Classic Rock
Steve Morse gives his opinion on the new Deep Purple guitarist
The American guitarist Steve Morse was the founder of the band Dixie Drags and from 1994 to 2022 was Deep Purple‘s guitarist. He left the British group in 2022 to take care of his wife who was battling cancer and sadly passed away in 2024.
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His replacement in Purple was the Northern Irish guitarist Simon McBride who since 2022 is touring with the group all over the world. In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Morse gave his opinion on the new guitar player of the group.
Steve Morse gives his opinion on the new Deep Purple guitarist
“He’s very good, wonderfully professional, great guy. No big deal there. He’s got it covered. And I think he’s a better fit for them. They’re going longer that I ever thought they would go. They’re booking more and more gigs.”
“(…) Right when they got Simon to play with them, they had already done some vintage Deep Purple tunes in a cavalcade of stars tour, Don [Airey] and Ian Gillan. So, they were used to working with him, and they knew he could play all the stuff really well.”
“And when it came to the new stuff, he’s a pro and he’s a super good musician. So he picked it up and figured out what to do quickly. Maybe some things are more stylistically weird that I might do, but nothing’s unreachable or really that hard,” Steve Morse said.
Dixie Dregs tour with Morse
The guitarist will tour with his former band Dixie Dregs this year, they have scheduled tour dates this April and May.
April
- 20 – Variety Playhouse – Atlanta, GA
- 21 – Carolina Theatre – Durham, NC
- 22 – Charleston Music Hall – Charleston, SC
- 23 – The Ramkat & Gas Hill Drinking Room – Winston-salem, NC
- 25 – Ponte Vedra Concert Hall – Ponte Vedra, FL
- 26 – Culture Room – Fort Lauderdale, FL
- 27 – Bilheimer Capitol Theatre – Clearwater, FL
May
- 13 – Count Basie Center for the Arts – Red Bank, NJ
- 14 – Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts – Patchogue, NY
- 15 – The Town Hall – New York, NY
- 17 – Somerville Theatre – Somerville, MA
- 18 – The Ridgefield Playhouse – Ridgefield, CT
- 19 – Hart Theatre at the Egg – Albany, NY
- 21 – Scottish Rite Auditorium – Collingswood, NJ
- 22 – Warner Theatre – Washington, DC
