It's written that the cream always rises to the top. The great Deep Purple has risen in glory. An innovator of gothic heavy metal (to say the least), England's Deep Purple is back with a vengeance - and a great new album titled Abandon. Some call it the "20 year turnaround." In this case, I'll refer to it as a great band that never went away. With the grunge era pretty much behind us, fans young and old alike are opening their ears once again to true rock musicians. In that category you'll find Deep Purple members Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice as leaders and teachers to many greats who came after them. While Deep Purple may have gone through some interesting personnel changes through musical fads, the four in all their glory regrouped in 1996 for Purpendicular. A major change was imminent; legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore chose to carry on with a solo career. What is a band to do when it loses a key player? Find a better one. They found just that in former Dixie Dregs/Kansas virtuoso guitarist Steve Morse. While Blackmore's signature guitar sound would be gone, Morse would bring new life and a new sound to the legendary rockers - much like he did for Kansas. Blackmore bolted in with this prolific creative riffs, adding them to the blues based backgrounds of vocalist Gillan and the symphonic dimensional writing style of keyboardist Lord. With Glover and Paice adding their unmistakable Purple presentation to each new song, it was classic Purple revised with Morse's incomparable writing and playing style. Purpendicular would meet with massive fan appreciation and critical acclaim. Two years later, Abandon was produced on CMC international records - it took the band one step further. This is a monster record. What makes this album so interesting is the fact that it takes the listener back to the early and brilliantly successful days of Deep Purple during the album days - In Rock, Fireball and Machine Head. (Machine Head was the recording that spawned the infinitely great rock anthem Smoke On The Water.) The hard rocking opener on 1998s Abandon titled Any Fule Kno That is reminiscent of those days of yore. The blues ballad Don't Make Me Happy showcases Gillan at his best; much like his early vocal days of belting out the 70s gem Child In Time. To make us sure we remember those days, Deep Purple made it a point to remake one of its own tunes for inclusion on Abandon - the killer Bludsucker that appeared on In Rock. Older, wiser, but certainly not less energetic, Deep Purple is reborn with a sensational new record and a whirlwind tour. As lucky as any writer could get, I had the opportunity to chat with the ever-so-modest new guitarist Steve Morse about his new role as a member of Deep Purple and to touch on his sensational respected past:

JL: How's the tour going so far?

SM: The first leg went really well, all in Europe. We've done a variety of gigs, festivals and things like that. We're just picking it up again here.

JL: What brought you to Deep Purple, and how do you replace Ritchie Blackmore?

SM: Well, it's a lot easier when it happens the way it did, where Ritchie simply quit. They went through a period of time finishing that tour - they actually hired Joe Satriani to finish the rest of that Japan dates. After that, they were looking for a permanent member. I guess that Roger Glover, who obviously has some very wide musical tastes, heard of me. He had seen my group live (Steve Morse Band) and the other guys had heard of the Dregs, so they voted to try it out. We did a trial period ... I wasn't expecting it to go as well as it did. I just thought that there was a small chance that this would work out. What are the chances of just meeting some guys and having instant musical chemistry? I was extremely surprised to find that the band members were hand picked to join the band from other groups many years ago because they were good.

JL: What's it like for you, for a band that has been around this long, to fall into a situation like this?

SM: Well, I meet lots of people; you know, even from just playing my own music. Lots of celebrities, things like that - but that doesn't freak me out. What does freak me out is how good this band plays. That is the kind of energy that I totally feed off of.

JL: So you're having a good time, I take it?

SM: Oh, yes!

JL: When we talk about you playing with The Dregs, Kansas, Steve Morse Band ... how do you adjust? Does it come from your background of playing so many different styles?

SM: Yes, with my own group I naturally change little features that people would call styles within the compositions. I don't see much of a difference between styles. For instance, the first three chords of Lynyrd Skynryd's Free Bird - I mean, the beginning of it, it's like a church hymn. You don't have to change very much to jump from one style to another.

JL: Listening to the two Deep Purple records that you have played on, Purpendicular and Abandon, it's clear the band is very open to your ideas. The classic Dregs style riffs that you've always written - it's there, it's in the Deep Purple sound now.

SM: Thank you, I think you've noticed something that's true. My contribution is throwing out lots of guitar based ideas. I don't have anything really to do with the vocals or the vocal melodies. Many of those exact parts Jon Lord would do. A lot of the ideas start with just Ian Paice, the drummer and I - just jamming. Roger, the bass player, is like the producer. When he hears a jam that is Deep Purple, he'll record it.

JL: It sounds like a real band thing rather than an individual controlling things.

SM: Oh, definitely. The band has to pick the ideas that work, anyway.

JL: You obviously have respect from guitar players worldwide. What is it like for you? A lot of the people in your audience are guitar players - what is it like to play for those people?

SM: It's always been good and I don't mind at all being totally accountable for what I'm doing on stage. I'm playing for the people who have paid, found parking spaces and walked to the gig and waved in front of their seats or wherever they're standing. Those are the people I'm playing for. Guitarists being in the audience doesn't bother me at all. I think if you're proud of what you're doing, you'll be able to stand up to scrutiny. The improvisation part is a little weird to study.

JL: The improvisation, that's a big part of you, isn't it?

SM: Yeah, exactly, that's a big part of Deep Purple. Purple is like the Grateful Dead of heavy rock.

JL: How did all begin - how did the guitar get in your hands?

SM: Oh, my older brother played a little bit. At the same time The Beatles were coming around - I just loved it.

JL: Who are the guys that you listen to?

SM: Oh, there's a lot of them. I appreciate great execution of it. Friedman, the guy who's in Megadeth. He's typecast because he's in Megadeth. Albert Lee, I love; he's just the most natural soloist in the world. John Petrucci (Dream Theater) - absolutely a monster. It helps knowing that a guitarist is a cool person, it makes it easier to like them and to recommend them, too. Eric Johnson also, we used to hang out and do tours together. We're friends from way back. I got to meet Jeff Beck, told him that I shook his hand about 10 years ago!

JL: Speaking of Beck, he's more on the instrumental side. Which do you prefer: Working in an instrumental situation or with a vocalist?

SM: If it's musical, it doesn't matter at all. Ian Gillan loves to improvise, we even have spaces where it's just vocals and guitar - it's great! He's not a domineering vocalist; it's very enjoyable.

JL: A guitar player friend saw you with the Steve Morse Band and wonders how you feel about your use of guitar synthesizers.

SM: Yeah, I use them with the trio. The one I really liked, an Ensonic, was stolen ... I'll probably be replacing it with an Oberheim.

JL: Finally, what would life be like for you without the guitar? What would you be doing? I just can't imagine you not playing guitar!

SM: I don't know, some kind of high tech weirdness. Audio visual production, or definitely flying would be a possibility. I fly every day that I'm home.

It is said that on the 8th day, God made the guitar. Or was it Steve Morse, possibly with that guitar in his hands? Steve Morse performs this Tuesday, August 11 with Deep Purple at the Bud Light Amphitheatre at Harveys Lake. Do your ears a favor - be there.