Original DIXIE DREGS Lineup Featuring DEEP PURPLE Guitarist, WINGER Drummer To Embark On U.S. Tour

November 30, 2017

Six-time Grammy Award-nominated musical virtuosos DIXIE DREGS are gearing up for a national U.S. tour starting February 28. The performances will mark the first time in 40 years the original band — Steve Morse (guitar),Andy West (bass),Allen Sloan (violin),Steve Davidowski (keyboards) and Rod Morgenstein (drums) — will share the stage. Tickets are on sale now.

The "Dawn Of The Dregs" 25-date tour — with additional dates to be announced soon — will take the band across the country starting on February 28 in Clearwater, Florida and make stops in Atlanta, Charleston, Washington D.C., New York City, Boston, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Boulder and Phoenix, among many others,before wrapping April 25 in Dallas, TX.

"This tour is the result of the overwhelming requests we've received from a loyal audience of diehard Dregheads, and new fans who have never seen us perform live, but discovered the band for the first time through Steve's membership in DEEP PURPLE, or Rod as the drummer for WINGER," said West. "We can't wait to playfor them all."

For guitar aficionados, Steve Morse needs no introduction, and his place in the pantheon of guitar greats is certain. But, in fact, his career started with DIXIE DREGS. The band traces its true beginnings to the band DIXIE GRIT, which started in a Georgia high school with Steve on guitar and Andy West on bass. DIXIE GRIT morphed into DIXIE DREGS at the University of Miami School of Music, where Allen Sloan (violin) and Rod Morgenstein (drums) joined up with Steve and Andy, who were the "dregs" of DIXIE GRIT.

The members of DIXIE DREGS remained committed to attending the University of Miami School of Music, which hosted a lively and talented musical community during their tenure, including future greats Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, T Lavitz, and Bruce Hornsby, among manyothers. In 1975, the group's demo album, "The Great Spectacular", was recorded at the University of Miami and then re-released on CD in 1997.

After graduation, the band moved back to Augusta where Steve Davidowski (keyboards) completed the band. The band paid its dues and honed its skills playing in bars and venues throughout the South in the mid-'70s. They established themselves in the firmament of American instrumental music, seamlessly fusing rock with progressive and jazz elements to create a uniquely instrumental-driven style that has stood the test of time.

Based on a short demo and a tip from former ALLMAN BROTHERS keyboardist Chuck Leavell along with legendary ALLMAN/DREGS tour manager Twiggs Lyndon, Capricorn Records signed THE DIXIE DREGS to record "Free Fall" (1977). The success and critical acclaim of "Free Fall" announced DIXIE DREGS to the world, and after its release, they would become a cult-favorite band that would have a lasting influence on much of modern rock.

Tour dates:

Feb. 28 - Clearwater, FL - Capitol Theatre
Mar. 01 - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL - Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
Mar. 02 - Augusta, GA - Bell Auditorium
Mar. 03 - Atlanta, GA - Center Stage
Mar. 05 - Charleston, SC - Charleston Music Hall
Mar. 06 - Durham, NC - Carolina Theater
Mar. 07 - Washington, DC - Lincoln Theater
Mar. 08 - Wilmington, DE - The Grand Opera House
Mar. 09 - Collingswood, NJ - Scottish Rite Auditorium
Mar. 10 - Newton, NJ - Newton Theater
Mar. 14 - Ridgefield, CT - Ridgefield Playhouse
Mar. 15 - Huntington, NY - The Paramount
Mar. 16 - New York, NY - Town Hall
Mar. 17 - Woodstock, NY - Bearsville Theater
Mar. 19 - Boston, MA - Wilbur Theater
Mar. 21 - Albany, NY - The Egg
Mar. 22 - Pittsburgh, PA - Carnegie Music Hall
Mar. 23 - Cleveland, OH - Kent Stage
Mar. 24 - Chicago, IL - The Vic Theater
Apr. 11 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
Apr. 14 - Boulder, CO - Boulder Theatre
Apr. 20 - San Juan Capistrano, CA - The Coach House
Apr. 21 - Agoura Hills, CA - The Canyon Club
Apr. 22 - Phoenix, AZ - Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Apr. 25 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues

For a complete list of dates, visit DixieDregs.com.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).