Awesome Steel Guitar

The twangy sound of a pedal steel guitar is invariably associated with country and bluegrass. But as Noah Faulkner proves, it’s perfectly capable of playing alternative and pop music in the hands of the proper musician. Sit back, click play, and enjoy his covers of Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence, the Cure’s Just Like Heaven, and Don’t Dream Iit’s Over by Crowded House.

There’s no question that Jack White’s music features a heavy blues influence. Musician Justin Johnson took things to their logical conclusion by performing The White Stripes’ anthemic Seven Nation Army on a steel guitar with a slide, giving it that classic Mississippi Delta Blues sound. (Thanks, Jennifer!)

Talk box vocal effects reached their height of popularity in the 1970s thanks to Peter Frampton and Joe Walsh, but back in 1964, musician and record producer Pete Drake applied the unique sound to his pedal steel guitar, with this performance of his country blues track Forever. And then there’s this.