According to the DEEP PURPLE Appreciation Society, Steve Morse's DIXIE DREGS bandmate/keyboardist T. Lavitz sadly passed away at the age of 54 on the night of October 7th. Lavitz was first asked to join the Dixie Dregs in 1979, and first album with the band was Dregs Of The Earth in 1980. He continued to play with them right through to their most recent studio album Full Circle (1994) and the live DVD Sects Dregs & Rock'n Roll/Cruise Control from 2002.

Morse has posted the following blog entry on his website:

"I haven't known how to write this for several days. T Lavitz is dead. He died peacefully in his sleep, I heard. We don't know much since we haven't heard from his family.

T was the keyboard player with the Dregs since the late '70's. His life has been up, down, and all around, the last few decades not easy for him by any stretch of the imagination. He and I wrote together for his Storytime album, and we all got together every year or two to do a Dregs/SMB tour in America.

T and I always rode in the same car on tour, usually with Rod. T and I, (mostly T), would talk the entire drive, every day. We always did a sort of a group therapy session on ourselves, discussing the stresses of life, the hopes for our kids, and lots of funny stories from him. He would exaggerate every frustrating or negative thing for our amusement........at least, I hope he did. We rode in that car initially because we were the non smokers, but I came to feel like he and I had a lot more in common than we thought.

Despite all the ups and downs of his life, he always talked of having a happy family and loved his daughter Dylan very much. He also loved playing music, and hanging out with the band on tour.

People close to me keep dying, as I'm sure has happened to everyone reading this. Once again, the lesson is to share as much good as you can with those around you, they won't be there forever."

For more info visit Tlavitz.net.