The father of Santo and Johnny Farina was serving in the US army in the 1950s
when, over a crackling forces radio broadcast, he first heard the lulling,
swaying melodies of a steel guitar. He wrote home raving about the beautiful,
weeping sound and suggested that his young sons learn the instrument. And so
they did.
With the offer of their mother's home-cooked Italian food, they managed to tempt
a Hawaiian musician from their Brooklyn neighbourhood into teaching them the
basics of the lap steel, and they were soon playing at church dances and local
taverns. After gigs the pa...