About Wiz Feinberg's history in the music business, his musical equipment and gig schedule
Wiz's Biography
My Bio and History in the Music Business
Wiztunes' Website Links:
Let me tell you a few things about who I am and how I moved up in the music business:
First of all, my name is Bob Feinberg, but I'm professionally known as "Wiz". I was born at a very early age, in Chicago, Illinois. I have been playing the pedal steel guitar since 1974.
I had been wanting to try the steel guitar since I was a teenager, in 1964, when I saw Tom Brumley playing steel with Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, at a concert in Chicago. It would take 10 years before I even saw one in person, close up!
The way it all changed was I was working in the rentals department of a small music store (Hudson's Music Box), in 1974, when I discovered that there was a brand new single-neck Sho~Bud model 6139 pedal steel guitar in the basement. The owner let me rent it, then buy it, on a monthly payment basis. I had no idea that I was launching a lifelong career! I played that guitar for the next year, before moving up to a Sho~Bud Lloyd Green model, in 1975.
For the first six months I practiced at home, sometimes up to 10 hours per day. I had the police called on me more than once for disturbing the peace! I guess it sounded like a cat fight to my neighbors! Luckily for all, I improved rapidly. On weekends I would hit the various bars, where the local bands played Country Music (I like both kinds of music; Country AND Western!). I already knew most of the musicians and leaders from my job in the instrument rentals department at Hudson's Music Box. I let all of the band-leaders know that I was learning the steel guitar and most of them invited me to sit in, once I felt I was ready to do so.
The early years in my music career
My first sit-in gig came about 5 months after I began playing the instrument, when I finally got up the nerve to haul the gear out of my room and into my car. I went out on a Saturday afternoon, when the bands played their matinees, and began making the rounds. For the next year and a half I continued to sit-in at matinees, taking whatever paid gigs I was offered, including many shit houses, and practicing endlessly with my record player, or cassette player next to me. I learned as much as I could from other players, from books and records and by gleaning licks from recordings on the radio. During this time I played in local bars and occasionally went out on short road trips, where the money was better. I got to work with a lot of awesome players in the many bands I freelanced with and got to be quite well known and respected as a steel player who played it like the record.
My woodshedding finally paid off in the summer of 1976, while I was hanging out at Bob Lucier's steel guitar shop, Southdown Music, in Canada. In a case of being in the right place at the right time, a local recording artist, Artie MacLaren called the store to ask if they knew a steel player who was available the next week and was good enough to pick up on his originals as well as radio covers. Bob referred me to Artie who, after interviewing me on the phone, hired me conditionally for two weeks on a road gig. At the end of the first week I was offered the gig fulltime! That tryout turned out to be a four year Great Canadian Tour! I remained in that recording artist's band from July of 1976 thru August of 1980. Artie MacLaren released many hit records in Canada during my time with the band. I had the privilege of playing on several of his recording sessions that got lots of airplay. Through my connections with Artie's friends I had the opportunity to play on their records. I got to do all manner of live radio broadcasts, cable TV shows, fairs, backup band work for other recording artists, studio work, as well as touring Canadian nightclubs for four years.
I was also fortunate along my journey to make friends with many top notch steel players from whom I received invaluable tips and one on one lessons. Some of them are; Bob Lucier, Steve Smith, Mickey Andrews, Al Brisco, Herby Wallace, Jimmy Crawford, Bobby Seymour, and Doug Jernigan. Thanks guys!
How I became The Wiz
When I joined Artie MacLaren's band I was still using my actual name, Bob Feinberg. This bothered Artie because he believed that every musician in his band deserved a unique stage name. As I had none he observed my behavior for a few months, but was stumped on what my stage name should be. About three months into the gig we were on the road somewhere, partying after the night was over in Artie's hotel room. Did you know that bands tend to party while on the road? ;-)
We were all pretty wasted on booze and pot when I picked up a comic book magazine that Artie left on an end table. It was titled The King Is A Fink, which was part of a long series of books about the fictitious Wizard Of Id. About that time I had a beard and my eyes were half closed. As I stood by the table I raised my right hand, pointing my index finger to the ceiling, while holding the book in my left hand and said "I have an announcment." Everybody quieted down to see what I had to say, including Artie who was stretched out on his bed with a glass of Scotch in his hand. Reading from a random Wizard Of Id page I proclaimed in a loud voice: "THE KING IS A FINK !"
The room was eerily quiet for a few seconds as the guys in the band absorbed this information. Then, Artie moved his drink to his left hand and raised his right hand, pointing his index finger at me, and proclaimed: "YOU ARE THE WIZ !!!" And the rest is history. That stagename/nickname has stuck with me for the rest of my life in all of my professional pursuits, including the music business, my former computer troubleshooting and Webmaster business, up to right now in my leather and sewing career. Sadly, Artie is gone, but not forgotten.
During my tenure with Artie MacLaren I traded up my steel to a red double-neck Sho~Bud Pro II Custom, with 8 pedals and 6 knee levers. This was my third steel guitar in just three years (1974 - 1977).
One of the high points of those haydays was the period of time around 1978, when Artie teamed up with the recording artist and TV star, Ronnie Prophet. I got to play with Ronnie on a rotating stage, at an outdoor show attended by about 10,000 people. It was video-taped by a production company, then sold and re-run on network television for 4 seasons. Ronnie Prophet was an ace guy and a great musician and comedian. He always gave a proper introduction of his sidemen in the band (We went as The Ronnie Prophet Show). He even introduced Artie MacLaren, explaining to 10,000 people that this was actually "his band" and then gave Artie a spot to feature one of his own songs (translate into writer's royalty-$$$ and free publicity)!
Another high point of my time with Artie MacLaren came when we went out on a tour in Eastern Canada, I think in 1979, taking along singer-songwriters Gary Buck and Dallas Harms. Dallas Harms is best known as the author of Paper Rosie, which was recorded and released by Gene Watson. Dallas told me that his first royalty check had 6 figures on it! I'm here to tell you that we partied a lot on that tour!
In those days bands played 6 nights, plus a Saturday matinee, with some gigs running for one week and others for two. Mostly we lived like gypsies, traveling from town to town in a Dodge van hauling a trailer full of gear. Most of the sidemen were single and we didn't mind living out of a suitcase, often for weeks at a time, on the road. The leader always got his own room, while the rest of the band doubled, or tripled up in the other room(s). Sometimes I even got a room to myself! I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
I left Artie MacLaren's band in 1980 and went out as a freelance musician again. In the spring of 1981 I traded up my steel guitar - from a red Sho~Bud Pro II Custom, to a green Sho~Bud Super Pro, with 10 pedals and 10 knee levers. After going back on the road I discovered that the knee lever mounts on my Super~Pro were made from cheap pot metal, which caused them to break at the worst times, while I was playing gigs. On one of my road gigs I met another steel player who worked in a machine shop. He had run into the same problem of cracking knee lever mounts and had made a pile of solid aluminum replacements. I got 10 of his replacement mounts and didn't break any more knee levers for as long as I owned that guitar. I continued playing that Sho~Bud Super Pro almost 23 years, until January, 2004, when I traded it in on a 1983 Emmons push pull.
My next highpoint came in 1983 when I joined Johnny Burke and EastWind; a fabulous six piece Country showband. EastWind consisted of front man Johnny Burke, on rhythm and lead vocals; a super hot fiddle player named Brian Barron, a hot lead guitarist (Neal?), a rock solid bass player - Randy Russell, an excellent drummer - Jim Cadden, and myself on pedal steel guitar. Everything was rehearsed, as per the recorded version of whatever song we were doing. Each one of us listened to his own parts as we travelled across the country in a 21' box van, which was customized for band use and equipment storage. By the time we arrived and set up our gear we had learned two or three more songs, without having picked up an instrument. Johnny hired people who could think on their feet! It was one of the hotter bands I have played in. I played hard and aggressively; a trait which I have kept to this day. I developed a killer instinct when on stage, which is needed for precise, intense execution of a branch of music which has a lot of mixed emotions and meanings in it. This is part of being a hunter / gatherer.
The middle years in my music career
In 1981, I played on a road gig with my long time bandleader friend, Ed Bernard, that included a singer/songwriter/bass player named Sylvia Jo Burrow, who was from Flint, Michigan. Sylvia Jo hired me and Ed to go on the road to Bossier City, Louisiana. After that tour, I continued playing occasional gigs in Flint, Michigan, with Sylvia Jo and other Michigan based bands that got to hear me play. During those years I worked both sides of the US-Canada border, playing hundreds of gigs between Ontario and Michigan. In 1989, Sylvia Jo bought The Wagon Wheel Lounge, in Flint, Michigan, and I became her first house steel player, alternating with Billy Cole until about 1993. Then in the fall of 1996, I moved in a Pontiac station wagon to Flint, Michigan and started over from scratch.
Shortly after moving to Flint, I was able to get right into a working, serious band - The Taylor Brothers Band, with whom I worked from December 1996 through September 2004. The Taylor Brothers are identical twins and recording artists. They played a variety of Country and Soft-Rock Music styles, including an Everly Brothers Tribute Act. I enjoyed some of my happiest times working with them and had the opportunity to open for or backup many travelling recording artists, including the hilarious Haggar Twins. I even met my former wife while playing with the Taylor Brothers!
During the late summer of 2004, the Taylor Brothers Band worked far less than in previous years, so I took work with the Steve Stokes Band, based in Lapeer, Michigan. Steve Stokes was an excellent performer who did a variety of newer Country music that was on the radio at the time. The band was very powerful and tight and well received most everywhere they appeared. Some of my raunchiest licks were played while I was with the Steve Stokes Band.
On September 24, 2004 I began working a house gig, three nights a week, in the Flint 629 Eagles club - with the Southern Accent Band. Southern Accent featured Hershell Hobgood as leader on bass and vocals, Ed Bernard on lead and vocals, Ginny Baumgartner on vocals, and Bobby Rich on drums. They played a mixture of Old, Traditional, and then current Country Music, with a touch of Country-Rock and Classic Rock and Roll. I worked with this band, through May 2007.
On June 4, 2007 I left Flint and relocated to the vicinity of Little Rock, Arkansas, where I had to start from scratch finding gigs and day work. After several months of floating around there I returned to Flint to finish off the Southern Accent Band's 2007 gigs at the Flint Eagles Club. Unfortunately, three members of that band quit after the New Years Eve 2007-2008 gig and we had to regroup.
After the Southern Accent Band broke up, with three of the five members quiting on January 1, 2008, the lead player, Ed Bernard, and I stayed on and regrouped. Ed hired a new drummer and bass player for the band, which was soon renamed to the "Ace High" band. Ed left Ace High (and Michigan) in the Winter of 2008, after which the band went through a lot of changes. We ended our time there around 2014 under the band name The Wiztones, with yours truly being band leader.
During the late spring of 2008 I learned that a guitarist named Donny Korth was seeking a steel player to try out for his new band, called the Flintones. I auditioned in May of 2008 and was hired on. The Flintones only played on Wednesdays, first at Bubba O'Malleys in Burton Michigan, and finally, at Shaps Family Restaurant, in Flint, Michigan. The Flintones was a 7 piece act that played a variety of music ranging from Traditional Country, through New Country, to Southern Rock. That band broke up in the beginning of December, 2010.
I floated around with various Michigan Country and Outlaw bands during the period from 2010 through 2013. This included stints with Mandi Layne and the Lost Highway, The Pole Barn Rebels, and a house gig in a local bar across the water from my trailer park called The Stroll Inn. Then during 2014, I got hired by Kenny Kens and the Brown Bottle Boys, playing only classic Country Music. Kenny was like Earnest Tubb and a joy to work with. He did Country songs from the 1960s through the 1980s. Most of the gigs featured me on steel and Dave Bettingfield on lead guitar. Dave plays a Telecaster with lots of twang. Hearing us together was like hearing Buddy and Leon backing up Earnet Tubb, or Don Rich and Tom Brumley backing up Buck Owens!
The last 10 years to current day in my career
In the late spring of 2014, I got hired on 3 hours notice to play a gig with the Joey Vee Band, based in Macomb County, Michigan. Joey has a Traditional and originals Country show band, featuring between 6 and 10 people on stage. The first gig in 2024 will mark my 10th consecutive year working for him. We play mostly one or two long set shows at marinas, large clubs, beer tents, and outdoor concerts around St. Clair Shores. Joey is well respected by his fans. Most shows start with a Color Guard and traveling wall of Michigan's Fallen, from the AmVets Post 29. He is a Patriot.
I am also a parttime member of the Family Tradition Band (FTB), which is a very popular Detroit/Sterling Heights based show band that is also an in demand opening act for many traveling Nashville recording artists who come to Michigan. I have been their exclusive steel guitarist, on an as needed basis, since about 2017 or 2018. TFB plays mostly New Country and originals. They play casinos, fairs, large clubs, and huge beer tents. I am scheduled to go on the road with them as the opening act for a major Nashville act, in March, of 2024. FTB has a huge following on social media, most of whom attend their concerts when they are within driving distance.
While most of my gigs are some variety of radio Country Music of differnt eras, I also do some hard core Outlaw Country gigs with Hard Luck Pete and the Wrong Way Streets. I have recorded on several of Pete's singles and album releases and play on an as needed, as available basis. Pete has played several gigs in the infamous Machine Shop, in Flint, Michigan. His music is very hard core, but his fans like it. Pete is fun to work for and really appreciates pedal steel players.
Finally, in 2020, I was asked by the entertainment director at the Flint 629 Eagles if I could put my namesake Wiztones band back together to bring Classic and Traditional Country Music back to the club. We play there one night, about every 6 to 8 weeks apart. There are 5 of us in the band and all are seasoned pros. We try to play as true to the known versions of the records as possible, while still having fun. We cover most popular dance steps, from waltzes to shuffles to cha-chas to line dances. If you love real Classic Country Music and are in the vicinity of Flint, Michigan, look me up to see when the Wiztones will be playing next.
Other steel players should find it interesting that, in 1978, I traveled to Nashville, where I spent a couple of weeks hanging out with with Bill Lawrence, the World Famous pickup designer/builder. I went there to assist him with design parameters for building a humbucking pickup for my steel guitar. I was playing for Ronnie Prophet at the time and he had just received a set of humbuckers from Bill Lawrence, for his Fender Strat. I had single-coil, non-humbucking pickups, which picked up a lot of hum and static noise, as well as being microphonic and prone to feedback (you could speak into the pickup and hear your voice, sounding like it was on an old telephone set). On the other hand, Ronnie's guitar with the Bill Lawrence pickups was totally quiet, except when the strings were played and completely non-microphonic. Ronnie Prophet lived in Nashville and knew Bill Lawrence personally, so he recommended that I get in touch with Bill to see if he could build humbucking pickups for me. To steel guitarists everywhere the rest is history, in the thousands of Lawrence humbucking pickups in use today, on steel guitars around the world. And now you know the rest of the story! In December, 2001, I replaced the original L-705 pickups on my Sho~Bud Super~Pro, that Bill Lawrence made for me, with his model L-710's, after playing through through the originals for 23 years! Good job Bill!!! 
I still play steel guitar professionally, at 75+, in various night clubs, fairs, and events, with various acts, Some are duos, or trios, while others are 5 or 6 piece bands. I love every minute I spend onstage, no matter what kind of music the band is playing. I hope to continue playing music professionally for as many more years as God sees fit to grant me.
Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! If I think of anything else, or, if anything else of major importance occurs in my career I'll add it to this page.
Thanks for taking the time to read my history page. It has meant a lot to me and I hope you found it enlightening.
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