The Campbell Brothers

The four Campbell brothers -- Chuck on pedal steel, Phillip on electric guitar and bass, Carlton (Phillip's son) on drums, and Darick on eight-string lap steel -- play electric gospel music for the House of God, Keith Dominion church. Emphasizing the steel guitar, the group stick to a repertoire that avoids rock and blues, but nonetheless betrays the influences of those forms in their arrangements, which also draw from country, jazz, and other forms. Although their selection of material is spiritual, the guitar work of Chuck Campbell in particular is imaginative and at times even experimental, using a tuning he devised himself and the E-bow to produce eerie sustain. With Kate Jackson on vocals and Charles Flenory contributing electric guitar to some cuts, they recorded an album for Arhoolie's Sacred Steel series, Pass Me Not, in 1996 and 1997. Both Sacred Steel on Tour! and Sacred Steel for the Holidays saw release in 2001. Can You Feel It? from 2005 appeared on a new label for the group, Ropeadope. Darick Campbell died in Atlanta, Georgia on May 11, 2020 due to complications following heart surgery; he was 53 years old. ~ Richie Unterberger