Lamb of God’s Mark Morton is in the middle of a worldwide tour on the heels of the band’s blockbuster 2012 release Resolution, but he and fellow guitarist Willie Adler had time to chat with Premier Guitar for an extensive interview.
Morton, one of metal’s premier shredders, had some interesting things to say about his love for infusing blues-style phrases in-between his fast playing.
“My favorite players are blues players. I grew up on that stuff, as well as Southern rock and classic rock,” he told the magazine. “I’m in a metal band and I have a vast appreciation and respect for metal but, honestly, my favorite players are Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. Certainly, those guys are rock players, but they’re very heavily blues influenced. Those are the masters to me. Those are the guys that I look up to. I’d rather listen to Billy Gibbons than Yngwie Malmsteen, any day.”
Morton also talked about his signature Jackson guitar.
“Mine is the Jackson Dominion. Right now they’re coming stock with the Seymour Duncan ’59s, but we’re switching that over to DiMarzios, because I’m about to wrap up the final details on a signature pickup with them,” he said. “There’s also another signature model, the D2, which is more of an entry-level guitar. That one has a bolt on neck, isn’t chambered like the Dominion, doesn’t have the coil taps, and has different tuners and pickups.”
Get your issue of Premier Guitar here, and visit Lamb of God’s official website for a full list of tour dates.
For an up-close-and-personal view of Morton’s prowess on his axe, check out the video below from Lamb of God’s current tour: