DIMEBAG'S CHAMPION

GRADY CHAMPION, DIME’S FRIEND AND GUITAR TECH, TALKS ABOUT THE PANTERA CELEBRATION SHOWS — AND HIS ROLE IN THE MAELSTROM

- NICK BOWCOTT

IN THE PANTERA-loving metal I community, Grady Champion needs no introduction. As far as the fans are concerned, he's an integral part of the larger-than-life Pantera family. Although Grady continued to be a much-in-demand guitar tech long after Pantera effectively disintegrated in 2001, he retired from the road not so long ago - or so he thought.

"You know me, Nick - I was totally over and done with touring," Grady says. "Now I'm back out there for Darrell... with permission from my wife and kids, of course!" [Laughs]

In fact, when Grady announced he was joining the crew for the Pantera celebration shows, many fans were overjoyed as they felt his involvement added further credibility and credence to an already exciting venture.

"I got a little worried when I made that Facebook post about me going out and it almost immediately hit Blabbermouth and all that shit," Grady says. "I was like, 'What the fuck, dude? You don't have anything better to write about?' It made me a little uneasy, but I guess it's a thing and I'm incredibly humbled that people think I add credibility to it. I'm sure my name adds more than my guitar-tech wizardry does, though; I'm no Drew Foppe [Deftones, Shinedown tech], that's for sure!"

When you first turned up to the rehearsals in late 2022, how did you feel?

It was weird. Because I did shows for so long after Pantera, half of me was in “It’s just another show” mode. But then when I started absorbing what was actually going on, the gravity of it would start to hit me and I’d be trying my damndest to get back to being “show mode” guy. It was a pretty mixed bag.

Was there a moment when you realized the shows weren’t just going to be good, but great?