Immersed in Music
By Kelley Simms
W
hen it comes to musical diversity and performing genre-hopping styles , guitarist John William Lowery ( aka John 5 ) is one of the most prolific .
Whether he ’ s creating rock , industrial metal , funk , EDM , prog , or bluegrass compositions , the lethal six-string slinger is guaranteed to shred all over it . With a musical resume that includes such diverse artists as k . d . Lang , Rod Stewart , Dolly Parton , David Lee Roth , Meat Loaf , Rob Halford , Lita Ford , Lynyrd Skynyrd , Marilyn Manson , Rob Zombie , and most recently , Mötley Crüe , it ’ s a given that John 5 can adapt to whoever he ’ s playing with and can handle anything thrown his way . “ In the rock era , everybody kind of knows everybody ,” John 5 explains during a recent phone interview . “ You could name any band in rock , and I probably know them , and they know me , or they know this guy , or they know that guy . So everybody kind of knows each other , and they know what they ' re doing . But in different genres of music , like you were mentioning – k . d . Lang , Rod Stewart – I ’ m not on their speed dial . But if I go and audition for
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it , I know every single note that those guys have ever written and recorded . I ' m going to know not only the guitar part , but I ' ll know the bass part , and I ' ll know the other parts ; I know everything . So , when I get an opportunity to audition or jam with somebody like a Skynyrd or someone like that , I know their whole catalog .”
ON HIS OWN
John 5 is also an a prolific solo artist , releasing ten studio albums and completing many successful headlining club tours . In fact , John 5 exclaims that he ’ s so dedicated to playing live that he ’ s going to be doing a winter tour that will make its way to our St . Charles on February 1 at the Arcada Theater . “ I ' m excited to get back there and I love it so much I even come in the dead winter ,” John 5 exclaims . “( Chicago ) is familiar to me . I know it sounds a little hokey , but I know where everything is . I know where these record stores are , and I know where the drug store is , and I know where the good , cool restaurants are . I know where everything is around there . And the crowds – and I ' m not just saying this – the
crowds are incredible in the Midwest .”
The John 5 and the Creatures ’ winter tour is his first solo tour since joining Mötley Crüe , and he ’ s expecting it to be something special . It will also be the type of show that he ’ s never attempted before . Armed with only his drummer , Alex Mercado , John 5 will perform a twoman show by playing bass , the banjo , the mandolin , and , of course , the guitar . Rounding out the set will include an updated cover song medley , which is a highlight of John 5 ’ s solo live shows . By wearing all the hats , John 5 will be taking the audience on one wild ride , including a Mötley Crüe cover medley . “ Then I ' m doing some new songs and some old songs , of course , but it is going to be a wild ride because the song list goes in so many avenues . I don ' t think anybody will get bored because one song will be playing this style , and the other song will play this ( other ) style . So it goes up and down so much where you don ' t get tired of just one thing .”
FINDING INSPIRATION John 5 explained that he never knows when inspiration is going to hit him . But when
it does , it really grabs him . As an all-around lover of music , John 5 constantly searches for new musical inspirations by searching various YouTube videos and careening down the rabbit hole . “ When I ' m studying music and studying guitar , YouTube is my place to go ,” he states . “ But if I ' m just listening and appreciating , I will go to Apple Music . The technology is amazing . Do you remember ( riding ) in your car and you had like a zillion cassettes or a zillion CDs traveling with you ? Now , you can pull up anything that your mind can think of , and there it is . I still buy vinyl and cassettes and eight tracks because I ' m a collector of that kind of amazing music .”
As an avid fan of the country music comedy and variety show Hee Haw ( 1969-71 ), John 5 has introduced twangy bluegrass styles into his music quite often . Tracks such as “ Hell Haw ” off his 2017 Season of the Witch and “ Howdy ” from his 2019 Invasion albums are excellent examples of the show ’ s unlikely influence on him . “ I have been on this fingerpicking bluegrass banjo-style kick lately ; I ’ ve been listening to a lot of that because I ' m writ-
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