Steve Morse is the prototypical rock and roller cursed with higher aspirations. A complicated mosaic of musical contrast, his career either doesn't prove the point that smart instrumental rock has no commercial potential.

Born in Ohio, Steve rock and rolled through his early teens in Georgia, powered by mainstream 60s and 70s influences like Hendrix, Cream and the Beatles.

His first "pro" band was Dixie grit, a typical eccentric progressive Yes-type affair with vocals, lots of guitar and keyboards. As with the Dregs, the name was chosen in jest, but nobody ever got the joke.

Infatuated with classical guitar because it "seemed like the ultimate in skill and discipline," Steve entered Augusta College at 16 to study piano and calculus (He still believed you could be a classical musician and an electrical engineer at the same time).

His fervor exploded when he saw classical guitar virtuoso and teacher Juan Mercadal: "He just attacked the guitar and set it on fire." Morse found out about Mercadal's guitar study program that was part of the unusually evolved U. of Miami Music Dept.

Besides exposing him to future young music giants like Pat Metheny and Jaco Pastorius, Miami was the source for the Dixie Dregs, Steve's major "lifetime project" to date. Featuring Steve on extended guitars, the fluid Andy West on bass, Rod Morgenstein on drums, Allen Sloan (violin) and various keyboardists, the Dregs consistently broke new ground musically, if not financially: "In the beginning, we went from making fifty dollars a month to hundreds!"

Six albums (three on Capricorn, three on Arista) and innumerable tours later, the Dregs had to give up the Dixie Ghost. Steve followed that dream with his own trio that "streamlined" the band, if not the revenues.

More recently, Morse joined up the "New" Kansas for a tour and an LP (Power MCA). The transition from front man in band-with-no-limits to sideman in a national pop entity was dramatic. But not as startling as the transition from full-time musician to full-time pilot, something Morse is definitely considering.

These conversational fragments are a distillation of one musical life built on the idea of continuing challenge.

Flying

I'm a copilot for a regional airline out of Atlanta. I've been flying for almost 13 years. In the last few years, I was flying a twin engine plane with the Steve Morse Band. Along with the playing, I enjoyed that part of touring the most. I was just looking for other opportunities to fly different equipment, and the solution is to either get extremely rich and buy yourself a big plane or have somebody else supply it. Being a regional pilot is a full time job, you're always on call, unlike airplane pilots who have scheduled flights and days off.

Flying For Fun Or For The Money?

I've always wanted to do it, but if any of my musical endeavors had developed to the point where I could afford to sit back and not work, I wouldn't be working as hard as I am now. I never made the "big time" in music, period. Kansas is a good gig but it came at a time in my career when I'd have something to add to them and they'd have something for me, a mutual thing, as opposed to "getting a big break." It would've been a bigger break if they'd asked me to join eight years ago.

The New Kansas

We're doing a new album with Bob Ezrin, this amazing producer who did the last two Pink Floyd albums. He's really aware musically. It's unusual for me to work in a band like this where I'm just one of many people. I can't say how it's going to be because I don't have that control, but I'm excited about the possibilities. My perception was the Kansas that we toured with was going to be different than the Kansas that people knew from "Dust In The Wind" and "Carry On." We were still going to play those...I like all of their classic songs. In fact, I started as a fan of the band not as some guy looking for a gig. They asked me play on their album when I was recording the second Steve Morse Band LP and I was glad to do it. My band was at a critical point where everyone was looking for other avenues because we weren't putting much money in the bank. The energy of the band with Steve (Walsh) singing and the new guys is something I like very much. I toured with them for months. I think the album went just shy of gold but did very respectable for a comeback album.

Transition From Foreground To Background: Easy?

Yes and No. If you've been doing something a certain way for most of your life, it's an adjustment. But I look at everything I do as "a continuing education." It was a big challenge. I knew it was going to be different, time will tell if it was the right choice or not.

How Much Can You Play, What Can You Play, When Can You Play?

In writing and arranging, it's exactly that. But in performing, once it's set - and other people want it to be very set sometimes - it's about how much stamina you have as a personality to play the same thing over and over. That's a discipline I have trouble with.

"Wide Open Spaces" With The Dregs?

It was kind of open-ended. We played our parts, but we wanted plenty of challenge to it. It wasn't changing a part because it was too easy, it was trying to add that one note to make it sound better, and if that made it ten times harder to play, well that was OK. It wasn't a question of playing a million notes as fast as we could, not that kind of self-indulgence. We loaded everyone up with as much things as possible, even if that involved switching your amp setting during a one bar rest, that could be part of it.

The Birth Of The Dregs

At the University of Miami, we had several Ensemble courses or laboratories each semester where you applied the things you learned. One was called the Rock Ensemble which was slowly turning into more of a jazz ensemble with horns playing jazz charts. I wanted to have a real rock ensemble and the faculty gave me permission, so I rounded up pretty much what was the Dregs except we had two drummers. Pat Metheny, who'' been a student there and was then a part time faculty member, was instrumental in letting us keep our rehearsal spot because of the purists were worried about the direction we were going in. That was "Rock Ensemble II," it actually went on the books as a credit course and later became the Dregs with Andy, Rod, Allen Sloan (violins) and several keyboard players, including T. Lavitz.

The Dregs Musical Credo

"There's no good music that's bad." And music itself can entertain people. History proved it. There've been many times when instrumental was well-respected and entertaining! So we set out to prove there could be an instrumental rock band. The fact we didn't "make it" had to do with a lot more than the music, obviously. The image: we didn't care. The name: it was a joke. Our management was always being switched and we had an unusual amount of business problems. Lawsuits, the kinds of things that stagger the imagination and eventually kill a band. The thing that sustained us was the people that came to wherever we played. No matter how many mistakes were made, we'd keep going back on the circuit and those people would bring more friends and that kept us alive. Toward the end I was saying, "maybe I can just dig ditches and be happy." What killed it for me was the last little tour we went on - it just wasn't fun anymore. Usually going on stage is the best time of a day, that hour and a half or whatever makes it all worthwhile. I wasn't even having a good time, forget making a good living. We all went on unemployment for a few weeks while we looked for other jobs, but that was more trouble than it was worth. I was doing farm work, oddball gigs, anything. Just trying to bring in as much as I was spending. After not playing for eight months, I started to miss it and that led to my own band.

The Steve Morse Band

After the Dregs broke up, we got a deal with Elektra and did two albums. The band included Rod Morgenstein from the Dregs, and this excellent bassist Jerry Peek, a real "polyphonic" player-all the hot licks with a lot of intelligence too. It was just streamlined Dregs to me. The same music. Kept me busier on guitar, but the same philosophy: "Yes we know it doesn't fit a niche, but we're gonna do it anyway."

Back To The Future: Golden Days At The University of Miami

I remember times when I'd jam with Pat in the dorm, it was totally normal for guitarists to play with no "plan," just one to another for hours on end. Pat was totally aware, he could play anything in an instant. It seemed like normal musicians were like that and I thought "Crap, I'll never be able to play that way." I played with Jaco too. But first we had to go running, then body surfing in the ocean, then tell stories and stuff before we could play. He was harder to keep up with because he was so frantic and he liked to be in control all the time. But at the same time, he was so good.

Marshall

My main cabinets are Marshall. One with an oddball assortment of rebuilt JBL speakers, the other with Celestion Sidewinders. The cabinets are very durable, they don't rattle because of the built-in handles. And the shape of the cabinet is great for dispersing the sound. I usually lay the cabinets on their side so that instead of destroying people's ear in a small area, I can get 'em in two areas.

I have a channel-switching 100 watt head which helps me out a lot when I'm doing live shows. It's a good "compromise," because, to me, every amp is a compromise. It's got its own color and its own personality and all you can do is get as close as you can to what fits. There's plenty of channel-switching amps out there but the Marshall will still distort some on the clean channel if you push it. It's not from surgical clean to ultra-fuzz dirty, it goes from workable small distortion to more distortion. When you change channels, it doesn't jump out and slap you in the face, it's real smooth. Like 0 to 15 instead of 0 to 10.

Can A Rock Instrumental Band Succeed?

It's just a matter of assembling a winning team. 'Cause it always comes down to a lot more than the music: a record company with the right attitude, radio stations that are willing to play it! As far as I'm concerned, the Dregs did make it. We didn't make the money, but the people always enjoyed it and that's my definition of success.

Chances are you're not going to make it big without a lead vocalist and "hit tunes." I still don't know for sure, but I'm never gonna stake my life on whether or not an instrumental will make into the Top 40 again.