Roosevelt Collier Let His Pedal Steel Do the Talking at Crazy Uncle Mike’s

All images by Larry Marano

Roosevelt Collier returned to Boca Raton on August 21 with his Power Trio for a birthday celebration at Crazy Uncle Mike’s. It was a fitting pairing: a musician with deep South Florida roots playing a room built for getting close to the music.

Collier has a way of making the pedal steel guitar sound bigger than its reputation. In his hands, the instrument can sing, cry out and cut through a groove with the force of a lead guitar. His sound grew from the sacred steel tradition, where playing is as much an expression of feeling as it is a display of skill. That spirit gives his music its pull: you can appreciate the technique, but you don’t need to know a thing about the instrument to feel what he’s saying.

The Power Trio format puts that voice at the center. It gives Collier and his band room to build a groove, follow an idea and let the music move wherever the moment takes it. At Crazy Uncle Mike’s, that sense of possibility made Mike’s birthday show feel like more than an occasion marked on the calendar.

Collier’s playing carries the warmth of gospel, the bite of blues and the freedom of a great jam. He doesn’t have to say much to hold a room’s attention. When he sits down at the pedal steel, the conversation has already begun.

Photos by Larry Marano:

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