Grant Piper

Grant felt fortunate to be a teenager consumed by music in the late seventies when guitar rock ruled the airwaves. The gods...Page, Hendrix, Clapton, Beck, Santana, Gilmour & so many others each spoke with a unique sound that reached out influencing the masses to join in on their own musical journey. He was hooked. Then came Van Halen & Ozzy Osbourne with Randy Rhoades. Guitar was going new places and so was he. In 1980, Grant joined the Army and went to Germany only to find himself immersed in the massive popularity of Euro-Metal. Iron Maiden, The Scorpions, Judus Priest, UFO, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake and also Rory Gallager were all rocking hard. What a fantastic time to be a guitar player. After the military, he moved to Albuquerque, NM where he saw 2 concerts that changed his life and musical direction: Stevie Ray Vaughn’s "In Step" tour and the Allman Brothers' "Seven Turns" tour, which introduced him to Warren Haynes' standard tuning slide work. Around this time, he realized that his voice and range as well as his guitar playing felt much more comfortable in the blues rock style. He started singing and soon had his first good band, Six Gun Overload. Six Gun Overload Opened for Foghat, George Thorogood, Blackfoot, The Outlawas, The Marshall Tucker Band, .38 Special, Nazareth, Ian Moore and Stevie Ray Vaughn’s song-writing partner and vocal influence, Doyle Bramhall Sr. Had an eight year run averaging 122 gigs a year. Played on the local Classic Rock station 3 times. Played at the State Pen (Santa Fe, NM) maximum security facility twice. Headlined the Toys for Tots run 4 times. The band had great times, but the “rock star” life and all that entailed seemed to constantly derail their focus and they were never able to get a CD produced. As local DUI laws intensified, people chose to drink at home and clubs closed. Prospects looked dim and it felt as though the band had run its course. Grant yearned for a change. “Ft. Lauderdale”, he thought, “beaches, night clubs, work…yeah!” After relocating to Ft. Lauderdale, Grant fell off a roof, breaking his leg and more importantly his left forearm. With his arm, dangling by a piece of flesh and bone exposed, Grant thought his that his days of playing guitar were over. A talented surgeon, Dr. Berkowitz, installed 2 plates just below the wrist and unbelievably, he could play just as well after a short period of rehabilitation. Grant found himself unmotivated to jump back into the vampire life and took a 5 year hiatus from playing professionally. After catching an Ernie Southern solo acoustic performance at Wild Oats (at the salad buffet!) and joining the South Florida Blues Society, which led to frequent “Blues Brunches” with open jams, where he had many local talents as well as a couple national talents performing in his own backyard, Fruitland Jackson & Joey Gilmore to name a couple, Grant's desire to get back to it was in full force. Grant was soon playing in The Grave Shakers, for about a year and a half, trading solos with harmonica phenomenon Pix Ensign. Shortly thereafter, The Grant Piper Band was created.