For the past several months, I've had the privilege of profiling some of the finest young pedal steel players keeping traditional country music alive. Kevin Skrla, Muskrat Jones, Caleb Melo - and now, as we close out 2025, we turn our attention to a Texas steel man whose tasteful touch has helped define one of the most authentic traditional sounds on the road today.
There's a moment that happens at every Jake Worthington show - somewhere between the shuffle beat kicking in and the fiddle crying its first note - when the pedal steel enters. It doesn't demand your attention. It doesn't showboat. It simply arrives, like an old friend sliding into the booth beside you at a honky-tonk, ready to tell you exactly what you needed to hear.
That's Adam Goodale. And in a world where pedal steel players often chase the fastest licks and the flashiest chops, Goodale has built his reputation on something far more rare: restraint that speaks volumes.
(Introduction and Solo to song ending from recently filmed studio session. Full video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXda4LaDLxk)
The Texas Steel Man
Adam Goodale - known on social media as @txsteelman - represents a new generation of steel players who've earned their stripes in the Texas dance halls and honky-tonks that remain the beating heart of traditional country music. In November 2023, that journey reached a significant milestone when Goodale took home Steel Guitar Player of the Year at the Texas Country Music Awards, the same night his boss Jake Worthington won Male Artist of the Year and Country Album of the Year.
It was a fitting recognition for a player who has been instrumental - quite literally - in helping Worthington bring what Saving Country Music called "true traditional country in its most pure form" to stages across the nation. From Worthington's Grand Ole Opry debut to Red Rocks Amphitheatre opening for Lainey Wilson, from ERNEST's This Fire Tour to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Goodale has been there, adding that essential steel guitar voice to every performance.
His resume reads like a roadmap of Texas country: stints with Jody Nix and the Texas Cowboys, recently on the road with up and comer Drake Milligan, time with the Jason Allen Band, and countless nights in dance halls from Coupland to Fort Worth. It's the kind of dues-paying that can't be faked and can't be bought.
Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre
On Heroes and Honesty
When I asked Adam about that one signature lick every steel player borrows from their heroes, his answer revealed everything about his musical philosophy. He pointed me to Dicky Overbey's intro on Connie Smith's "I Love Charlie Brown" - a 1968 recording that showcases the kind of melodic sensitivity that has defined the best Nashville steel playing for generations.
"Almost everything I play is stolen from my heroes," Adam admitted with characteristic honesty.
Overbey, a Steel Guitar Hall of Fame inductee, was known for his work with Faron Young, Connie Smith, Johnny Bush, Ronnie Milsap, and Hank Williams Jr. Forum posts from players who knew him describe a man who "got more out of a guitar with less pedal setup than anyone," with "a touch and style all his own." One player wrote that Overbey was "the Roy Buchanan of the pedal steel...nobody played with more soul and feeling."
That lineage matters. When you trace Goodale's influences back through Overbey to the classic Nashville sound of the '60s and '70s, you understand why his playing feels so rooted, so authentic.
Building the Perfect Player
I asked Adam to create the ultimate steel guitar Frankenstein - to cherry-pick attributes from the greats to build the perfect player. His answer was a masterclass in understanding what makes steel guitar magic:
"Rick Price's tone, Jimmy Crawford's speed, Jimmy Day's soul, and Buddy Emmons' left hand."
These aren't casual name-drops. Rick Price, the Texas steel master known for what one forum member called "the clearest, cleanest tone, brightest sound" he'd ever heard coming from a steel. Jimmy Crawford, the Hall of Famer whose "rolling style with pedals and knee levers" was described as "fascinating" - a player who "demanded flawless execution" and whose techniques "knew no rules." Jimmy Day, the man they called "Mr. Country Soul," who played on Ray Price's "Crazy Arms" and "Heartaches by the Number" and whose playing on the E9th neck was described as "strange and soulful as can be imagined." And Buddy Emmons - the Big E himself - whose left-hand technique revolutionized what the instrument could do.
Notice what Adam didn't say. He didn't ask for anyone's showmanship. He didn't mention stage presence or flash. He asked for tone, speed, soul, and technique - the invisible ingredients that separate craftsmen from entertainers.
What YouTube Can't Teach You
Perhaps the most revealing answer came when I asked what lesson about steel guitar can only be learned from 2 AM load-outs and 500-mile drives to the next honky-tonk:
"How to play tastefully in a band. Often times, a song might call for a simple fill or swell, and not something fancy. Sometimes it needs nothing at all and it's best if you just take your hands off of the instrument completely and let the song breathe."
He added, with a laugh: "That's something that you won't learn from practicing at home or taking lessons. That comes from getting to share the stage with musicians that are better than you are and are kind enough to tolerate you."
This is the essence of Goodale's approach: knowing when not to play is just as important as knowing how. It's a lesson that Jimmy Day embodied in his work with Ray Price and Willie Nelson - what Bobbe Seymour described as playing "the most interesting harmonies that most people would say 'that just plain won't work.' However, Jimmy makes it work and work well."
Looking Forward, Looking Back
When I asked what still scares him about tomorrow and what thrills him about taking that seat every night, Adam's answer touched on something I've been thinking about a lot lately:
"The introduction of Artificial Intelligence to music does scare me. While I don't believe it will ever accurately emulate emotion like live music does, it could definitely affect the economics of our industry."
But then came the other half of the equation:
"What excites me the most is getting to make people happy. We get to bring people joy while we're on stage and they get to check out from reality and real life while they're focusing on a concert."
There it is - the reason the pedal steel guitar matters, why places like Cain's Ballroom and Billy Bob's Texas still fill up on weekends, why Jake Worthington can pack honky-tonks from coast to coast. It's not about technology or algorithms. It's about human connection. About that moment when the steel guitar swells beneath a heartbreak lyric and something in your chest responds.
The Green Room Playlist
I had to ask the eternal question: if stuck in a green room for eternity with one pedal steel album, which keeps you sane and which drives you insane?
For sanity: "Buddy Emmons Sings Bob Wills is something I thoroughly enjoy."
That 1976 album is a landmark recording - Emmons singing and playing C6th pedal-style alongside Leon Rhodes, Johnny Gimble, and Pig Robbins. It's pure Western swing filtered through one of the greatest steel players who ever lived.
For insanity: "Julian Tharpe's 'Jet Age' album would drive me insane. I've been digging into that album lately and it's just insanely complicated stuff."
Julian Tharpe was a Steel Guitar Hall of Fame inductee known for playing what one veteran called "impossible" material. His custom Sierra guitars had configurations unlike anyone else's, and his playing was described by those who saw him as "not from this universe." That Goodale is diving deep into Tharpe's work tells you he's not content to coast on what he already knows. He's still studying, still pushing.
Thirty Years From Now
I closed by asking what he hopes some kid learning his licks off old recordings hears thirty years from now:
"I'm always honored when other steel players notice something I play. I hope that they think what I played was tasteful and fits the song. My goal is always to inspire the singer and support what they're doing, so hopefully it comes across to the listener."
Not flash. Not pyrotechnics. Tasteful. Fitting. Supporting.
Breaking the Only Rule That Matters
As part of a new generation keeping steel guitar relevant, I asked Adam about his responsibility to the old masters and what rules he's willing to break:
"I feel the biggest responsibilities we have to the players before us is giving credit to them for the development of the instrument, learning from their playing, and most importantly, passing on the things they have shared with us to the younger generations of steel players that did not have access to the players that came before us."
And the rules worth breaking?
"As for broken rules, I believe the only rules there are to break is that pedal steel guitar must fit into a specific box. That rule should definitely be broken. It's a versatile instrument that can play anything that the player is capable of!"
The Expensive Lesson and the Cheap Trick
Every touring musician has gear horror stories. Adam's most expensive mistake? "Letting hands put my steel into a case that had gotten wet, without me knowing. That was a rusty (and expensive) mess to deal with!"
But here's the cheap trick that's saved him countless times: "Always keep an extra volume pedal handy. They always seem to fail at inopportune times. I keep an extra in the back of my amplifier, and it's saved me more times than I can count!"
File that one under hard-earned wisdom, fellow pickers.
The Machine In Front Of Him
When it comes to gear, Goodale keeps it vintage where it counts.
His main instruments are two Emmons Bolt-ons - a 1966 and a 1967 - the kind of guitars that carry decades of honky-tonk history in their very bones.
Built during the golden era of pedal steel manufacturing, these instruments represent a direct connection to the players Adam studies and reveres. For volume control, he relies on a Telonics pedal, and his amp choices reveal a player who knows exactly what he wants to hear. Goodale has a particular affection for 1980s Peavey solid-state amps - workhorses that have powered countless dance halls and beer joints across Texas.
He also frequently runs a Milkman Amp 100 through a 12" Little Walter cabinet, a modern rig that delivers the kind of warm, clear tone that lets every nuance of his playing shine through. It's a setup that balances reverence for the past with practical reliability - much like the man himself.
(Photo from Adam Goodale)
The Path
When I asked what 12-year-old Adam would think about the stages he's playing now, his answer was pure contentment:
"12 year old me would be blown away and thrilled. I have always loved music and grew up in a musical family, so I have always known that my path in life would include music."
That path has led from Texas dance halls to the Grand Ole Opry stage, from Bob Wills Day to the Texas Country Music Awards podium. And if there's one thing I've learned from covering these players month after month, it's that the path never really ends. The learning continues. The studying continues. The 2 AM load-outs continue.
Adam Goodale represents exactly what we need more of in country music: players who understand that the steel guitar exists to serve the song, to support the singer, to make people happy. Not to show off. Not to impress other players. But to connect.
The next time you catch Jake Worthington live - whether it's on the Jon Pardi run, or wherever that Big Loud Texas traditionalist sound takes him next.
Pay attention to that moment when the steel enters. Watch how Goodale reads the room, serves the lyric, and knows exactly when to step forward and when to let the song breathe.
That's not just technique. That's taste. And in a world of algorithms and artificial everything, taste might be the most human thing we have left.
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Do you part and Keep Traditional Country Alive,
Rusty
Don't forget to check Adam Goodale out on his socials! @txsteelman on TikTok and Instagram.
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Special thanks to Colin Warren for providing the photos featured in this article, captured during Jake's recent tour supporting Zach Top. Truly, this man is a fantastic photographer who just recently got his work published in a Large Print Magazine! (Congrats Colin!)
Check out more of Colin's work at colinwarrenmedia.com and follow him on Instagram at @ColinWarren.
1 comment
Absolutely another home run article!!!! thank you!!!! can’t wait to hear all of his music!!!