Two pioneers of alternative pedal steel - Joe Harvey-Whyte and Geir Sundstøl release the first single from their upcoming album

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This new collaborative project sees two pioneers of alternative pedal steel meet across oceans, time and temperament. Norwegian multi-instrumentalist Geir Sundstøl and London-based pedal steel player Joe Harvey-Whyte combine the instrument’s ethereal resonance with field recordings, ambient drones and vintage synths to create music that feels as fluid and alive as the natural world itself.

The Tyburn is a strong example of the duos atmospheric sound and interplay. Harvey-Whyte’s driving fingerpicked guitar sounds like a dusty Robbie Basho tape played back at 1/2 speed; beautifully augmented by wistfully searching pedal steel lead lines from Geir Sundstøl. All grounded in warm pulses of Moog bass synth. A track which invites and rewards repeated listens. 

“Geir asked if I had anything I wanted to try out.” Joe recalls. “ I had an idea of a tuning but no melodies. I picked up this old Martin guitar and re-tuned it. I started playing and this old folk sounding tune came out. Geir got on the pedal steel and we cut the track there and then. Responding live in the moment - Geir really took that one to the next level with his steel playing!” 

“I’ve become a bit obsessed with rivers and waterways. Rivers have seen it all. Conduits of those lost and discarded items, sources of folk-tales and carriers of people over the years. And what better for inspiration than a river that was once a source of clean drinking water; that became polluted, covered over and is now ultimately lost.

Our track has a deep momentum to it. Like the river. Emerging from it’s humble beginnings and relentlessly careering across the land; bringing all who wish to along with it. Constantly searching for that unknown and great expanse of the ocean..”

“The idea was to make a record that sounds more like nature,” says Sundstøl. “We slowed down the tempo and let the instruments mirror the wind and the river flowing by.”

The songs were born over an intense week in Studio Intim in Oslo, where the two musicians followed instinct rather than plan. The result is a soundscape moving freely between ambient, folk and experimental Americana — grounded in patience, texture and organic interplay.

Geir and Joe´s roads first crossed back in 2016, when Joe stumbled across Geir’s debut Furulund while exploring beyond his usual listening habits. “I had never heard anything like this before. His music had these deeply hypnotic melodies on various slide instruments from around the world. I decided to message Geir to tell him how much I had liked the record and the musical dialogue sparked from there.”

Since then, Joe and Geir have kept in touch, sharing new musical discoveries and pedal steel related curios and visiting each other’s studios when either of them were in London / Oslo. In 2024, while on a break from touring with Susanne Sundfør, Joe travelled to Oslo. What began as “five days to do something with two pedal-steel guitars” became Langeleik.

Featuring guest appearances from Erland Dahlen, Jo Berger Myhre, Anders Engen and poet Ivar Orvedal, the album expands the duo’s sonic palette while keeping an intimate, handmade spirit at its core.

Geir Sundstøl(born in 1969) is a Norwegian musician who plays a wide range of string instruments, including the marxophone, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, pedal steel, bouzouki, lap steel, banjo, and dobro, as well as harmonica and various keyboards. He is a highly sought-after and respected session musician and was awarded the Gammleng Prize in the studio category in 1994. In 2015, he released his first album under his own name, Furulund, which was nominated for the Spellemann Prize in the open category. He later won the Spellemann Prize in 2018 for his third album, Brødløs.

Joe Harvey-Whyte is a London-based pedal-steel player, composer and producer who has toured and recorded with Susanne Sundfør, Liam Gallagher, Billy Bragg and The Hanging Stars, as well as releasing his own albums Flatland/Spaceland (2021), Last Ride (with Bobby Lee) and In a Fugue State (with Paul Cousins).