MONTPELIER Jerry Fessenden feels that he was born for the pedal steel guitar. "It was something about the way my mother carried me in the womb," said the 62-year-old musician and instrument builder.

You’ve most certainly heard a pedal steel guitar before, most likely in any ‘old’ country song, or more specifically, any country song that doesn’t include the word ‘truck’ in its lyrics. Pedal steels ...

As the sound of country music has shifted, the emotive whir of its classic instrument has often been sidelined. The complicated antique has found new life in surprising forms. By Grayson Haver Currin ...