the Jimi Hendrix and the Django Reinhardt of the steel guitar…””
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Norwich, NYEats2025-09-07
Jackson, MS82nd National Folk Festival2025-11-07 - 2025-11-09
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The Campbell Brothers present Sacred Steel: African-American gospel music with electric steel guitar and vocal. This tradition emerges from the House of God Keith Dominion Church, where for over sixty years it has been an integral part of worship and a vital, if little known, American tradition.
As the music moves from sanctuary to concert hall — including the Hollywood Bowl, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, SF Jazz, North Seat Jazz, Brooklyn Academy of Music and Symphony Space — secular audiences are now able to appreciate a performance both devoted and rocking.
Pedal steel guitarist Chuck Campbell (2004 National Heritage Fellowship recipient) is one of the finest in this tradition. Rounding out the band, which has been playing together for nearly two decades, is a high-energy rhythm section featuring brother Phil Campbell on electric guitar, his son Carlton on drums, and bassist Daric Bennett. Classic, gutsy gospel vocals by Denise Brown, Tiffany Godette and/or Joyce “Cinnamon” Brown bring the ensemble to a level of energy and expression that defies description.
The Campbell Brothers present a compelling, rich variety of material from the African-American Holiness-Pentecostal repertoire with a new twist: the growling, wailing, shouting, singing and swinging voice of the steel guitar, played as you have never heard it played before.