Guitarists shred and toil to create their own expressive outlet and perhaps to one day be part of a successful musical unit. Steve Morse has led two very important bands, the Dixie Dregs and The Steve Morse Band. He's also been a member of the group Kansas and is currently the guitarist with Deep Purple. Obviously a sought after musician. Steve has earned legendary status and has received many awards from readers' and musicians' polls. Always recognized as extremely versatile, he's played in diverse situations from hard rock to country, jazz and classical. Steve has played on three tribute records, a Steve Vai Christmas record and a recording of various guitarists interpreting classical standards. Although playing with Deep Purple is more high profile, Steve says he always plays in situations that have one key ingredient. INTEGRITY!

TCG: Let's start with some Steve Morse bio.

Steve Morse: When I was young there wasn't much pop music around the house. My dad was a Minister so you can imagine the vibe that we had. When I was about 11, my brother and I rented a guitar and that got us started. We later got drums involved in our group and we had a built-in family band situation. It was comfortable and the confidence grew with the basic music at a rapid pace. We started playing out a bit and gained experience.

TCG: And your formal experience?

SM: In a complicated progression of events, I entered college early, at 17. I enrolled at the University of Miami and began my musical studies. The program wasn't nearly as large as its current status. There were small classes and high level of musicianship. Pat Metheny was a student and then a teacher but our paths never really crossed at school. But even back then, I did see in him a guitarist who had a clear path toward what he wanted to accomplish.

TCG: What did you study?

SM: There was a standard curriculum, in a way. I went through various exercise books which were great for technique and all, but I found them to be very clinical and stale. I needed more expressive outlets. I began playing with Rod Morgenstein (drums) and Andy West (bass). Since we were in the South, we tried to come up with as Southern a name as possible for our group. The original name was Dixie Grits.

TCG: Did you study jazz as well as classical at the school?

SM: I did go through the jazz repertoire somewhat, but I never felt any affinity for that standard jazz groove. My roots for improvisation came more from a country tradition. The Allman Brothers' style was always more of a natural thing for me. I basically studied composition.

TCG: You have obvious country influences. Did you study the music either with teachers or recordings?

SM: It's really more a natural thing, just living in the South. It's just a geographical flavor you pick up.

TCG: But there were influences?

SM: Of course. I listened to a lot of bluegrass and all the heavyweight guitarists. There was Chet Atkins who just opened my ears to incredible possibilities. I just was intrigued by voicings and explorations and the infinite variations that were all there on the guitar.

TCG: Was there any conscious effort to combine all these styles of country, rock and jazz in your playing and writing?

SM: No. It was again a natural thing. To me heavy metal and country can be very similar. All the different styles can easily coexist and intertwine. I hear it all as one musical concept, not separate forces.

TCG: You played early on at some jazz festivals. Are you a jazz band?

SM: Yes we did play at Montreaux and at Telluride (Colorado). Before our set, the band discussed whether we should play "the country tune" or not. We did play it and it went over very well. But I guess it wasn't jazz because we only got to play these festivals once.

TCG: I hear some jazz influences from that period.

SM: The Mahavishu Orchestra was a huge influence. Of course the instrumentation with guitar, violin, bass, drums and keys, and John McLaughlin's playing hit me immediately. It was and still is something special. I always thought the Dixie Grits was a similar band to Mahavishnu.

TCG: In respect to composing, your tunes are very contrapuntal. It's usually not the solo-over-chord-progression concept.

SM: I've always been interested in the way lines move against each other. Sometimes it's within the guitar voicings themselves or guitar lines against the violin or bass. I enjoy writing and found this to be a very natural and easy thing. Ideas seem to always pop into my head.

TCG: Is the counterpoint and arranging done as an entity or does it evolve through the band, arranging by committee?

SM: It could be either Sometimes I show up with a completed tune and just tell everyone what I want. Other times I'll throw out an idea to the bassist and see how he develops it. It's great to have musicians in the band who have the technique and the taste to make the music come alive. It's more important to have a chemistry with the players and a similar way of thinking. There aren't egos getting in the way of the artistic goal. It's a pleasure playing with guys that get along and think alike, musically.

TCG: Your music has complicated quick melodies and complex rhythm demands.

SM: These are just some of the things that I hear. I rarely feel lacking ideas. They seem to spew out as fast as I want. Composing always came very easy.

TCG: You always seem to include a classical style piece on each recording. They sound like they're influenced by Renaissance music. Did you ever study lute music like Robert Dowland?

SM: Not really. I'm not familiar with that standard repertoire. I just enjoy writing in that style. We tried one on the first record and liked it, and since then we always include at least one tune with this feel on each subsequent recording. I think they're very musical and add another interesting aspect to the band's music.

TCG: Besides the Dregs, of course you've played with many other bands and players. Tell me about the DiMeola, McLaughlin connection.

SM: The trio, with John, Al and Paco DeLucia, just came off their tour and a huge success with the "Weekend in San Francisco" recording. Soon after, they had ideas of a second tour as a follow-up. Al had some previous commitments and was unable to be part of the trio. They had asked Pat Metheny to be part of the show as a replacement but he had prior commitments. Rather than abandon the idea, John asked me to fill the third guitar spot. I agreed and learned and rehearsed all these fast, difficult passages. As fate would have it, Al's schedule seemed to change and he again became available for the tour. So the roster went back to the original trio. Fortunately, they decided to leave me on the bill, but I played solo to open the show. Also at the end of each show I would join them for a finale jam.

TCG: Where there any other similar situations later on?

SM: Actually I had talked to Michael Hedges about playing together, but unfortunately that never came about.

TCG: How did the gig with Kansas come about?

SM: The members of Kansas had moved to the Atlanta area where I was living. I always like their music, and we just started hanging out together. The band was changing their personnel and they just asked me if I'd like to be part of the band.

TCG: What about your new band Deep Purple?

SM: One day my manager just called me and the band had called him to ask if I'd be interested. We mutually decided to try a couple of live shows to see if it would work. It seemed to be an interesting idea, following Blackmore and Satriani. I had never met the guys in the band before but everything clicked. The band members were easy to work with and they were far more musical than some of the documentation suggests. Jon Lord, the keyboard player has great ears. He's just a great improviser and all-round musician. Greatly underrated.

TCG: Did you bring your own sound or did they ask you to fit into the band sound?

SM: They gave me no restrictions. It was my sound and feel in their band. The writing was always considered a collaborative effort. I had as much input as any other band member.

TCG: Another interesting recording was the one you did with bassist Michael Manring, "Thonk".

SM: Michael's just a wonderful musician. Of course great technique, but also extremely musical. It's great to work with someone who has it all together.

TCG: You also worked on the Rush tribute album.

SM: Yeah, that was interesting. I also did the Yes tribute album and a Stevie Ray Vaughn tribute album. In each case I was sent a tape and played my parts. I never got to play in a live band setting for those recordings. There were also two shredder-style records that had DiMeola and others on it. I think they were only issued in Japan though.

TCG: Were there any other recordings that were monumental?

SM: Absolutely! There was a recording I did with Marcel Dadi, called The Nashville Sessions. It was actually three records. I played with Marcel, Buddy Emmons, Bela Fleck, and just some great players. It's just a wonderful recording.

TCG: What equipment are you using now?

SM: I'm using the Music Man (Ernie Ball). Even onstage to get that acoustic sound, I just process that electric with piezo type pickups. I also have MIDI work-ups on my guitar.

TCG: I noticed your guitars are blue. Any connection to the famous "Blue Guitars?"

SM: No. I just always liked that color. It's a stock guitar, nothing customized although they've offered the work if I wanted.

TCG: Tell me about Buscarino.

SM: Buscarino lives close by and he's a great guitar builder. He's also very adventurous. So I can go to him with an idea and we work on it together. He can build acoustics, classical or electrics equally well. I love his work and enjoy owning his guitars.

TCG: Your amp rig?

SM: I'm using a combination Peavy and Marshall with an assortment of effects processors from the Eventide to the GPS2101. I use Black Widow speakers.

TCG: You write a monthly column for another guitar magazine. How did this come about?

SM: I was approached when the magazine first came together as an idea. They told me that they'd give me the freedom to write what I wanted and I thought it might be interesting. I try to write about musical and personal realities that I think people can relate to. It's often difficult to write if I'm on tour. But the bottom line is I try to write with integrity and from my true thoughts. I always thought, whether you're flippin' burgers or playing music, you had to do your best. Otherwise why do it?