Injured Reserves

As San Diego’s Nathan Williams of Wavves recovers from breaking his wrist in a skateboarding accident, another local, who says skateboarding nearly killed him, is vying for an opening slot on the local Warped Tour date.

“After my accident, I was so tuned in to my drums and had a keener sense of what I wanted to accomplish in life,” says Craig Winger of Grandview, who cracked his head open while skateboarding at night at a bandmate’s house in Clairemont. He says it took 90 staples to close up his skull. “I found I had a sharper grasp on how I wanted to play…an almost reborn set of skills making me even better than I was before the accident....

“I was surprised about four months after my accident with a new set of DW drums from my bandmate KC [Casey Jenkins].… I would spend hours sitting and playing to get back in the groove.” Now, gigging again, Grandview is among seven finalists in the Warped Tour competition, with the final round happening tonight at Canes. The other finalists include the Get Down, Pushin Rope, High Tide, Chasing Claymores, Hershel Abram, and Sick Life.

Win or lose, Grandview is preparing to record an album with producer Darian Rundall (Pennywise, Suicidal Tendencies). To ensure they all make it that far and beyond, Winger says, “I have given up skateboarding, and so has the band!”