He may be a minister, a master artist of the state of Florida and a lap-steel guitarist but Aubrey Ghent still has to mow the lawn.
"I'm sorry -- you know how it is when you get into the grass," he apologized after some sneezes got the better of him during the interview.
From an early age, Ghent was surrounded by sounds of the lap-steel guitar: His uncle and father were innovators with the instrument, which was found in many Southern churches -- hence the "sacred steel" designation and musical tradition.
"My uncle and my father had left such a wide range of interest that folks were talking about [steel guitar] everywhere during that time. Me hearing it wouldn't have necessarily been from them," Ghent said. "My cousins were playing all around me and other members of that church, the House of God, had started imitating, or some emulating, the steel guitar. It began to be a fad in the church at the time [the 1950s and on] because they loved the sound."
The lap-steel guitar's sound is quite different from the standard guitar, and some commercial acts, most notably Ben Harper and Robert Randolph and the Family Band, make prominent use of it.
"I think it's popular because of the voice-like qualities that it has and the way it sings -- it really sings to you. It's the style that I inherited from my father that causes it to sing like a person, like a human voice," Ghent said.
Ghent began working with the instrument was he was 6 years old; by 9, he was performing in churches. Given his background and the religious overtones of his songs, gigging for secular audiences is a different ballgame.
"When I first started doing secular venues, I would be very surprised at how they took it. ... I find it astonishingly unique the way that they look upon hearing the first song played," said Ghent. "It's from the method and the way that the songs are played -- and, of course, everyone doesn't play the steel alike ? but my style is of a nature where it would cause you to kind of sit up and take notice. I'm not saying that to be braggadocios, but it's really a unique style that my father handed down."
After decades of public performances, Ghent said he draws upon a wide variety of outlets for musical inspiration.
"Believe it or not, I still refer back to cuts of my father, and I go back and listen to those and try to emulate [them]," he said. "But I get most of my new music from my mind. Playing a concert, you never stop developing new ideas and new ways of playing the same songs. And I'm inspired by the younger people playing because they have new ideas."
The time Ghent spends touring and playing, coupled with his work as a minister, leaves him little free time and a few other hardships.
"I would welcome greatly sponsorship because you can always use help ... especially with musical instruments," Ghent said. "After all, we play so often we wear them out. A lot of musicians are sponsored by Gibson, Fender and so forth and it would be so nice to have those endorsements."
That's nothing to sneeze at.
--Katherine Silkaitis (Express, October 17, 2007)
