Biography

Tommy “Bluz” Grills grew up in the Rochester, NY, area exposed to some of the top Jazz, Blues
and Folk Artists while working at his father’s nightclub “The Nugget” during the late 60s to early
70s. Greats like Miles Davis, John Hammond, Freddie King, Harry Chapin, John Prine, Steve
Goodman and many more played there. While they were all huge influencers on Tommy, it was
the BB King crossover classic “The Thrill Is Gone” that sealed his love of Blues. As he says, “It
was the vocal-like quality of BB’s guitar – he could make it cry.”
Tommy met and played with James Cotton’s band in 1977. He was offered a spot in the band
but had to decline at that time for personal reasons. Around the same time period, Tommy met
and played with Robert JR Lockwood and saw Albert Collins on tour. Those three were his
biggest influencers. Shortly after, during the late 70s, he formed his first Blues Band, playing
inner city bars and local venues around the Rochester area.
In 1980, Tommy played two shows with Albert King. Following that, he reconnected with James Cotton and toured with him throughout the Northeast and Canada
In 1993, Tommy moved to Phoenix and formed another Blues Band, the Tommy Grills Band. He immediately entered them into the Phoenix Blues Showdown. There were over 15 local bands entered in that competition and even though they had not yet played a formal gig, Tommy’s band won first place and was sent to Memphis to participate in the Blues Competition. That would be the first of four times Tommy has won that honor, each time with a different band.
In 1999, when Big Pete Pearson came out of retirement and moved back to Phoenix from
Maine, he called on Tommy to join his band. They had many years of pleasure working together
and in 2001, recorded the CD “One More Drink” on Blue Witch Records.
Following his time with Big Pete, he continued to play with many of the greats such as Nappy Brown (at his last Rhythm Room appearance), Joe Houston, Harmonica Fats, Bernie Pearl,
Duke Robillard, James Cotton, Savoy Brown, Robert Cray, Albert King, Matt “Guitar” Murphy,
Joe Beard, Raful and son Kenny Neal. Local Artists Tommy has performed with include Big
Pete Pearson, Chico Chism, Chief Schabuttie Gilliame, Tommy Dukes,
More recently, he was sent to the 2017 International Blues Competition in Memphis to represent
Arizona with his band and was selected to move forward to the semi-finals. He participated in the International Competition 2017, 2018 – Tom continues to perform in clubs and festivals around AZ.