KAILUA, Hawaii – Quincy Cortez plucks at a slim black box laid across his legs, his fingers flashing silver. Steel strings twang with each pull from the metal rings – wearable guitar picks – adorning ...

Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in ...

The guitar, the banjo, the mandolin, the fiddle, and the upright bass are just a few of the instruments commonly associated with country music. Though there is one instrument missing from that list, ...

An anchor of the classic mid-century Nashville sound, the pedal steel guitar has been a trusted part of the broader pop palette at least since Jerry Garcia added affable, if primitive, pedal steel to ...

Steel guitar music started on the island of Oahu — and teachers there are working with the next generation of students to continue the tradition. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Quincy Cortez ...