Talking Story with Steve Cheney, Part 2

October 8, 2026 • Geronimo "Geri" Valdriz • Steel Guitar History

PART TWO

GV: What was your first steel guitar?
SC: I started off on a six string lap steel when I took lessons from James Mulligan. I can't even remember the brand name of the guitar. My father worked at a music store as a piano tuner and he brought home the lap steel for me to use. I took steel guitar lessons from Mulligan for under a year. The E7^th tuning I learned was tuned high to low (E / B / G# / E / D / E).

One day a Fender double neck 8 string came into the store. My father bought it and gave it to me. I retuned the E7^th tuning by placing a G# on the top string. It was tuned high to low (G# / E / B / G# / E / D / E / B). It is a console steel guitar and I play it standing up. The second neck was tuned to straight "A" tuning. It was tuned high to low (E / C# / A / E / C# / A / E / A).

GV: Who were the steel guitar players that you listened to back then?
SC: I loved the music of Genoa Keawe on the 49^th State Records and I listened to Benny Rogers on the steel guitar. That music was beautiful traditional hulas that were pure and heartfelt. I also listened to Benny's nephew David "Feet" Rogers who played steel guitar with the "Sons of Hawai‘i".

GV: Did you take steel guitar lessons after you moved to Hawai`‘i?
SC: Yes, I took lessons from steel guitarist Benjamin "Benny" Rogers. After we moved to Hawai‘i my parents got to know Genoa Keawe through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Cheney Family frequently visited Genoa Keawe's band and we knew each other as friends and performing musicians. I even played the steel guitar occasionally for Genoa years later.

So my parents asked Benny Rogers to give me steel guitar lessons and he agreed. I was only 16 years old and probably the only student that Benny Rogers ever had. My parents would drive me to and from his home in Kalihi. He was a very patient and kind man who guided me with my playing technique and Hawaiian touch.

Because I was already playing the steel guitar when I met Benny, he let me continue using my E7^th tuning. He never taught me with music tablature or any written lessons. It was all verbal instruction with no formalities. He never told me what his tuning was, and I never bothered to ask!

He played something, I watched and listened. Then he would have me play on my steel guitar and I would try to play the same way he did it. He would correct me as needed, whether it be about phrasing or bar control. We used my Fender double neck that I brought to the lesson and I never used his Rickenbacher lap steel guitar.

My parents would set the date and time for lessons, according to his schedule. I remember those beautiful and distinct Hawaiian vamps that he played! I learned about the Hawaiian style of playing from Benny in the Hawaiian way. I took lessons from 1965 until 1968. In 1970 Benny Rogers died.

As it turned out, James Mulligan taught me the basics for playing the E7^th tuning and Benny Rogers help me to refine my Hawaiian style of playing the steel guitar.

GV: Aside from your day job at BYUH, were you also playing music at that time?
SC: Yes, in 1972 I started playing Hawaiian music at the Polynesian Cultural Center Dining Lanai with Cy Bridges. Cy is also a master chanter, composer and kumu hula. We also had Ned Aikau, Bill Wallace and Jay Akoi. We performed while the guests were dining and I played the steel guitar.

From 1973 until 1979 I played with the "Calabash Cousins", mostly at major hotels, nightclubs, etc. We also backed up Polynesian shows and big-name performers throughout Waikīkī. We played traditional Hawaiian and pop music. The group consisted of Cy Bridges from Hau‘ula (band leader and lead singer), Jay Akoi from Keaukaha (guitar), Harry Brown from Wai‘ehu Maui (bass) and Joe Cazimero from Kohala (drums). We played about two to three times a week.

The Calabash Cousins - 1975

From 1979 until 1984 I played steel guitar at the "Paradise Cove Luau" Kapolei, O‘ahu (before there was any Ko Olina resort). The emcee for the show was Sam Kapu. That group consisted of myself, Joe Cazimero, Baba Alimoot, Steven Chock and Pat Carvalho who was the band leader. I played there six nights a week for five years. To avoid a huge gas bill I carpooled with Joe Cazimero driving daily from Hau‘ula to Kapolei!

Paradise Cove Musicians and Sam Kapu - 1983

From 1987 to 1992 I played steel guitar at the yearly Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo. I played with Cy Bridges for his hula hālau who participated in the festival. I stopped playing at the Merry Monarch because Cy Bridges became a judge for the festival and therefore his hālau could not compete.

GV: You have been featured at many different steel guitar concerts and festivals here and on the mainland.
SC: Yes, in the mid-1980's I was a featured artist at Jerry Byrd's "Steel Guitar Ho‘olaule‘a". I played for him often and got to meet many of the great steel guitarists from that time.

In July, 2001 and 2005 I was the featured guest artist at the annual Aloha International Steel Guitar Club Convention at Indiana. It's a three-day event with players and fans attending from around the country.

In October, 2008 I was the featured guest artist at the annual Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association's (HSGA) convention at Joliet, Illinois.

From 2019 I have been a featured artist at the annual Waikīkī Steel Guitar Ho‘olaule‘a at Waikīkī. This concert is sponsored by the Hawaii Institute for Music Enrichment and Learning Experiences (HIMELE) and produced by Alan Akaka. I also play at the annual Windward Mall steel guitar concert in Kāne‘ohe, O‘ahu. This is also sponsored by HIMELE.

Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival Ho‘laule‘a - 2026

GV: You have also been featured in various books and articles on the steel guitar.
SC: Yes, I was featured as a Steel Guitarist in the book "Golden Years of Entertainment" by Tony Todaro, published in 1971.

In 1999, "Steel Guitar World" magazine wrote a feature article about me and my sons who all play the Hawaiian steel guitar. They are Benjamin, Joseph, Samuel, and Michael Cheney. I taught them to play the steel guitar with the direct intent of employing them and having them play at the PCC Lū‘aus.

In 2001 I was featured in a half hour show on "Ōlelo TV" in Honolulu about the steel guitar.

In 2004 I was listed in the "Hawaiian Steel Guitar and its Great Musicians", a book written by Lorene Ruymer.

GV: You are closely associated with the Polynesian Culture Center Hale Ali`i Lū‘au show. How did that come about?
SC: I was already working at BYUH at the architectural planning office. When the lū‘au show began at the Polynesian Cultural Center, I was asked to play the steel guitar.

In June, 1996 I started performing at the Polynesian Cultural Center's Ali‘i Lū‘au show. We performed six nights a week with Sunday night off. After the COVID-19 episode, that changed to five nights a week with Sunday and Wednesday nights off except for July and August which was six nights a week. The schedule has changed somewhat over the years but the lū‘au continues to be a popular tourist destination.

I play the steel guitar at Hale Aloha, the primary Lū‘au venue, but on rare occasions have my son Benjamin playing for me from time to time. The PCC also has a second lū‘au show at another con-current venue called the Hale Ohana Ali‘i Lū‘au. Benjamin is the steel guitarist at that lū‘au show.

In 1997 I played the steel guitar on a CD entitled "Ali‘i Lū‘au" that was put out by Polynesian Cultural Center. I played steel guitar on the vocal tracks and I did two instrumentals - "Ho‘omalimali E" and "Kohala March". This CD was sold to the guests at the lū‘au as a souvenir to take home from the show.

In June, 2013, I changed my Steel Guitar performance contract with PCC to become a volunteer along with my wife Belinda. The reason for becoming volunteers, was that I could bring my wife in her wheelchair, with me to PCC.

I was my wife's caregiver for eight years. She could no longer be left home alone due to her brain atrophy disease which slowly took away her physical and cognitive functions. She passed away the last day of 2019 after being a hospice patient at home for four months. Her passing away did not change my status of being a volunteer at PCC.

During COVID-19 in 2020, the lū‘au show took an eleven-month break, and started back up as soon as we could.

I have been associated with the PCC lū‘au for 30 years now. I am so identified now with PCC that when I am introduced at Concerts or festivals, they introduce me as the steel guitarists from the Polynesian Cultural Center!

During the 60^th Anniversary celebration festivities of the Polynesian Cultural Center in October 2023, I was given the title and award of "Living Treasure".

GV: I've been told that you suffered an injury to your playing hand that hampered your steel guitar playing for awhile. Can you tell me about that?
SC: Yes, that happened in March, 1972. I was involved in an industrial accident that claimed the tip of my ring finger, lost half of my middle finger and lost the outside joint of my index finger which shortened and stiffened it. I was cleaning machinery (a planer) that was turned off but unfortunately still silently and slowly rotating. It took me close to a year for my injury to heal. I had to relearn how to hold and control the steel bar, make slants and play again without all of my fingers.

GV: Was it hard to relearn how to hold the bar?
SC: Well…I made it work! Let me tell you a story. You remember Billy Hew Len, he lost his left hand and still played the steel guitar. I remember being backstage with him at Jerry Byrd's Ho‘olaule‘a Concert. We were each waiting to go on stage to play and we're looking at each other's left hand and smiling without mentioning a word!

Talking Story with Steve Cheney - Part 1