A cool interview with Steve Morse at the 2012 Winter NAMM show, courtesy of Musicianews.com
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January 27, 2012
January 23, 2012
Winter NAMM 2012: Final Wrap-Up
Day Three, Saturday, was my final day at NAMM this year. It's also the day I saw what proved to be my favorite gear of the entire show - the Yamaha THR stereo practice amps. Rated at 10watts, the THRs utilize amp-modeling and built-in effects to generate a wide variety of tones that all sound awesome. The two models, the THR5 and THR10, are essentially the same, though the THR10 offers a few more amp models and the ability the save up to 5 user presets. I played through one of the THR10s with a Yamaha SBG, and was blown away by the thick, tube-like tone, and the validity of the built-in effects. Other features include a USB post, and bundled Cubase software for home recording. Plus, they just look cool. Pricing appears to be in the $300-$500 range. I think I need to have one.
Saturday was also loaded with numerous celebrities and monster players. Allan Holdsworth, Joe Satriani, Steve Morse and many other big-name musicians made appearances, causing foot-traffic jams at nearly every turn. I had a great time watching Dean Brown play at the MI booth, Matt Garrison jamming with Hadrian Feraud, Carl Verheyen and Steve Trovato tearing it up at LSL, and several other on-floor performances. I also met one of my fusion heros, violin legend Jerry Goodman (he looks ornery in the picture I took, but he couldn't have been a nicer guy).
Saturday night I was lucky enough to attend the epic Ernie Ball 50th Anniversary party - an amazing way to cap off a great trip (more on this all-star event later). All-in-all, it was another fantastic NAMM show packed with cool gear and incredible players. Look for my full photo gallery soon.
More pics from NAMM 2012:
January 11, 2012
New Mike Portnoy Band With Steve Morse "Flying Colors" Announce Debut Album
For immediate release, London, UK –
Flying Colors, the spectacular new virtuoso prog/pop/rock band, featuring drummer Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater) and guitarist Steve Morse (Deep Purple), will release their eponymous debut album in the UK on Monday March 26th, followed by a US release on Tuesday March 27th.
Released by Music Theories Recordings, the debut album includes the talents of Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Dave LaRue (bass), Neal Morse (keyboards, vocals), Casey McPherson (lead vocals, guitar), and Steve Morse (lead guitar). "The album has bits and pieces of what you'd expect from each of us,” says Portnoy. “The sum of all its parts led to brand new, unchartered territory for everyone involved." Click here to read the full web press release and download hi res photos - www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases/mascot/flyingcolors.htm.
The formation of Flying Colors began with a simple idea: virtuoso musicians and a pop singer joining together to make new-fashioned music the old fashioned way. Refreshing, classic, old and new, the recordings are saturated with the many styles, tones and hues of the players who, in becoming a band, have delivered a unique fusion of vintage craftsmanship and contemporary music.
Mike Portnoy was the co-founding member and drummer for one of the world’s biggest prog metal bands “Dream Theater”. Neal Morse is the co-founding member of the prog rock band Spock’s Beard and is currently the prog rock supergroup “Transatlantic”. David LaRue plays bass for the Dixie Dregs and has also worked with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. Steve Morse has been playing lead guitar for Deep Purple for the last 16 years. Founder and leader of “Alpha Rev”, Casey McPherson, has enjoyed major success in the US with multiple hits including the song “New Morning”.
"It was quite an experience,” recalls Dave LaRue. “The band moved at a fast pace, ideas flying around the room at all times. Sections of tunes were arranged, and then re-arranged. Ideas were tried every which way until we made them work, or, in some cases, discarded them altogether. Just keeping track of everything was a challenge!" The album is filled with trial and triumph. It's been an inspiring challenge melding folk, prog, pop, and metal all into one big recording."
Flying Colors "Making Of" Video
November 15, 2011
Steve Morse Band 2012 West Coast Tour Dates
The Steve Morse Band will be playing the following dates on the west coast in January (during NAMM week).
Jan 19, 2012 Agoura Hills, CA The Canyon Club
Jan 20, 2012 San Juan Capistrano, CA Coach House
Jan 22, 2012 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up
Jan 23, 2012 Orangevale, CA Boardwalk
Jan 24, 2012 San Francisco, CA Slim's
July 20, 2011
Complete 1978 Steve Morse Interview Published at Jas Obrecht Music Archive
Jas Obrecht has just published the complete unabridged version of an interview his conducted with Steve Morse in 1978. Portions of the interview appeared in Guitar Player magazine that year, but the complete 10,000-word conversation remained untranscribed for 33 years. Great pieces like this are just one of the reasons Obrecht's site should be in every guitar-geek's bookmarks. Check out the interview via the link below.
Jas Obrecht Music Archive - Steve Morse: The Complete 1978 Dixie Dregs Interview
June 29, 2011
June 27, 2011
June 26, 2011
New John Wetton Album to Include Steve Morse, Alex Machacek, Robert Fripp
Prog Rock legend John Wetton (King Crimson, UK, Asia) will soon release his sixth solo album Raised In Captivity through Frontier Records. The disc features an impressive line-up of special guests including Steve Morse, Alex Machacek, Robert Fripp, and others. The announced release dates are July 1st for Europe, July 12th for North America, and August 24th for Japan (via King Records). The opening track “Lost For Words” featuring Steve Morse can be streamed in full on the Frontiers Records web radio. Check Wetton's official website for more info and samples. See below for the full tracklisting.
John Wetton - Raised In Captivity (Frontier Records)
1. Lost For Words (featuring Steve Morse)
2. Raised In Captivity (featuring Robert Fripp)
3. Goodbye Elsinore (featuring Steve Hackett)
4. The Last Night Of My Life (featuring Alex Machacek)
5. We Stay Together (bonus track)
6. The Human Condition (featuring Tony Kaye)
7. Steffi’s Ring (featuring Geoff Downes)
8. The Devil And The Opera House (featuring Eddie Jobson)
9. New Star Rising (featuring Mick Box)
10.Don’t Misunderstand Me (featuring Tony Kaye)
11.Mighty Rivers (featuring Anneke Van Giersbergen)
February 18, 2011
February 17, 2011
January 18, 2011
January 14, 2011
Winter NAMM 2011: Day 0 - Day 1
My NAMM trip this year has already been eventful, and I still have three days left. Here's a wrap-up of the highlights so far.
OHM at The Baked Potato
I arrived on Wednesday evening and drove up to Studio City to catch OHM's early show at the Baked Potato. My buddy Josh met me at the club, and we had a blast watching Chris Poland, Kofi Baker, and Pag tear through a killer set. The band played several new tunes that sounded awesome (despite some funny false starts) - lots of heavy riff-based stuff mixed with Poland's patented clean chordal parts. I can't wait to hear these new tunes on disc. Great way to start my trip.
NAMM: Day One
The first day of NAMM left my head spinning. Saw tons of great gear and players. A big highlight of the day for me was seeing Steve Morse and Dave LaRue demonstrate the new Ernie Ball "Game Changer" technology. I have to say, it's a pretty remarkable product. In a nutshell, it's a system that uses digital technology to change the analog wiring of the pickups. You can essential pre-program any combination of coils you want via a web-based app, and sync that set of sounds to the guitar. It's not modeling - as I understand it, the pickups are already wired to allow for any possible combination of coils- in series or parallel - and the app tells the guitar which wiring scheme to go with. You load up enough sounds to fill the five-way switch and away you go. If you want to switch out one or more of your sounds, you plug the guitar into your computer via USB, play with the different wiring combos until you find the one you want, and sync it to the guitar. You'll also be able to download sounds from other players over the web - such as Morse's favorite combos, etc - and use those on your guitar as well. Very innovative stuff.
My biggest guitar geek-out moment of the day was seeing the James Tyler Guitars booth, and the new Wayne Krantz Edition signature model they are working on. A Tyler rep informed me they are still working with Krantz to tweak some details, so it's not quite ready for production. From all appearances, the guitar is a replica of the black and white Tyler Krantz has been playing for many years now. It even has a piece of black tape on the headstock just like Krantz's guitar. Really cool. Tyler is showcasing several other guitars at the show as well, including a killer-looking Mike Landau-inspired "Burning Water" Studio Elite model.
As usual, Fender has an over-the-top booth this year (shocker), and I was really taken with the new throwback Teles they were showcasing; particularly the 60th Anniversary model. I love the necks and beautiful woods they've used on these Teles. Their Custom Shop area was impressive as well - packed to the gills with awe-inspiring examples of the shop's amazing craftsmanship and attention to detail.
Near the end of the day, I interviewed Prashant Aswani about his new album Sonically Speaking, his gear, and other topics. Learned some very interesting, in-depth stuff about his writing and playing as well. I think it will be a great piece - look for it on The Guitar Channel soon. Day two is gonna be a long one. Lots to see at the show of couse, then tonight I'll be seeing Mike Landau's late set at the Baked Potato. Keep an eye on my Twitter feed for some sneak peeks throughout the day.
More pics from NAMM 2011 Day One:
