Kayton Roberts – Keeper of the Pedal-Less Steel Guitar
It’s hard enough for side players in any genre to receive the recognition their contributions to the music deserve, let alone ones who choose a discipline that is a dying art. Kayton Roberts had it hard enough as a steel guitar player, whose numbers seem to be dwindling more and more every year as the appeal for the signature moan that is vital to the sound of true country music continues to fall out of favor in the mainstream. But Kayton’s instrument of choice—the pedal-less steel—was in even less demand throughout his 60-something year career. Yet someone had to keep the sound alive and show younger players with interest in the obscure discipline the ropes. And for years that was Kayton Roberts.
Known mostly for his service as the steel guitar player for Hank Snow’s Rainbow Ranch Boys starting in 1968, and for playing with the Canadian country star all the way up to Snow’s death in 1999, Kayton Roberts also recorded and played with the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Randy Travis, Aaron Tippin, John Fogerty, Billy Walker, Riders in the Sky, Alison Krauss, Billy Joe Shaver, Chubby Wise, Brother Oswald, and others throughout his legendary career.
“By the time he moved to Nashville it was all about pedal steel, pedal steel. Buddy Emmons, Buddy Emmons, Buddy Emmons,” explains Andy Gibson, a fellow pedal-less steel guitar player who made his name for many years touring and recording with Hank Williams III. “Even though he could pretty much play circles around a lot of those guys, people listen with their eyes, and so he didn’t get much recognition. If he had moved to Nashville in ’52, he’d probably be in the Hall of Fame right now. It was the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Born Kayton Author Roberts in Ona, Florida on November 25, 1933, Kayton started playing music around the age of 10 in his father’s country band, eventually leaving to perform in radio stations and local TV bands in Gainesville and Jacksonville. In 1964 Kayton Roberts received his first national recognition when fellow steel player Jerry Byrd recorded his song “Chime In” on his Admirable Byrd record.
Kayton moved to Nashville a few years later, and played rhythm guitar with Hank Snow initially. “He was good friends with Chubby Wise. He and Chubby are from the same town in Florida,” Andy Gibson explains. “Chubby got him the gig playing rhythm guitar with Hank Snow, and was playing with him for about two years. Jimmy Crawford was playing steel. And when Jimmy left, Hank Snow got wind that Kayton knew that style that he likes. That Joe Talbot, Jerry Byrd kind of stuff. So Kayton was the steel guitar player for [Hank Snow] until he passed away.”
Different from the pedal steel guitar—where the players utilize pedals and knee levers that allow the instrument to make its unique, bending sound—the pedal-less steel is its own separate discipline, and hearkens back to the earliest times in country music when the steel guitar was very first introduced. This was the sound of Hank Williams and others, popularized after World War II, partly due to the appeal brought back home from GI’s who first heard the sound in the Hawaiian Islands, and also for the instrument’s ability to mimic the sounds of the old train whistles. Sometimes the instrument is also referred to as a stand up steel, or a unpedaled lap steel, though it’s played on legs and with a double neck unlike a more customary lap steel guitar.

“It’s a totally different sound, and if you ask me, it’s a totally different instrument,” says Andy Gibson. Pedal-less steel players rarely play pedal steel, and vice versa. Though most country artists desire the more recognizable sound of the steel guitar, including the older and more traditional ones, when Hank Williams III went to record his 2002 album Lovesick, Broke, & Driftin’, it was the specific, vintage moan of the Kayton Roberts pedal-less steel that he sought.
Aside from a 1992 interview in Steel Guitar World, an appearance on The Marty Stuart Show, and a few other pieces of press, about the only recognition Kayton Roberts received beyond his peers was in the insert for Hank3’s Lovesick, Broke, & Driftin’ record. It included a four paragraph bio and appreciation for Kayton, along with a picture of the steel guitar legend on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry—a spot Kayton knew well through his years of service to Hank Snow and others.
“Kayton Roberts is as genuine as they come, and there’s little he can’t do on that old red Fender steel guitar,” read the liner notes. “Just remember when you hear that train whistle coming, look out, it’s probably Kayton.”
He played a 1951 Fender model steel with a Canadian flag on the front from his Hank Snow service time. And when not out playing on the road, Kayton Roberts had a day job for many years retreading tires if you can believe it. He wrote numerous instrumentals for the steel guitar that are well-known by steel guitar aficionados, and released a total of seven albums on his own beyond his contributions to other artists.
Kayton Roberts died on Thursday, July 13th after suffering a stroke. He was 83-years-old. Kayton is survived by his children Louis Roberts, Jan Roberts-Williams and Martin Roberts, and five grandchildren. A funeral will be held July 23rd at 4:00 p.m. at The Church at Grace Park, 506 Hester Drive, in White House, TN. A celebration of the life of Kayton Roberts will follow.
Only a few true pedal-less steel guitar players now remain, including Andy Gibson, Cindy Cashdollar, and a few select others. But if not for Kayton Roberts, the specific discipline of pedal-less steel that is so vital to the original sound of country music, may have died off decades ago.
July 18, 2017 @ 7:58 am
What a great player! He’ll be missed! I can very much recommend his solo album, “Valley of the Roses”, from a few years back – great stuff!
July 18, 2017 @ 7:59 am
That’s really interesting. I’ve always thought that “lap steel guitar” “pedal steel guitar” and “steel guitar” were synonymous, but if I read this correctly, “pedal steel guitar” and “pedal-less steel guitar” are subsets of “lap steel guitar” which is a subset of the general “steel guitar” world?
July 18, 2017 @ 8:14 am
No, steel guitar is the general category. Pedal and lap are different subcategories. You might also hear “console steel,” which can refer to pedal-less steels that don’t sit on your lap but are elevated on legs and have multiple boards with strings on them.
July 18, 2017 @ 8:54 am
Thanks for the reply — very informative.
What about the dobro — would you call that a steel guitar? I’ve seen people play them held conventionally like a regular guitar and slug lap-style as well.
July 18, 2017 @ 10:40 am
Don’t know whether steelers consider dobro one of their own. There’s also “Weissenborn guitar,” which is also played in the lap.
July 19, 2017 @ 6:55 am
Anything played with a steel bar is generally considered a “steel guitar”…..so dobro falls in to that category.
July 18, 2017 @ 8:12 am
Ah, a most sincere and heartfelt RIP! Kayton Roberts was great.
The tradition is alive, though. Johnny Lam in NYC is a great lap steel player, but there are others. Jeremy Wakefield is a complete master and still in the prime of his life. Jon Graboff is a younger pedal steel player I think who is really great, too. Dave Biller, same (and a fantastic tele player). There are many such guys, in addition to the remaining old-timers, but you have to seek them out.
You know what produced players like Buddy Emmons? The Honolulu Conservatory of Music (love it) based, of all places, in Cleveland, Ohio. It had branches all over the midwest, prolonging I suppose a decades-long middle class lark for Hawaiian music. A lot of steel players of all kinds came out of that ‘middlebrow’ environment and became, like Emmons, truly great musicians.
Now? I don’t know of any similar organizations. The middle class has shrunk in size. Junk shops are full of old pianos. Musical illiteracy predominates everywhere. Pedal steels require machinist expertise to fabricate and maintain. They’re expensive, too. It’s going to continue to be a niche area until we solve the cost problem, because even little kids respond to the sheer wackiness of steel guitar.
Steel guitar can convey everything from wacky to weeping. Get into it!
July 18, 2017 @ 2:54 pm
I’ve always said that if I ever hit the lottery, I’d open up a steel guitar school with the best professional players as instructors. As you said, steel guitars (especially pedal steels) are far too expensive for someone to buy when they don’t even know if they have the talent to buy one. Anybody can go to a pawn shop and buy a guitar, drums, bass, keyboard, etc. for fairly cheap and teach themselves. That’s really not an option with steel guitars.
July 18, 2017 @ 4:11 pm
*that should have said “the talent to play one.”, not “buy one”.
July 18, 2017 @ 8:46 am
Disclaimer — I got a little choked up watching that.
July 18, 2017 @ 8:51 am
Kayton was great!!!! Here’s some other steel players I’ve seen who favor no pedal. Chris Scruggs who currently plays in Marty Stuarts band. He’s prominently playing on the Way Out West album. Also Donnie Herron now with Bob Dylan, but best loved as the engine in BR549! Then there’s Eddie Rivers who plays in Asleep at The Wheel. Just saw him in May in Nashville and he’s tremendous. And don’t forget Junior Brown, his guit-steel is pedal less. So the instrument is alive and kicking.
July 18, 2017 @ 11:04 am
When I first started Saving Country Music, you could tell who the real deal bands were because they had a stand up steel player as opposed to a pedal steel. That was the sound of the new school old country movement indicative of BR549, Hank3, and the Lower Broadway sound (before it became a tourist trap). And Kayton was they guy many of them looked up to and mentored under.
July 18, 2017 @ 9:22 am
Wonderful read, thank you!
July 18, 2017 @ 10:19 am
Nice. Love steel guitar and always like reading about sidemen and session players. And unless you’re Patsy Cline or George Jones, I always thought too much attention is heaped on singers who are usually just performing a song they didn’t even write.
July 18, 2017 @ 12:56 pm
RIP. Huge fan of Kayton’s. Great player and seemingly good human.
Another great player who played with legends that I’m pretty sure is still alive is Billy Robinson.
https://youtu.be/O2nXkL8V9P8
July 23, 2017 @ 12:56 pm
What an outstanding sound he gets in that video.
Just beautiful.
Thanks a lot, I really enjoy reading about the various sidemen.
July 24, 2017 @ 10:39 am
Thanks for this. I’m glad you and others, like Marty are recognizing the greats who are often overlooked. I also learned that Hank Snow was Canadian! Sounds like Kayton got to live his dream and was recognized by many for his talent before he passed, which is always comforting.
July 25, 2017 @ 9:46 pm
I’m 19 years old. I bought my first pedal steel guitar last year at age 18 and I help out local bands here and there. I long to play like these guys who have console and lap steels, they can slant that bar and shimmy it up the fretboard faster than I can in half a second. Kayton could make that thing sound like a dream. Rest In Peace Kayton.
February 24, 2019 @ 11:35 pm
I wrote Kayton a letter and mailed it to him. We became PenPals. He sent me pictures. He was mourning from the Death of his wife,who played organ/piano, with him. They both were Christians,and served Christ. He continued to enjoy his God-given Talent. He loved Marty Stuart as a Son. He was so talented on different instruments. He started with Hank Snow as a Guitar Player,then moved to the 8-String/Non-Pedal Steel. He enjoyed being in Hank Snow’s Rainbow Ranch Boys til Hank left the Opry in 1996 due to being in bad health. Marty Stuart, would bring Kayton as a Guest Star on the Opry,occasionally.
Kayton served in the U.S. Navy,during the Korean War Conflict. R.I.P in GOD’s Eternal House.