SteelRadio.com presents Austin Steel Guitar Fest

September 18, 2026 • Addison Ching • Festivals and Conventions

SteelRadio presents the inaugural Austin Steel Guitar Fest (ASGF) together with the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame (SGHOF) taking place Thursday, October 1st through Saturday, October 3rd at the Austin Marriott South.

There will be 2 days of performances (10am-Midnight) on 2 stages Friday and Saturday, with steel guitar seminars and a Welcome Party with live steel guitar music in the Marriott Hotel lounge on Thursday. This is an indoor event.

The Main Stage will feature members of the SGHOF and "legacy" players along with the players making music and touring today. The Non-Pedal Stage will feature legacy and actively touring non-pedal players, along with dobro and slide guitar performers. A variety of steel guitar vendors and manufacturers will be on-hand along with a selection of vendors from the vibrant and creative Austin Arts community.

Among the performers are steel guitar players that have appeared in HIMELE Hawaiian steel guitar festivals including Alan Akaka, Bobby Ingano, Mark Prucha, Christo Ruppenthal, and Troy Brenningmeyer.

Steel Guitar Hall of Fame President Michael Scott will give a short presentation about the new SGHOF home. The SGHOF was established in 1978, and its plaques were eventually housed in the Millenium Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. When the hotel closed in 2013, the plaques were safely packed away and placed in storage, awaiting a new permanent home. Following the presentation, the inductions of the three newest members of the Hall of Fame will take place. Junior Brown, Lucky Oceans and the late David "Feet" Rogers will join the ranks of more than 80 steel musicians who are members of the SGHOF.

Steel Guitar Hall of Fame

A musical tribute to "Feet" Rogers will be performed by Bobby Ingano, one of Feet's students, on Feet's original Bakelite Rickenbacker. Bobby will be accompanied by musician Alan Akaka.

Alan Akaka, a Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame inductee and recipient of the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Artists' "Lifetime Achievement" award, at the Austin Steel Guitar Festiva, will present a workshop on "Playing the Hawaiian Way." He will share invaluable insights from his extensive journey in Hawaiian music and the steel guitar.

This workshop presents an opportunity to delve into songs, practice strategies, and techniques that will infuse music with a true Hawaiian essence. Fundamentals such as touch, tone, sliding style, blocking, p-tahs, intonation, and dynamics will be covered.

SteelRadio is the broadcast arm of the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame and is dedicated to presenting and preserving music, talk and information about Steel Guitar, Dobro and Slide Guitar. Listener-supported SteelRadio plays music of the heroes of steel guitar and dobro, and also focuses on the way steel and slide guitar are being used today.

For additional Fest details and ticket purchases, please see the Austin Steel Guitar Fest website.