Sally Van Meter is a Dobro and slide guitar player who has played for a living since 1976. She was a member of the Good Ol’ Persons, the California band with Kathy Kallick and Laurie Lewis, from 1977 to 1996. She shared the 1995 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album as a featured player on The Great Dobro Sessions, and she has recorded with David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, Tony Rice, and Peter Rowan.
Why Van Meter matters
Van Meter is one of the leading Dobro players of her generation by her peers’ votes: she was an IBMA finalist for Dobro Player of the Year from 1990 to 1997. She also teaches at workshops such as the Augusta Heritage Workshops and the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, and she has produced records for Yonder Mountain String Band.
Life and career
Van Meter grew up in a musical family in California. She picked up a guitar at about seven and taught herself by ear. As a teen she learned slide guitar from Duane Allman and Lowell George records, working out on her own that they played in open tunings.
At about 18 she joined a bluegrass jam crowd in Chico, California. A roommate brought home Mike Auldridge’s first solo album, and she wore it out learning his phrasing and tone. The Good Ol’ Persons heard her at a benefit and asked her to play. She stayed with the band from 1977 to 1996 and also played in Blue Rose.
Her solo album All in Good Time, produced by Jerry Douglas for Sugar Hill, was a finalist for IBMA Instrumental Album of the Year. On The Great Dobro Sessions she played Great Season Waltz and Cherokee Shuffle. In 1995 she recorded with Grisman and Garcia for The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute. The Colorado Bluegrass Music Society named her to its Hall of Honor in 2016.
Playing style
Van Meter is self-taught and plays by ear. She calls the Dobro the instrument that chose her, and she also plays rhythm guitar, banjo in both clawhammer and Scruggs styles, and lap steel. Reviews quoted on her biography praise her tone, her expressiveness, and her attention to backup.
Influences and legacy
Van Meter learned from records by Duane Allman, Lowell George, and Mike Auldridge. She played beside Kathy Kallick, Laurie Lewis, in the Good Ol’ Persons, and she has recorded with David Grisman, Tony Rice, Peter Rowan, Russ Barenberg, and Jerry Douglas.
Signature tunes and songs
Great Season Waltz Cherokee Shuffle.
Essential recordings
All in Good Time (Sugar Hill, 1991) The Great Dobro Sessions (Sugar Hill, 1994) The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute (Columbia)
Awards and honors
Grammy Award, Best Bluegrass Album, The Great Dobro Sessions (1995) Colorado Bluegrass Music Society Hall of Honor (2016)
Watch and listen
Van Meter plays the air The Wild Geese on Dobro.
What to learn from Van Meter
Learn Cherokee Shuffle, the fiddle tune she recorded on The Great Dobro Sessions. Play it slow and let each note ring its full length before the next. Then listen to Mike Auldridge’s first album, as she did, and copy one phrase until your tone matches his. Van Meter built her sound by ear, and that kind of close listening is the skill to steal.
Sources
Sally Van Meter, Brad’s Page of Steel Sally Van Meter, Colorado Bluegrass Music Society Hall of Honor Van Meter, Sally, BluegrassBios.com The Great Dobro Sessions, Wikipedia
Related players
See the Dobro players hub and the Dobro guide. Mike Auldridge was her first model. Laurie Lewis was her Good Ol’ Persons bandmate, and Cindy Cashdollar is another leading woman on the Dobro.