It evolved beyond its association with a tropical paradise to influence new genres of music, from bluegrass to jazz to rock ...

from the foot-stomping fiddles on Twain’s songs to the steel guitar holding up Hill’s. After decades of arguing over how pop or country the genre should be, it sounded like country music found ...

In practice, that fusion gave her music the sound and smoothness ... Alcorn had immersed herself in the pedal steel guitar and was playing in country and western swing bands in Houston, Texas.

But while the lap steel guitar can still be found in country and other types of music, the Hawaiian steel guitar garners little recognition today, even on the island of Oahu, its birthplace.