The Dixie Dregs

Formed in 1973, the instrumental Dixie Dregs fused rock, jazz, classical and bluegrass with seamless musicianship, and one of their alumni, guitarist Steve Morse(b. 28 July 1954, Hamilton, Ohio, USA) is regarded as one of the most technically proficient players of that instrument. The group was formed by Morse, electric violinist Allen Sloan, bassist Andy West (b. 6 February 1954, Newport, Rhode Island, USA) and drummer Rod Morgenstein while attending the University of Miami School of Music in Florida, USA. Morse and West had played in the Augusta group Dixie Grit. They met Sloan, from Miami, and Morgenstein, from Plainview, New York, at the university and the four formed a group, adding Steve Davidowski on keyboards. For college credit, the quintet, now calling itself the Dixie Dregs, produced and recorded an album called THE GREAT SPECTACULAR, later privately issued in 1976 and long out of print. After graduating from college, the group moved to Augusta and began playing live dates. They were signed by Capricorn Records in December 1976 and moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Their debut album for the label, FREE FALL, was released in spring 1977, and Mark Parrish replaced Davidowski that autumn. Their next two albums, WHAT IF and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DREGS, received critical acclaim and charted (as did the rest of their albums), the latter including one side of live performances from the Montreux Jazz Festival. After completion of that album, Tee Lavitz replaced Parrish. The group switched to Arista Records for DREGS OF THE EARTH and remained there for their last two, UNSUNG HEROES and INDUSTRY STANDARD. By the time of UNSUNG HEROES, they had shortened their name to the Dregs and for INDUSTRY STANDARD, had replaced Sloan with violinist Mark O'Connor, who stayed for about a year and later went on to record several solo albums of virtuoso bluegrass and jazz. The Dregs carried on as a quartet for several months and disbanded in 1982, and Morse's highly-acclaimed solo career began with the 1984 release of THE INTRODUCTION. Rod Morgenstein later joined the pop-heavy metal band Winger. Some of the members of the Dixie Dregs reunited for a tour in 1988 but no albums were released.