The Campbell Brothers

Class of 2018

The Campbell Brothers (active since 1997) are Chuck, Darick, Phil, and Phil’s son Carlton Campbell. They formed the Rochester-based Campbell Brothers in the 1990s and boldly swung the church doors wide open by inviting everyone — incorporating country, blues, soul, and rock into what they have branded as sacred steel music. Along with guest vocalists, they have patented an intense, passionate, and dedicated stage presentation that methodically converts each audience to the Campbell Brothers sound.

Over two decades, starting in 1997, the Campbell Brothers have released six albums and have performed with artists, such as fellow sacred steel master Robert Randolph, as well as the Allman Brothers and Medeski/Martin/Wood.

The House of God/Pentecostal movement had its religious origins in the south (Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and beyond) around the turn of the 20th century. Sacred steel music began to develop in the 1930s and took country music’s lap-steel guitar and turned it into a gospel instrument, riding on the ribbons of the electric steel guitar.