Ray LaMontagne pedal steeler = Eric Heywood, a magical master. Also great to see John Graboff mentioned, he is ace!
PSG is a fascinating and addictive instrument, not at all impossible to play reasonably effectively if you have a good musical ear and some understanding of inversions and suchlike, but with more 'barriers' in your path than most others (in my opinion). Getting to a BJ Cole level would be a lifetime's undertaking but don't let that get to you.
Horror stories about its notorious difficulty kept me away for years and then I met a mate, a guitarist who plays with Eric Heywood, who said that HE said you could learn the basics in an afternoon and it wasn't really hard at all... actually that was utter bollocks but I now understand why Heywood told him that as the most important thing is to get away from the fear, it's not THAT hard. So I bought an old Sho-Bud Pro 1 and mended it (another story) and now have done some album sessions and gigs and so forth. Not playing much at the mo as bass has taken over work-wise.
The key IMO is 1) an hour a day without fail and 2) try to join a band within 6 months, it'll push you like nothing else.
Re. Carter Starter as a beginner's steel - a mate has one, I've fixed it as best I can and they are fairly seriously flawed. A better choice would be a Stage One by Zum. However, on both of these the copedent (what the pedals and levers do) is fixed, you can't change it. A used pro-grade steel is a much better buy, but do get advice.
Anything I can help with just ask