Charlie Starr Breaks Down Guitar Overdubs on Morningside

Charlie Starr revealed overdubbing guitars on October 24, 2026, by showing how primary and complementary parts develop across Blackberry Smoke’s “Morningside.” The song, co-written with guitarist Nick Perri, appears on the band’s 2021 album You Hear Georgia.

Layer each Morningside section

Starr breaks the arrangement into distinct parts, with the second guitar changing its rhythmic and harmonic role around the primary part.

Opening riff

The main riff draws from B minor pentatonic, using B, D, E, F-sharp and A. It alternates references to B and E from bar to bar, with swing 16th notes against a slow half-time pulse.

Verse

The primary guitar slides into sustained B octaves and holds them as whole notes.

The second guitar alternates ringing Bm7add4 and E7/B voicings in first position, colored by a tremolo-style modulation effect. The opening riff returns before the second verse reprises these parts.

Chorus

The primary guitar plays E, F-sharp 7, G7 and A7 before returning to the B minor pentatonic riff.

The complementary part uses syncopated hybrid-picked dyads that follow the vocal melody. Starr downpicks sixth-string root notes in steady 8th notes while fingerpicking descending two-note figures on the D and G strings. The highest note begins at B on the 4th fret of the G string.

Solo

The primary progression moves through D5, D5/C-sharp, C-sharp 7, F-sharp minor and E.

Beneath it, the other guitar arpeggiates Dsus2, A/C-sharp, C-sharp 7, F-sharp minor 7 and Esus4 with different voicings.

Let the second guitar move

Starr keeps the primary guitar in a clear position while allowing the complementary part to move around it through the arrangement. Keith Richards calls this approach the “ancient art of weaving,” with each guitar supplying its own musical and rhythmic support.

(Compiled)