
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Close your eyes and think of Hawaii. That sound you undoubtedly hear? Well, that’s the ocean. But that other sound floating on the breeze—that’s the steel guitar, an indigenous Hawaiian invention that has influenced country, blues, and rock music since the turn of the 20th century. This time on Sidedoor, we follow a familiar sound with an unexpected origin and learn how the steel guitar helped Hawaiians preserve their culture and change American popular music.
By Smithsonian Institution4.6
21702,170 ratings
Close your eyes and think of Hawaii. That sound you undoubtedly hear? Well, that’s the ocean. But that other sound floating on the breeze—that’s the steel guitar, an indigenous Hawaiian invention that has influenced country, blues, and rock music since the turn of the 20th century. This time on Sidedoor, we follow a familiar sound with an unexpected origin and learn how the steel guitar helped Hawaiians preserve their culture and change American popular music.

91,297 Listeners

43,837 Listeners

26,242 Listeners

1,478 Listeners

6,892 Listeners

1,276 Listeners

1,288 Listeners

3,648 Listeners

4,203 Listeners

2,122 Listeners

16,512 Listeners

3,563 Listeners

5,109 Listeners

2,303 Listeners

1,739 Listeners