Arts & Culture

John 5 “Careful with That Axe” CD & 2015 Tour

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Written by Susie Salva
John5
John 5 — John William Lowery (born July 31, 1971), best known by the stage name John 5, is an American guitarist living in Hollywood, CA. John 5 & The Creatures will embark on a string of dates in 2015 in support of “Careful with That Axe” CD starting Sunday, February 8 in Ramona CA. The play list will not only have several songs from the new album, but the band will also play songs from each of John 5’s solo albums. These songs have never been heard live in concert before.

From the start of his solo career with critically acclaimed albums: Vertigo, Songs for Sanity all the way to The Devil Knows My Name and of course, the current release Careful with That Axe – This is will be a part of this once in a life time concert.

John 5 and the Creatures will perform live on February 11, 2015 at the Whiskey A Go-Go in Los Angeles, CA. John 5 & The Creatures consist of John 5 (guitar), Ian Ross (bass) and Rodger Carter (drums). These scheduled gigs will be from the start of his solo career including the critically acclaimed albums listed below.

John 5’s stage name was bestowed on him in 1998 when he left David Lee Roth and joined the industrial metal group Marilyn Manson as their guitarist, taking over from Zim Zum. Still going by the name “John 5,” Lowery has since become the guitarist for Rob Zombie and also branching out on his own.

As a solo artist he has recorded seven guitar albums: Vertigo (2004), Songs for Sanity (2005), The Devil Knows My Name (2007), Requiem (2008), The Art of Malice (2010) and God Told Me To (2012), as well as a remix album, Remixploitation (2009). He also works as a staff writer for Chrysalis Records, working with artists such as Matt Ball, Avril Lavigne, Rob Halford, k.d. lang, Garbage, Meat Loaf, Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Slash, FeFe Dobson and has written and recorded with southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Lowery has been attached with Marilyn Manson, David Lee Roth, Rob Zombie and on his own solo work spanning industrial music, goth to stints as a session player.

John’s first high-school band – ‘Dirty Tricks’ won a major battle of the bands contest in the sixth or seventh grade. Hours of practicing paid off. Another band he was in– ‘Vampirella’ – was where he began to experiment with the unique facial make-up that he still wears to this day; “we looked crazy on stage. I’d already started wearing eyeliner anyway but the stuff we wore on stage was crazy“.

While in Los Angeles he was seen by Rudy Sarzo (Whitesnake) at a performance with his band Alligator Soup and then he connected up with producer Bob Marlette – whom he still works with to this day. Marlette provided a gateway for John to work on music for TV shows, commercials and film soundtracks.

On February 2014 while giving an interview at the Soundwave festival John 5 announced his seventh solo album entitled “Careful with That Axe”, that has been released in August 2014. On his website he while providing a current bio he also offers Custom Made Monsters Denim Vest he sports himself.

John 5 is undoubtedly one of the hottest shredders on the planet right now. His impressive resume of working with frontmen such as Marilyn Manson, Rob Halford, Dave Lee Roth and his current gig as the right hand man for Rob Zombie, show he’s impressive skills have not gone unnoticed, but it doesn’t do him justice to label John 5 as a shredder – he’s a guitarist, a great guitarist – and there’s little he can’t put his hand to. John 5 has appeared on That Metal Show on VH-1 where he shares his life-long experiences as a monster guitarist.
www.john-5.com

About the author

Susie Salva