Steve Morse is a guitarist renowned for his intricate compositions, innovative techniques, and versatility across musical genres. Having started playing the guitar around the age of 11, he later attended the University of Miami’s School of Music, where he studied classical guitar and jazz. Morse’s solo and collaborative work have netted seven Grammy award nominations. He has appeared on over 200 commercial albums.
A “guitarist’s guitarist”, he was voted “Best Overall Guitarist” in the Guitar Player Readers Poll for five consecutive years. He was then removed from eligibility to open the award to other musicians.
Steve has established himself in a wide range of musical genres, from classical guitar to jazz and fusion to country and bluegrass to progressive rock, pop-rock and hard rock, beginning with bands such as the Dixie Dregs, the Steve Morse Band and Kansas.
In 1994, Steve joined Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Deep Purple; he is the band’s longest-serving guitarist. In 2011, Steve became a member of Evans’ newly formed progressive prog/pop supergroup Flying Colors. To date, they recorded three studio albums and three live albums, including the #1 nationally-charting Live in Europe. In between work with his bands, Steve appears and records with other artists, guesting on over 60 albums to date.
In February 2016, Deep Purple recorded a new album, their second one with producer Bob Ezrin. This follow-up to 2013’s highly acclaimed Now What?! is titled inFinite and was released in April 2017. Flying Colors reconvened in December of 2016 and started writing for their third studio In 2018, there was a reunion tour of the Dixie Dregs Free Fall lineup. The decade concluded with 2019’s release of Flying Color’s Third Degree and Deep Purple’s Woosh!
Morse began 2020 with a series of collaboration and guest spots, due to be released later this year.
Steve plays a series of signature guitars designed with Ernie Ball Music Man, outfitted with his signature DiMarzio pickups, and ENGL amplifiers, all of which contribute to his ubiquitous sound.