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DARK SECRETS: Steve morse - The Real Truth

“I said, ‘It’s everything I need. Can I borrow it to do my demo?’ They went, ‘Let me ask Ern’”: Steve Morse on how a gear nightmare lead him to Ernie Ball – and the signature guitar of his dreams

Morse has become one of Ernie Ball’s most loyal and high-profile endorsers – and it all started with a broken volume pedal

Guitar World

“It was like, ‘Here’s what we need.’ They said, ‘But you have to use Fender parts.’ I said, ‘Alright, I’ll see you guys later’”: Steve Morse on why his ill-fated Fender signature guitar never got off the ground

Before partnering with Ernie Ball Music Man for his now-iconic signature, Morse was courted by Fender – but the project didn’t get far

Guitar World

"What began to change us was success. When your dream comes true, where do you go from there?” Kansas: an everyday story of success, failure, religion, drugs, booze and jealousy

The story of Kansas is just your average tale of power struggles, line-up changes, religious conversions and multi-million selling hit records

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Big jumps for a bigger sound: Steve Morse’s masterclass on wide intervals

Deep-dive your technique for powerful intervals with six string-jumping, fretboard-stretching examples from one of the world's most influential super-pickers

Guitar World

“He said, ‘It’s not going to happen.’ He gave me that tough-guy New York thing. I said, ‘How about something that is going to happen?’ It was career suicide, but it felt really good”: How Steve Morse took on a media mogul and got away with it

Guitarist worried about asking friends John Petrucci and Eric Johnson to guest on his new album – but decades ago he had no hesitation in confronting industry giant Clive Davis to get what he wanted

Louder

“The jazz people were laughing when they saw me at the audition with my Telecaster”: Steve Morse says the music school jazz snobs were not impressed by his choice of guitar

After flunking the audition simply because of his guitar choice, Morse could have turned deep purple with rage – but it was the making of him

Guitar World

“The school would kick everybody out with hair that touched their ears. Someone on the board found out we were wearing short-haired wigs!” Steve Morse endured educational woes, dodgy gear and jazz snobbery, but knew he could make it as a guitarist

The ex Deep Purple member recalls how he got started in music, and beginning to write Kansas-style songs – long before he accidentally joined them

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“There’s a couple guys in the band that were really glad for me to be gone”: Steve Morse opens up on his departure from Deep Purple – and why it was time for him to go

Morse left the band in 2022 to care for his late wife, who was battling cancer

Guitar World

“Nobody can play better than that guy, man!”: In a new in-depth interview, guitar virtuoso Steve Morse discusses the supernatural powers of John Petrucci, Eric Johnson, Angel Vivaldi and Deep Purple legends Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore

His new Steve Morse Band album Triangulation is an audacious work of instrumental rock

MusicRadar

“When I played the Purple songs and took it out, some of them – a certain percentage of them – just hated me”: Steve Morse on the challenges of putting his own stamp on Deep Purple’s material

Ritchie Blackmore's legacy loomed large when Morse first stepped up to fill his shoes

Guitar World

“I was always pushing him to go back to playing the organ through an amp for some solos… y’know, the sound that he had in the Machine Head days”: Steve Morse on why he loved writing with Jon Lord and the Deep Purple track that started with a cup of tea

Steve Morse on how a noodle during one of Deep Purple's many tea breaks ended up on the album, and the mixed reception from Ritchie Blackmore fans when he'd improvise onstage

MusicRadar

The story of Porcupine Tree's Deadwing is on the cover of the new gift-packed issue of Prog, which is on sale now

Prog 165 also features Peter Hammill, John Lodge, Cardiacs, Gazpacho, Steve Morse, Solstice, Atomic Rooster, Crown Lands, The Utopia Strong, Barry Palmer, Cate Le Bon, Amorphis and loads more...

Louder

“I’ll just grab ahold of the G string, pinch it and then bend it way up. You’re doing it to get a laugh out of the guys”: Big Wreck’s Ian Thornley on channeling Eric Johnson and Steve Morse – and why he’s called a guitar the “Jungle Gym”

Cutting lose on his Suhr electrics, Ian Thornley is officially enjoying himself on the Canadian rockers latest LP, The Rest of the Story. He discusses his intro to metal, pinch harmonics, and wrestling with producers

Guitar World

Building the Beast: Iron Maiden's Steve Harris and Bruce Dickinson on battles, breakthroughs and the birth of a legend – only in the new issue of Classic Rock

Also in this issue: Ace Frehley, Ian Gillan, Judas Priest, Wolfgang Van Halen, Whiskey Myers, The Cramps, Stephen Dale Petit, Massive Wagons, Solstice, Steve Morse and more

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MusicRadar

“Yes, I know, I have no respect for an instrument. To me, it’s a piece of wood until you make it into a useful tool”: Steve Morse on the time he took power tools to his guitar so he could play a Deep Purple show with a broken wrist

Upper-fret access, the DIY way... Do not try this at home. But as the former Deep Purple guitarist explains, you can't stand on ceremony when you need your guitar to play how you want it to

Guitar World

“I think my time of doing the performance grind is closing. That window is closing”: Steve Morse opens up on the constant struggle of playing with arthritis

Morse is doing everything in his power to prolong his gigging days – including changing his technique on a nightly basis

MusicRadar

“When I wake up, am I going to be able move my hand or not? I don’t know”: Steve Morse reveals how he is playing through the pain barrier – and how arthritis is forcing him to change the way he plays guitar

Morse says you really have to want to play when you have arthritis, but the good news is that he does, and he's determined to make it work – “It’s broke, but I’m gonna find a way”

Guitar World

“Jimmy Page would be nice to have on there”: Dweezil Zappa has already tapped Eddie Van Halen, Brian May and Yngwie Malmsteen for his ambitious instrumental project – but wants to recruit a few more guitar greats before it’s finished

Albert Lee, Steve Morse and Steve Vai have also recorded for What The Hell Was I Thinking?, which Zappa began work on back in 1989

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Guitar World

“It’s the simple stuff that’ll kill you – especially when everyone’s recording it on their cell to put on YouTube”: How Phil X warms up to nail Bon Jovi's biggest songs on stage

As Bon Jovi’s lead guitarist, Phil X knows that, in the age of social media, every anthemic solo has to be perfect

Guitar World

“He will just sit down and do a warm-up, no matter what. Even if you’re talking to him, he’s going to keep on”: Steve Morse on why warming up before a show is crucial – and the one guitarist who does it right

Morse names the prog maestro with a fool-proof warm-up routine...

Guitar World

“Together, our chemistry is magical”: Steve Morse has announced his first new album since leaving Deep Purple – and it’s set to feature Eric Johnson and John Petrucci

Triangulation also features Morse's son on a tribute to the guitarist’s late wife

Louder

Flying Colors and Kansas guitarist Steve Morse to release first new Steve Morse Band album for sixteen years

The Steve Morse Band will release their brand new album, Triangulation, in November

Guitar World

“I’m gonna sneak some stuff in there to give it more personality”: Steve Morse injects Coldplay with some Deep Purple flair as he adds a guitar solo to mega-hit Fix You

The British pop rock giants don’t really do shred, so what happened when Morse got his hands on the track?

Guitar World

“Cat Stevens asked me to play on his recordings…it never got to the point where I felt like I could add as much as I wanted”: Eric Johnson reflects on his early session career with Carole King and Christopher Cross – and getting fired by Donald Fagen

While the Texas virtuoso loved session work, he preferred to take more time over his creations – and his experiences paved the way for him to become one of guitar’s all-time greats

Guitar World

“I’d been playing guitar full-time for 25 years, and when I got to play on a Deep Purple album it was just one chord!” Meet Tommy Denander, the session guitar great who’s worked with everyone from Jeff Beck and Michael Jackson to Joe Perry and Ace Frehley

You’ve heard the Swedish guitarist on over 100 gold or platinum records. He tells his war stories from decades of session work, from fighting for all-important missing credits to playing with his heroes – and writing the song that finally brought Alice Cooper and Jeff Beck together…

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