West Orange, NJ (October 27, 2025)—After a 15-year hiatus, The Steve Morse Band has returned with a new album, Triangulation, and a tour to match. Triangulation was unexpected even by the band themselves, as drummer and musical director Van Romaine shared.
“We thought we might never make another record again because Steve was so committed to his schedule with Deep Purple and I had to be available for Enrique Iglesias, whose musical director and drummer I’ve been for years,” said Romaine. “I saw Steve in 2024 and learned that he had taken a step back from touring globally with Deep Purple. Because he wasn’t traveling as much, we had an opportunity. I smoothed things out with Enrique’s schedule and suggested we do some short runs with the Steve Morse Band.” Once they were touring together, the concept for a new album began to take shape.
While the band initially gathered to craft arrangements at Morse’s studio/airplane hangar in Ocala, Florida, Romaine returned to his own studio, Live Wire, in New Jersey to track his drum parts, ultimately recording drums and percussion for 11 songs.
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“My approach to remote tracking is that whatever I send out must have zero EQ, compression or treatment, yet still sound amazing, which is where Audix comes in,” said Romaine. “I used an Audix D6X for the kick drum, two i5s for snares, a D2 on rack toms, and a D4 on floor toms, and the SCX25A lollipop condenser mics, which are a major game-changer for overheads. They really open up the sound of the kit.
“My room mic techniques might be considered non-traditional for drums,” Romaine added. “I emphasize high ceilings and specific room placement to get the right sound. When tracking and sending files, I want both a great close room and further room options. For that, I used a pair of Audix A133 as stereo microphones close in front of the kit and a single PDX720 as the far mono microphone for the room. I aim to give mixers all the options, to ensure a great drum performance.”
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Now fans can hear those performances for themselves, as the album came out in mid-October. “Fans from Steve’s Dixie Dregs and Steve Morse Band periods will truly love this record,” said Romaine. “Both Steve and Dave [LaRue, bassist] are on fire. Eric Johnson will be on one of the first singles, and John Petrucci on another. The compositions are classic Steve Morse and much of it has his signature southern twang. It’s beautiful and one of the few records I’ve played on that I’ve enjoyed listening to immediately after completion. I’m grateful we got this ‘next chapter’ as we thought we might never make another record together. I’m very excited for people to hear it.”
