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Alvino Rey was an American swing era guitarist, musician, and bandleader, born on July 1, 1911, in Oakland, California. He passed away on February 24, 2004, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Rey is best known as the father of the pedal steel guitar, and his inventive style helped popularize the amplified guitar for generations. Growing up in Oakland, Rey moved to Cleveland, Ohio, at the age of ten. His musical journey began when he received a banjo as a birthday gift. He made his professional debut in 1927 with Ev Jones and later signed with Phil Spitalny. By 1929, while performing in New York City, he adopted the name Alvino Rey and switched to guitar, influenced by the popularity of Latin music. In 1935, Rey joined Horace Heidt's orchestra, where he switched to the pedal steel guitar, which he later modified and referred to as a console guitar. It was during this time that he met his wife, Alyce King, with whom he married in 1937. In 1938, Heidt's orchestra gained a spot at the Biltmore Hotel in New York, but after a series of events, Rey left the band with saxophonist Frank DeVol to form his own group, debuting in 1939 with the King Sisters as star vocalists. Rey’s band quickly found success, touring the country and returning to the Biltmore

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