Sacred steel music was born out of the popularity of the Hawaiian Steel guitar in the early part of the twentieth century. Two brothers, Troman and Willie Eason were responsible for bringing the steel guitar to the House of God services in the 1930's. While Troman had learned how to play in the Hawaiian style, Willie had not had any formal training and simply played the music he was familiar with on this guitar. From such humble beginnings a genre was born.

The Lee Boys are a family group consisting of three brothers; Alvin (guitar), Derrick, and Keith (vocals) and three nephews; Roosevelt Collier (pedal steel guitar), Alvin Cordy Jr. (7 string bass), and Earl Walker (drums). They each grew up making music in a House of God congregation in Perrine Fl. where the brother's father was pastor and steel player. Having been playing together, or individually, in the church since they were seven they've not only developed into proficient musicians but have also learned the key elements for staging a successful show. You don't need to look any further than their new DVD release Live At Bonnaroo for evidence of just how impressive they are.

Sunday mornings at folk festivals were reserved for gospel groups from all over, and I guess Bonnaroo is keeping up that tradition as this recording is of a Sunday morning performance The Lee Boys gave at last year's festival. Now I can't think of a tougher time, or a harder audience to play for, than the Sunday morning of a festival. Half the crowd is either recovering from the night before, if they've even gone to bed yet, and the other half are just wandering onto the site and getting their bearings. A band has to be pretty special and be able to deliver a red hot performance in order to first grab, and then hold, this type of audience's attention for the length of the concert.

Lovable French robots Daft Punk have triumphed at the American music industry’s most important night the Grammys, taking how two awards for their live album Alive, which proved to be essential listening before and after their NeverEverLand tour of Australia in late 2007.

Nominated in the Best Electronic/Dance Album and Best Dance Recording categories they beat off stiff competition from a selection of cool/credible and commercial/questionable names including Hot Chip, Sam Sparro, Rihanna, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Moby, Robyn, and… errr… Cyndi Lauper. Not to be outdone, fellow Frenchmen Justice also triumphed in their field, winning the gong for Best Remixed Recording for their rework of MGMT’s Electric Feel.

We’re eagerly awaiting YouTube footage to surface so we can see whether Daft Punk accepted their awards in full robot regalia. Surely they wouldn’t have dropped the façade, especially in front of a TV audience of millions?

However that does not mean I haven’t had the chance to listen to the latest batch of releases of all types. In fact some of the output for the land of the Norse has been perfectly suited to the current mood.

Ted Nugent: Nugent, Spirit of the Wild & If You Can’t Lick em’, Lick Em”

The last of the current crop of Nugent re-issues like the first lot is a bit of a mixed bag. There is something for everyone here however and “mixed” for Ted is a pretty good standard. The man is always in the shadow of his 70s hits because they were so good and so huge.

Probably realizing that with the album Nugent, Ted reunited with his ole’ sparing partner Derek St. Holmes who does most of the lead singing on the CD. He also has the drumming power-house of Carmine Appice along for the ride. This is a very strong album that could have been supported by the track “Bound & Gagged” alone.

The track is another one of Ted’s observational rants about the state of the U.S. and its governance. Listening to the words, it's as poignant today as it was then. One thing you got to say about Uncle Ted is that he is consistent in his views and beliefs. “Good & Ready” is another strong track as is the final statement of “Tailgunner”. This is a good album that shows what he is capable of when firing on all cylinders.

Spirit of the Wild sees Ted teaming up again with Derek with Denny Carmassi on drums another journeyman sticksman who played with Ted in Damn Yankees, probably Ted’s great post-70s collection of music. You gotta love tracks like “I shoot back” and “Tooth, fang & claw”. It's always amusing to note that Ted, who just got inducted into the bow hunters hall of fame, thanks his ammo suppliers on his albums.

His 13th solo effort If you Can’t Like Em’…Lick Em is a testament to all that was naff about the 80s from the cover to the daft as a brush name of the album. He even teamed up with Bon Jovi and Sambora for the track “That’s the Story of Love.” This album summed everything good and bad about the 80s as Ted headed off into a new decade. It was his last CD before hooking up with Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades in the uber-successful hard rock supergroup Damn Yankees.

The Byrds can now be found fairly cheaply and well is worth seeking out. The ninety tracks span the career of the group. It includes all of their well-known material and hit songs, a number of unappreciated gems, some unreleased tracks, a re-working of some classic songs, and four new recordings by Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, and David Crosby. The enclosed booklet is informative and contains a nice biography of the group. The sound has also been cleaned up and, in most cases, is superior to that of the original releases.

Box sets present the music but many times the intent of the original albums are lost by the shuffling of songs and additional tracks. Therefore, this box set should be considered to be complimentary to their fine catalog of studio albums.

The first disc sets the tone by presenting some of the finest music of not only The Byrds but in the history of Sixties rock ‘n’ roll. “Mr Tambourine Man,” “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better,” “Chimes Of Freedom,” “She Has A Way,” and “All I Really Want To Do” just blast out of the speakers and serve as a reminder of the quality material that The Byrds produced during their career.

The Gay Blades are no different. Probably inspired by Zorro and his homosexual brother, these guys leave it all out in the open with their brand of spastic, expressive pop rock.

A flip through the sleeve of Ghosts, the band’s full-length debut, unveils a band with good humor and a strapping sense of storytelling. Song titles like “Bob Dylan’s 115th Nightmare,” “Robots Can Fuck Your Shit Up,” and “Why Can’t I Grow a Beard?” illuminate this duo as a plucky, smart-alecky invention.

While the humor expressed in the album notes and on the band’s MySpace page discloses what appears to be a couple of jokers, the music of The Gay Blades uncorks a different set of possibilities. The raw emotion and agile soul of this duo is incontestable, even if the pop punk stylings are a little too formulaic at times.

Shit starts with the “O Shot.” A funky little guitar-and-drum split given some extra flavor thanks to Jeff Plate’s bass, this ditty rocks with chunky chords and vibrant percussion. Mills slaps the snare hard, crashing through the rest of his kit with sweltering glee.

The storming rock epic blast of “Bob Dylan’s 115th Nightmare” continues the trend, as Westfield lets loose a barrage of hard lines. “You never captivate, you just capitulate,” he says. “And you follow all the trends.”

Elsewhere, The Gay Blades pry the emo box open and pinch out a startling amount of emotion. “Dog Day Afternoon” is a miserable, bloated bit of music-making. Punctuated by the Aristocrat’s bawling vocals and a wall of sniveling, depressing guitar, this is the theme for the prom of rejected kids everywhere.

Westfield also channels teen-girl vulnerability on “Prologue for the Pure of Heart.” Here he tearfully rips his guts out to a narrative that is equally intriguing and annoying. In a classic case of overdoing it, Westfield unpacks his heart with lines like “It’s too fucking early for you to be in songs that I write.” It’s idyllic shit for the MySpace set.

The most interesting thing about Ghosts is how Westfield and Mills walk the line between touchy teardrops and mucky cigarette stains. There is a sense of wakefulness with the music, which gives the songs lines of incongruity without deconstructing the band into a comedy act.

‘Course, the addition of a cheesy disco remix of “O Shot” to close things out almost solidifies the real soul of this band. And in the end, that’s all that matters. The untreated energy and real soul of Puppy Mills and Clark Westfield makes Ghosts a very interesting record to take in, with or without the wrist-cutting anthems.