| · Rauhouse’s nicknames include "Orchid Fingers," "Pumpkinhead" and "Nicest Guy in Show Biz"
The steel guitar is one of those instruments that can sneak into a song with little fanfare, even though many people love its sound. If the bandleader doesn’t take the time to shout "Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Jimmy Roy!" during a steel solo, you might not pay enough regard to the player behind the pedals. Unless that player is Jon Rauhouse. Despite his prodigious grasp of the title instrument he also commands more instruments than everybody on Bloodshot Records combined.
A follow-up to Steel Guitar Air Show released in 2002, Jon Rauhouse’s Steel Guitar Rodeo is an 18-song gem that places the title instrument in front, but not at the expense of other talents. With help from friends Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, Howe Gelb, Sally Timms and Carolyn Mark as well as Joey Burns, John Convertino and Jacob Valenzuela from Calexico, this album is fuelled by people who love making music.
Many of the songs clock in around the two-minute mark and while half of them are original Rauhouse tunes, they fit right in with vintage hits like "River of No Return," "Perry Mason Theme" and "Prisoner of Love."
Poised with both instrumental and vocal tracks, Steel Guitar Rodeo rolls along with a resonance of the upbeat and melancholy and reinforces Mr. Orchid Fingers as an indisputable talent. This is one Rodeo that will make for wonderful listening on hot summer nights.
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