At some point in pretty much everyone’s life, they dream of being a rock star.

For Newton’s Tyler Morris, that dream started to take shape very early.

“I first started practicing and getting serious about the guitar when I was 10,” Morris muses, “but I was inspired to pick it up when I was four.”

Once he had ‘officially’ started, Morris’ rise was rapid. “When I was ten-and-a-half years old,” he recalls, “I sat in with BB King’s Band at his club in Palm Beach…. I had [only] been playing guitar for six months!“

That performance quickly led to more, and Morris has since performed with the legendary likes of Sammy Hagar, Steve Vai, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Ronnie Earl, Yngwie Malmsteen, and many others.

While his world-touring “bandmates” have run the gamut in terms of style and influences, when asked who first influenced him, Morris (who has been nominated for multiple Grammy awards and is endorsed by Gibson Guitars, Marshall amplifiers, Fishman pickups and many other companies) looks homeward.

“I used to watch my dad’s band rehearse in the basement,” he recalls, “and was always eager to join them and learn.”

These days, it seems that other players can learn from him—and some, in fact, have!

“One time I was in a restaurant in LA,” Morris remembers, “and John Mayer recognized me…and told me he loved my videos for Vintage Guitar magazine!”

Having recently come in second at the Music Drives Us Ultimate Shredder contest, Morris should be ready to be recognized by even more people.

“Being around New England, I regularly see events from MDU and support their mission,” Morris says of the music nonprofit that is run by car magnate (and Berklee graduate) Ernie Boch, Jr. “Ernie is a great person and has an excellent heart. I am happy to participate in any MDU event and contribute to such a great cause!”

In addition to playing with and in front of many of his musical heroes, the engineeringly-inclined Morris (who has a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from Tufts and a Bachelor’s from WPI) also designs and fabricates gear for many of them.

“I wanted to achieve Brian May from Queen’s sound,” he explains when asked what necessity mothered his invention. “I looked at purchasing his signature treble booster, which was quite expensive, and I eventually… opted to create [it] myself.”

Though only in high school, Morris created a musical modulator that soon caught the ear of some famous players, including Conan O’Brien’s bandleader Jimmy Vivino.

“Jimmy liked the pedal,” Morris recalls, “and asked me to make him one for his Beatles tribute, The Fab Faux.”
As soon as Morris made the first model, orders began pouring in from the likes of Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford and Joe Perry, The Cars’ Elliot Easton, actor Jeff Garlin, and, perhaps ironically, May himself!

Guitarist Tyler Morris of Newton. Courtesy photo

As he is a performer who also makes his own gear, Morris has often been compared to fellow Bostonian Tom Scholz.

“I love vintage Rockman gear,” Morris says of Scholz’s signature setups. “It would be great to meet him one day.”

Though he has had his pick of co-pickers, when asked who his favorite player is, Morris again returns to his childhood (which is admittedly not so far away) and says that his biggest guitar hero is Eddie Van Halen.

“I’d been obsessed with Eddie since I was around 12 years old,” Morris maintains. “I learned all the material from all the eras of the band, got the equipment, and even saw the band five times.”

Though he had also seen and heard a number of Van Halen tribute bands, Morris found them all lacking.

“There were a ton of VH tributes out there…that looked the part,” he admits, “but I couldn’t find any that seemed to be dedicated to sounding and recreating the live experience that I had seeing the band.”

Taking a tip from the Led Zeppelin tribute band Get the Led Out, Morris created Cathedral, his “all-era” Van Halen tribute band that will be performing on April 25 at the Marilyn Rodman Performing Arts Center in Foxborough (https://mrpac.art).

“We use the equipment, play the music with passion and accurate to the Van Halen live versions, and we capture the stage show,” Morris replies when asked what makes his tribute stand out, “but we do not wear wigs or pretend to be the band.”

Though performing and producing albums and gear has treated Morris well and allowed him to realize many dreams, he has recently turned at least part of his attention to the business world and is currently pursuing an MBA at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business.

“I am interested in finance, leadership and real estate,” he says, toggling between realms like he does between sounds on his pedals, “so if anyone reading this would like to chat about that, I’d be happy to arrange a meeting as well!”