Courtesy Skyline Music

The Lee Boys blew away FloydFest guests in 2006, and the band has a unique story and a uniquely American style of music that happens to be funky as all get out.

Sacred steel guitar music is among the deepest of musical family traditions.

Since the 1930s, members of House of God churches scattered around the South and the Northeast have put metal slides to steel guitars -- best known for their use in country music -- to provide voice-like touches to the gospel-based blues, soul and funk they perform for congregations. Often, the knowledge is passed down through a family for generations.

The Lee Boys, who are scheduled for two Sunday sets at FloydFest this week, are fully steeped in the tradition.

The Miami band includes third- and fourth-generation players, but has one major difference from its predecessors -- the band is making a living taking its music outside "the four walls," said band founder and guitarist Alvin "Big Al" Lee. Not that all church members are happy with the emergence of a style that for decades was essentially their secret.

The music "is a prominent part of church, but there's still a lot of folks that think that we shouldn't be out [of] the four walls," Lee said. "So we still have our ups and downs, but we still try to keep it true to the musical part. And we let the church deal with the church part, meaning although this music is spiritual music, and it's touching, the tradition of this music is so heavy that the people that hear the music -- the music can't be denied anymore.

"We still go to our local church when we can, and still just try to be a part. I guess those are the battles that you have when you're trying to introduce ... a big tradition."

Count FloydFest co-founder and band booker Kris Hodges among those happy the secret is out. This year's festival theme is "revival," and Hodges said he brought in The Lee Boys with that in mind. The band is scheduled to play sets at 1 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. Sunday.

"When I was a kid, it bored me to tears to go to church," Hodges wrote in an e-mail. "I thought, 'there's got to be more excitement for celebrating the Gospel than sitting in this stiff environment.' As I started getting into blues, I came across the great Southern gospel churches with their amazing soulful and uplifting music. THIS is what it's all about."

It will be The Lee Boys' second FloydFest appearance. In 2006, the Lees and another prominent sacred steel band, The Campbell Brothers, hit the 'fest, shocking first-time listeners with their ability.

During one late-night/early-morning set, the Campbells took over the Lees' set, switching instruments midsong, then switching back before the tune was done. The dance crowd went berserk.

Hodges is looking forward to the 1 a.m. Sunday set at the village stage.

"Bringing in the gospel first thing Sunday morning," Hodges wrote. "The fire pit will be blazing and the music will be shredding. ... It should make for a dramatic experience."

Passing it on

The genre's history began in Pentecostal House of God churches in the late 1930s, according to the writing of Robert Stone, who brought the music and its history to secular audiences in the mid-1990s.

Alvin Lee's father, the Rev. Robert Lee, was a steel player, as was Alvin's uncle, Bishop Lorenzo Harrison. The groundbreaking Harrison introduced chord changes, electronic effects and tempo variations to the style, according to Stone.

Alvin Lee started playing in church at age 7, along with brother Glenn, who learned steel guitar from their father. For years, they played only in church, teaching their nephews along the way.

But in 2000, both Robert and Glenn Lee died."It was heavy on us, and I just got with my nephews ... and got my other two living brothers ... and told them we need to do this and take it out of the four walls," Alvin Lee said.

He added: "A lot of the other sacred steel players were telling me that I need to really take me and Glenn's style out [on the road], because we had a unique kind of bluesy, funky style that we played. We infuse our music with a lot of stuff, but we keep the roots to the sacred steel kind of music, so it really works."

Before Glenn Lee died, he taught nephew Roosevelt Collier to play the 12-string pedal steel guitar. Alvin Lee had already taught the youngster to play drums and bass, but he noticed that Collier's steel playing was similar to that of sacred steel superstar Robert Randolph and Chuck Campbell.

Collier also picked up on the E9 tuning and country music licks that Glenn Lee had mastered.

With The Lee Boys, Collier's riffs and leads have excited fans and critics nationwide.

"Roosevelt learned that from Glenn, so he's very diverse," Lee said. "He's just a humble young man. I think we're going to be hearing a lot from Roosevelt in years to come."

Drummer Earl Walker and bassist "Little Alvin" Cordy also learned their instruments from Alvin Lee, whose brothers Keith and Derrick round out the act with vocals.

Should the band need new members, a few are waiting, he said.

"My boys are playing, and my brother Derrick's boys, they play," Alvin Lee said. "So it's a tradition that's going to keep going."