In a career stretching back to the mid-Sixties, BJ’s recording credits read like a who’s who’ of music. He has carved an outstanding reputation as the supreme innovator on the pedal steel; adapting it across numerous genres of music.
His uniquely eclectic style of playing first made an impact on the British music scene in the early 1970's. His iconic performance on Elton John's classic 'Tiny Dancer' put him in place as the go-to pedal steel player for numerous major artists and bands who desired his unique sound on their tracks. READ MORE
"Best Pedal Steel player in the World I'd say .." Sting
After a career in music of over 50 years in which he has explored every stylistic nook and cranny; where has BJ Cole left to go to find something new to say in music?
Well, back to his roots of course To his passion for the lyricism of Hank Marvin’s guitar, Santo & Johnny’s ’Sleepwalk’ and the music of the Hawaiian Islands. The sounds that ignited his musical flame.
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My father was not an active musician himself, but he always encouraged me in my passion for the steel guitar, and often drove me around to gigs before I was able to do so myself. He also built me a…
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How I got to go on an American tour with the Verve was an unlikely combination of circumstances.
Following the falling out of Richard Ashcroft and Verve guitarist Nick McCabe, I got a call from Richard asking me to join…
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The first half of the 1970’s was my most intense period of session work.
Following the high profile use of my Steel Guitar on Elton John’s track ‘Tiny Dancer’, everybody wanted to use me. Of the arrangers I worked with,…
Late one evening in 1972, around 10 PM, the phone rang. It was Steve Brown of Dick James Music, he was in London's Soho, working on a project, and…
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Back in the late 1970’s Country music in the UK was in a worse state than it is today, but that didn’t stop me establishing a record label dedicated to encouraging British musical talent who wished to express themselves through…
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