World Cafe Nashville: Steelism

XPN | By Talia Schlanger

Published April 6, 2017 at 2:52 PM MDT

Spencer Cullum Jr. and Jeremy Fetzer are the duo Steelism.

In this session, we're shining a spotlight on two elements that never seem to take center stage: backing musicians and music without words. But trust me, they deserve the limelight. Steelism is a Nashville duo made up of ace guitarist Jeremy Fetzer and pedal-steel player Spencer Cullum Jr. Between them, Cullum and Fetzer have played with a lot of Music City's biggest names, including Miranda Lambert, Caitlin Rose and Wanda Jackson. But, with Steelism, they've got their own backing band.

Steelism played a special session for us at City Winery in Nashville back in October to launch our World Cafe Nashville series. Relive the show with us by listening to the complete performance above.

Music

Talia Schlanger

Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.

See stories by Talia Schlanger