HOW THE IRRESISTIBLE WORLD OF SHRED GUITAR CLAIMED YET ANOTHER FORMER PIANO PLAYER
By Joe Bosso
ANY GUITARIST WHO calls herself “Annie Shred” had better prove it — and Annie Grunwald, the seven-string-wielding front person for the L.A.-based band Shadow Cliq, does so in grand fashion. On videos posted to her various social media pages, she sweeps, taps and blitzes her way through a dizzying assortment of well-known solos and licks (everything from Rage Against the Machine to Gorija) as well as her own bruising metallic runs. And just to keep everybody on their toes, she throws in a curve or two, like her shimmering cover of the Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.”
“People have really responded to the clips I’ve done,” Grunwald says. “As a guitarist, it’s been validating and exciting to see the reactions I get from viewers. If there’s an agenda to it all, it’s just to show people that you can enjoy playing any kind of music. Why limit yourself?”
Originally a pianist, Grunwald switched to guitar at age 14 when she heard Green Day. “I was 100 percent all in for Billie Joe Armstrong,” she enthuses. Quickly, however, she discovered more technical players like Paul Gilbert and Lamb of God’s Mark Morton. “Then I got into death metal, and things got more intense. Because I started on the piano, my dexterity was already developed. I loved playing scales, so it was fun for me to whip my fingers all over the neck of the guitar.”
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