Tracy G


Tracy G is an American heavy metal guitarist best known for his time with Dio from 1993 to 1999.

Early life

His first band was with his father, called the Grijalva Brothers. He had a few guitar instructors when he was little, and was told by one of them that he would have a hard time playing because "his fingers were too small". Grijalva, being the determined musician that he was, would practice until his fingers hurt.

Influences

Tracy gives credit to Eddie Van Halen and Donny Simmons for influencing his playing, especially referring to Simmons as 'his idol'.

Career

He would later play in a variety of bands, including with future member of Great White, Jack Russell. He also put together the bands Love/Hate with singer Jizzy Pearl, and Swift Kick. He would play at almost any club he could find to get his publicity out. He also played with vocalist Rudy Torres and drummer Audie Desbrow in Riff Raff, a very popular band around southern California in the early days of hard rock and heavy metal.
Tracy then joined Dio. In his six years with the band, Tracy G was featured on two studio albums,, and one live album. He left the band in 1999 when he was asked to play rhythm guitar while Craig Goldy took lead. Dio decided to bring back Goldy, who had played with him on the Dream Evil album.
Tracy G formed The Tracy G Group, which included Jeremy Masana on bass guitar, Donnie Rodriguez on drums and, respectively, Tracy G on guitar.
Currently, Tracy G is in the band Goad-ed. They have released two albums and Tracy has released numerous solo albums as well.

Discography

Dio