Cindy Cashdollar (born 1956) is a Dobro and steel guitar player from Woodstock, New York. She started on the Dobro playing bluegrass with John Herald and others around Woodstock, then spent years with Asleep at the Wheel, winning five Grammys with the band. She played on Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind and has worked with Van Morrison, Ryan Adams, and Dave Alvin. She was the first woman in the Texas Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.
Why Cashdollar matters
Cashdollar shows how far a Dobro player can travel from a bluegrass jam. She learned the instrument in the Woodstock scene, carried it into western swing and blues, and has since been hired by Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Rod Stewart, and many others. Her Homespun lessons, including Learning Bluegrass Dobro, bring that experience back to beginners.
Life and career
Cashdollar was born on May 25, 1956, and grew up in Woodstock, New York. In the late 1970s and 1980s she played Dobro and then lap steel with many local acts, including bluegrass singer John Herald, Levon Helm and Rick Danko of the Band, blues player Paul Butterfield, and Happy and Artie Traum.
In 1992 she went to Nashville and landed a job with Asleep at the Wheel, which took her to Austin, Texas. She toured and recorded with the band for most of the 1990s, added the steel guitar, and won five Grammys. After she left, she played on Dylan’s Time Out of Mind, toured with Van Morrison in 2006, and played in Ryan Adams’s Cardinals on Cold Roses. From 2005 to 2008 she played with Elana James and Redd Volkaert as the High Flyers, and in 2009 she joined Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women. Her first solo album, Slide Show, came out in 2004. After 23 years in Austin she moved back to Woodstock.
Playing style
Cashdollar plays Dobro, lap steel, and steel guitar. She came to slide guitar through bluegrass Dobro and then western swing steel. She has also recorded instruction courses on the Dobro for Homespun.
Influences and legacy
Cashdollar learned in the Woodstock circle of John Herald, Levon Helm, and Happy and Artie Traum. She has played with Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Lyle Lovett, and Peter Rowan. In 2022 the Country Music Hall of Fame added her to its Nashville Cats series honoring side musicians.
Essential recordings
Time Out of Mind, Bob Dylan Slide Show (2004) Cold Roses, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
Awards and honors
Five Grammy Awards with Asleep at the Wheel Academy of Western Artists, Western Swing Instrumentalist of the Year (2003) Texas Steel Guitar Hall of Fame, first woman inducted Texas Music Hall of Fame Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Nashville Cats (2022)
Watch and listen
Cashdollar introduces her Homespun course for bluegrass Dobro.
What to learn from Cashdollar
Play a western swing tune on the Dobro, such as a Bob Wills number, and then a bluegrass tune such as Wildwood Flower. Notice how the swing tune wants longer, smoother slides and the bluegrass tune wants a crisp roll. Cashdollar’s career shows that a Dobro player who can switch styles keeps finding work.
Sources
Cindy Cashdollar, Wikipedia Biography, Cindy Cashdollar
Related players
See the Dobro players hub and the Dobro guide. Sally Van Meter also bridged bluegrass and other roots styles. Brother Oswald brought Hawaiian slide into country music decades before her.