On this episode, we speak with Kashiah Hunter, a wonderful sacred steel player based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Sacred steel is an incredible form of gospel music played in House of God Pentecostal churches across the United States and the center of this rich musical tradition is the steel guitar. Kashiah’s deeply expressive, lyrical playing is a hallmark of the sacred steel style.

Kashiah plays steel in the New Mercy, New Beginnings, New Victory Ministries church in Georgia, but I was lucky enough to catch up with him when he was in town to play the Brooklyn Folk Fest. We dig into Kashiah’s musical history, how he “borrowed” his first steel guitar from his cousin and learned by playing along to cassette recordings of church services, and how emotion is the center of his musical practice.

To learn more about Kashiah and his playing, check out the following links: https://www.instagram.com/kashiah_hunter/

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvvtMAAyfWucU6XzOjASCeY3sXWso-NLk

Steel is hosted by Matt Perpick for the Fretboard Journal network of podcasts.

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