Pete Prown

2 weeks ago | vintageguitar.com | Pete Prown

Out of the case, it feels like a pricey acoustic, but its price tag says differently. Its top is solid, torrefied Sitka spruce with layered Indian rosewood back (two piece) and sides. The neck is mahogany with a scale of 25.5″, while the unbound fretboard is West African ebony fitted with 20 frets and faux-pearl 50th-anniversary inlay diamonds. Also look for a black peghead face, gold tuners, NuBone Nut, and a micarta saddle.

2 weeks ago | vintageguitar.com | Pete Prown

Free Fall was their official ’77 debut and, what it lacked in audio polish, it made up for it in bravado. Morse’s funk guitar ignited “Refried Funky Chicken,” a firecracker revealing the Georgia band’s terrifying tightness. “Cruise Control” became a Dregs concert staple – Morse’s electric-12-string work is especially gorgeous, and dig Andy West’s serious shredding on an Alembic bass. For What If, the band brought in Mahavishnu Orchestra engineer Ken Scott and sonics improved mightily.

3 weeks ago | vintageguitar.com | Pete Prown

“Cine” is an axe-forward jam with melody and chordal improvisations. The ballad “Blues to Green” sits on clean-ish arpeggios, bluesy licks, and double-stops inspired by obscure heroes like Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mickey Baker. It’s heartening to hear those guitar influences bubbling up from the past, filtered with textures resembling the explorations of Julian Lage or Hermanos Gutiérrez. Miller nails that tricky combination.

3 weeks ago | vintageguitar.com | Pete Prown

You seem to embrace the less-is-more aesthetic of ZZ Top, Bad Company, and Blackberry Smoke. Angus Young once spoke of the long hours AC/DC worked on riffs, and I took that to heart. A great riff is more effective than any guitar pyrotechnic. The memorable ones have some sleight of hand involved with how the notes are made, so after you get the basic idea, experiment with adding slides or bends and play with the timing on or behind the beat.

3 weeks ago | vintageguitar.com | Pete Prown

Who were your slide influences, growing up? Lowell George, Paul Barrere, Warren Haynes, Duane Allman, and Bonnie Raitt were my first slide heroes. I went to high school in Milwaukee in the early ’90s and grew up under the tutelage of local heroes like Stokes, Harvey Scales, and Willie Higgins, as well as local masters like Hubert Sumlin and Luther Allison. Those cats all turned me on to Robert Nighthawk and Earl Hooker when I was a teenager, which changed my life.