Dixie Dregs
Steve Morse
Rod Morgenstein
Dave LaRue
Jerry Goodman
T Lavitz / Jordan Rudess (replacing T in August)
July 18 1994, The Palace, Hollywood, CA, USA
(image provided by Robert Carvounas)
July 19 1994, Ventura Theatre, Ventura, CA, USA
Rock Band Out of Past, but With a Difference Dixie Dregs have always followed their own musical
path and kept loyal listeners. They play at Ventura Theatre Tuesday.
The dinosaurs are having a field day. The comeback trail is bulging with rock acts of old who
are shaking off the dust and cashing in on the nostalgia boom. With Traffic, the Eagles,
Meatloaf, Steely Dan, et al, back on the scene, it's deja vu all over again.
But that's not exactly the story with the Dixie Dregs, who are back with their first studio
album in a dozen years and a tour that brings them to the Ventura Theatre on Tuesday.
These back porch whizzes, led by guitarist-composer Steve Morse, have concocted a private
reserve of dazzling instrumental music. From the beginning, the group's steamy fusion of rock,
country, baroque, and bluegrass has appealed to a select and devoted audience.
Their cottage industry is one of the more inspiring American musical success stories. The Dregs
fit nowhere except in their own niche. There's no inherent jazz connection or rhythmic feel
that would align them to the fusion field. Radio airplay eludes them, except when their music
is used as pads under commercials.
"Full Circle," the new album, is more than aptly titled. Coming after a successful reunion tour
two years ago. Morse has returned to the very stomping grounds where the Dregs formed, at the
University of Miami. These days, Morse lives just outside of Gainesville with his family.
The guitarist's twisting path took him from guiding the Dregs in the late '70s and early '80s
to working in the farming industry in Georgia, to playing with Kansas, those heartland rockers,
to working briefly as a commercial airline pilot, and working with the Steve Morse Band.
When the prospect of doing a new Dregs studio album came up, Morse worked up a set of original
pieces with his usual prodigiousness. The one cover song is a dazzling version of the old
Yardbirds tune "Shapes of Things," retooled into an exhilarating instrumental with the Dregs
stamp all over it.
Morse, who has a habit of repeatedly winning best guitarist polls, also writes a column for the
Practicing Musician, which he believes is "one of the most important things I do, because it's
my chance to influence more people in a positive direction than anything I do. Even younger
readers read that, and that's a perfect time to catch them."
One of the few guitarists who could bear up under the tag of rock virtuoso, Morse seems like a
humble, focused nonconformist who has found his way outside the system. He's not kidding when
he says, "My whole thing is, people should do what they love, period."
Did you have a sense back in the early days that the Dregs would take off the way they did?
I figured everything would be the way it was, that styles would change and people's taste would
change, but that we would always be able to sneak in and make a living. That's the way I see it
being right now. Maybe for a few seconds, playing instrumental music may have been trendy, like
when Joe Satriani first came out.
The only thing that keeps me in the business is the fact that I like to make music, I like to
play, and I like the interaction with people who are really enjoying it. Anything that gets me
too far away from that will push me out of the business.
You do a unique version of 'Shapes of Things' on the new album. You're not in the habit of
doing cover tunes. What brought that on?
It was suggested. We were just throwing out ideas. I had to actually write some new parts for
it to add enough energy to make it a Dregs tune. I didn't know if that would be considered
heresy or not. We just did it anyway.
Do we hear some distinctly Jeff Beck-ish guitar playing on that tune?
I've always been a fan. Every guitarist I admire has something about them. Jeff Beck was always
a very powerful, sometimes economical player. I think of him and Eric Johnson in kind of the
same way. You just never hear either one of them have a bad night. I like Jeff, too, because
he's semi-dropped out, too. I really identify with that.
Who listens to the Dixie Dregs? Do you have a sense of the psychological profile of your audience?
Sure. It's a comfortably wide age margin. We see people in their 40s and young kids who can't
get into clubs. There's a word-of-mouth thing going. I talk to young kids who say they listened
to us when they were really young and their parents played our records (laughs).
Some kids just inherently like things that are underground. There's no question about the fact
that we're underground. Obviously, we're not as Angst-ridden as some of the current bands that
are underground. But still, these kids know that we're not normal, so it's OK with them.
Does everyone in the band seem older and wiser now?
They don't seem older, but they are. Wiser? Yes and no. Wiser in terms of, yeah, we know if
we've got an eight-hour drive from one city to another, we're not going to make sound check.
There's no use in even trying. We accept realities.
But, at the same time, there's a certain crazed aspect that doesn't seem to have gotten any
different or any better. I guess inner turmoil is a requirement for a musician.
It seems that you've always had a very devoted following, haven't you?
It's true: I've always been able to work. I'm very thankful for it, too. I've not been able to
work to the point where I didn't have to work (laughs). But I've been able to work, and bring
home enough to support my family. That's the most you can get out of your job, to do what you
want and be able to provide.
I'm somewhat cynical about the whole prospect of the business. But I like all the people that I
get to work with.
The people in the audience are what's saving me. Every time we finish a gig and talk to people
backstage or the people outside the back door, it's so invigorating that it matters to people.
Details
WHAT: Dixie Dregs
WHERE: Ventura Theatre, 26 S. Chestnut St., Ventura
WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday
COST: $17.50
FYI: Call 648-1888
- The Los Angeles Times, Jul 14, 1994
July 24 1994, Winter Park Jazz Festival, Winter Park, CO, USA
(image provided by Suzi Schaefers)
August 23 1994, Acme Bar & Grill, Charleston, SC, USA
The Dixie Dregs return to town on Tuesday in support of a new album, "Full Circle," the first
studio album from the band in 12 years. The band, which plays Tuesday at Acme Bar & Grill, 5
Faber St., reunited in 1992 for a series of concerts that resulted in a live album and a
reunion with Capricorn Records, which originally signed the band. "Full Circle" is described
as a diverse album with a mix of fierce riffs, metal-tinged dynamics, gentle shadings and some
English folk touches. The Dregs lineup is Steve Morse on guitar, Rod Morgenstein on drums and
percussion, Jerry Goodman on violin, T Lavitz on keyboards and Dave LaRue on electric bass.
This time around, the band members have other outlets of expression so they no longer bank
their whole careers on what happens with the group, Capricorn says.
"We're a lot more relaxed now, and that allows us to have more fun with it. We're doing this
because we enjoy it. There's something special that happens in the Dregs for each of us that
we don't get anywhere else," Morse says in publicity for the record.
Over the years, Morse has acquired a bookcase full of honors, including five Best Overall
Guitar awards from Guitar Player magazine.
Morgenstein has repeatedly been named Best Progressive Rock Drummer in Modern Drummer
magazine. And T Lavitz was voted Jazz Keyboard Player of the Year in Keyboard magazine. The
band has been nominated for five Grammys. Jerry Goodman, formerly of Mahavishnu Orchestra and
The Flock, joined the Dregs for the '92 tour when original violinist Allen Sloan returned to
his career as an anesthesiologist. Bassist Dave LaRue joined the band when it re-formed two
years ago, filling the shoes of Andy West, who remains immersed in his career as a computer
programmer.
- The Post and Courier, Charleston, 8/18/94
August 27 1994 The Roxy Theatre, Atlanta, GA, USA
Dixie Dregs - "Pompous Circumstances" and the Yardbirds' classic "Shapes of Things" are among
the instrumental tunes from "Full Circle" - the band's first studio release in 12 years - that
will be heard Saturday at the Roxy. Expect sparkling solo runs, too, from guitarist Steve
Morse, keyboardist T Lavitz and the other players.
9 p.m. Saturday. $19.50. The Roxy, 3110 Roswell Road N.W. 249-6400.
- The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 08-26-1994
September 17 1994, Ogden Theater, Denver, CO, USA
Aftershock
Assembly Line
Good Intentions
Country House Shuffle
Hereafter
Goin' to Town
Bloodsucking Leeches
Odyssey
Kat Food
Ionized
The Bash
Cruise Control
Encore:
Shapes of Things
Dregs Medley
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(image provided by Suzi Schaefers)
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September 22 1994, Aladdin Theater, Portland, OR, USA
Aftershock
Assembly Line
Good Intentions
Country House Shuffle
Hereafter
Goin' To Town
Bloodsucking Leeches
Odyssey
Kat Food
Ionized
The Bash
Cruise Control
Shapes Of Things
Take It Off The Top
September 25 1994, The Edge, Palo Alto, CA, USA
Aftershock
Assembly Line
Good Intentions
Country House Shuffle
Hereafter
Goin' To Town
Bloodsucking Leeches
Odyssey
Kat Food
Ionized
The Bash
Cruise Control
Crossroads *
Take It Off The Top
* with Jeff Watson