The Rediscovered: Epic

When the promo material for a submission states that the guitarist may be the most original guitarist of the 21st century, the first thought is, "Oh no, not again, we're gonna have problems," compounded by the fact that the guitarist has a one letter last name (only trumped by no last name). Tracy G. is a ripper though, and shreds his way all over the hard rock and metal dished out by Epic, on their new CD, Metaphor. Flurries of 2 GHz notes mark the up-tempo numbers, while G. shows a lot of class and taste on the slower numbers such as "Solid Ground", letting vibrato and melodic choices guide the improvs. You may remember G, from his days with Dio, and he has found an even better vehicle to express himself in with Epic. Some don't care for his heavily distorted tone here, but it fits the material and production - great job! Epic were originally profiled in the October-November, 2006 edition of The Undiscovered.

Tracy was born in Whittier, California. He originally wanted to play drums, but ultimately decided on the guitar so that he could play in his father's band. After taking lessons Tracy started playing in his father's band at the age of 13. Shortly thereafter he joined a band called Legend. After starting and disbanding a host of groups, Tracy eventually hooked up with drummer Vinny Appice, bassist Jimmy Bain, and Ronnie James Dio in Dio. They toured, wrote, and recorded for six years. In 1999 Tracy starting writing new songs, and has since put out several CDs with a band called Driven. Tracy has also released many solo CDs, with his latest project being Curly Fester and The Blues Quartet, a hard-core blues project playing the local scene. Through it all, Tracy has never lost sight of his goals and dreams. "I just want to play the guitar - play what I hear and feel."

G. continues, "I always wanted to play a few notes or chords and have the listeners be able to tell that it was me. I think it's important to have your own identity."

Epic
United States

Web site: www.epic-rock.com