Guitarist Michael Grant no longer in L.A. Guns

Guitarist Michael Grant no longer in L.A. Guns

Sad but true. Back in December 2016, singer Phil Lewis left drummer Steve Riley‘s version of L.A. Guns to join guitarist Tracii Guns‘ version of the band. Lewis brought with him ace guitarist Michael Grant while Guns supplied the rhythm section from his previous L.A. Guns incarnation in bassist Johnny Martin and drummer Shane Fitzgibbon.

The new L.A. Guns line-up went on to release the critically acclaimed studio album The Missing Peace, which landed the #1 spot on the Sleaze Roxx Readers’ Top 20 Albums of 2017.

Grant posted a Facebook message on March 5, 2018 indicating that he was no longer working with L.A. Guns. Metal Sludge has recently posted an article that Grant was fired from the band.

Back one June 28, 2014, Sleaze Roxx attended a L.A. Guns concert at the Rockpile East in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and stated as follows in its review and specifically about Grant‘s performance:

“Guitarist Michael Grant had already been quite impressive up to that point but he simply dominated with his performance and all around cool looks during the Black Sabbath song — what a great guitarist! Unlike many of his contemporaries, Grant hardly looked at his guitar strings while playing. This simply results in a better live performance as he is able to look out into, and interact with, the audience while playing. One easy comparison is when you hear someone public speaking — it is always boring to have someone reading from their notes, it is much more captivating when that person has memorized at least part of their speech and is making eye contact with the audience. I have always preferred having a musician make a few mistakes while playing if they are making good eye contact with the crowd, rather than have an axe slinger play perfectly with his eyes glued to an instrument. [Sleaze Roxx writer Mark] Horvath even thought that Grant stole the show — while I would not go that far, he was definitely very impressive.”