Cedric Griego
Born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Cedric’s roots go back to the earliest settlers of America. The youngest of five children, Cedric’s close, loving family was shaken by his father’s death: Cedric was only sixteen years old. The traumatic experience served to fortify and expand his already burgeoning creativity. Always fascinated by the immense sky and landscape of New Mexico, Cedric created worlds within worlds; as a child, he built extraterrestrial habitats populated by toy animals and plastic army men. If he’d had a video camera then, he would have filmed them. FM radio had just exploded onto the airwaves, and his older brothers wore the grooves off their” Zep” and” Deep Purple” vinyl LP’s. His mom grooved to Elvis, Freddy Fender and old rancheras.
This diverse soundtrack filled his young mind with a rich musical stew as hot as a bowl of green chile. At eleven, Cedric formed a band, The Golden Knights, with his uncle, cousin and brother. They rocked wedding receptions and parties with rancheras, polkas and covers of “Santana” and “The Doobie Brothers” classics. With an equal amount of interest in sports and Rock n’ Roll, Cedric’s athletic career was cut short by his high school coach who told him he had to cut his hair to be on the basketball team. Around this time, he had picked up one of his brothers’ guitars and took lessons at Santa Fe High School. His brother Ray’s band, Black Lake, played the Hell out of songs by Skynyrd, The Nuge and ZZ Top – as head roadie, guitar tuner and beer guardian for the band, Cedric occasionally sat in and jammed with the band. Impressed by the lad’s licks and incredible heart, the Black Lake boys played the first song he ever wrote, “Sensuous Evil”. It was a magical time for the magical boy. Within three years, Cedric had formed his own band, Prowler.
Prowler crashed into New Mexico with a heavy, metallic sonic boom and scorched concerts at clubs and campuses throughout the Southwest, and built a huge loyal following with their power riffs. Hollywood beckoned and Prowler soon found themselves prowling the Sunset Strip, the West Side and the East Side looking for their record deal.
To be continued…