DEEP PURPLE Guitarist Travelling In Style

DEEP PURPLE guitarist Steve Morse has issued the following update:

"It's getting close to the end of this leg, our U.S. tour. It's been quite a variety of gigs from amphitheaters to smaller venues. It always feels so comfortable to tour in the U.S. for me, anyway. I'm happy to know in advance that I can get something to eat, or my favorite soda, anywhere, anytime. Easy Internet, ice machines with lots of ice, TV with shows that are in English, 24-hour convenience markets for after the gig... it's all fine with me. The unspeakable luxury has been this charter plane we've been using. From my decades of touring the States in rental cars, small piston-powered plane, commercial coach flights, old trucks, buses, more old trucks, even older station wagons, etc., I am pretty used to basic transport while traveling from one state to another. However, this is the absolute easiest it will ever be. Especially after dealing with the unfathomable TSA rules, the airline restrictions randomly imposed on guitars being carried, lost luggage, smashed guitar cases, and more. We go to the plane in most cases directly from the cars or vans. We get on, we go. No inspections, since we're still not ever in the airlines' quarantined areas, no wondering if the guitar will be confiscated and smashed, no long lines…

"Anyway, you'll never catch me complaining about this kind of flying, especially after spending years trying to convince everybody to try flying privately, albeit in much smaller aircraft. Soon enough, we'll be back to reality flying home!

"We have had all good bands working with us on this tour. I have to say again how great EDGAR WINTER's group was. Edgar and Doug got up again and sat in with us on sax and guitar. Doug's guitar playing really shows a seasoned master at work. Edgar is simply full of great feeling music. Jeff Watson, my friend and mostly known from his work with NIGHT RANGER, sat in at the San Francisco show and played an immaculate and impressive solo. He uses a metal pick, and always seems to play difficult stuff with more ease than I can muster. Another impressive group that we heard was a trio called SUPERUNLOADER, kind of prog rock without keyboards.

"Thanks to all the people who have supported live music in the States. It's still possible to tour here because you leave your homes and turn up at live venues. The old saying, 'Bands make it rock, we make it roll' still goes for our fearless crew. They have all had some difficult juggling to do in order to make every gig work. Well, it's time to put away my computer since the battery is gone. Oddly enough, the plane didn't crash even though my computer was on, and the tray table was down."

Steve Morse has just made his "Power Lines" instructional video available on DVD via the Alfred Publishing company. The 60-minute disc's description reads as follows: "Learn Steve's warm-up exercises, how to add chromatic ideas to your playing, 3-note-per-string scales, sequences and arpeggios. Steve also reveals his unique method for playing polyphonic scales and melody lines. Up-close shots and graphics enable you to learn note-for-note some of Steve's favorite licks."

On September 18, Eagle Rock Entertainment will re-release one of its most popular DVDs, DEEP PURPLE's "In Concert With The London Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Paul Mann". According to a press release, the disc "has this most classic of classic rock bands blowing the roof off the famed Royal Albert Hall in London, England a full 30 years after their first symphonic project. Keyboardist Jon Lord, singer Ian Gillan, drummer Ian Paice, guitarist Steve Morse and bassist Roger Glover perform 13 tracks in two hours, with heavy accents on improvisation and even a guest shot by the legendary Ronnie James Dio!"