Guitarist John 5 shreds at Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg on Aug. 22
From a press release:
For almost 30 years, John 5 has been one of the most in-demand guitar players on the planet. As well as a guitarist for hire, he has shared the stage as axeman for metal icons Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, and Rob Halford. He has also worked with an impressive array of names from all walks of music, including K.D. Lang, Rod Stewart, Lita Ford, Dave Lee Roth, Alice Cooper, Tina Guo, and Steven Adler.
Today, it was announced that John 5 and his band The Creatures are hitting the road for a brand new U.S. tour with blues rock guitarist/singer Jared James Nichols and industrial rockers Black Satellite. It stops at the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg on Sunday, Aug. 22.
“I’ve always been excited to go on tour, but this time, it’s amplified by a million. I can’t wait to see everybody’s faces and say hello to everybody coming out to the shows. I’m very excited to have Jared James Nichols, Black Satellite, and Sarah Longfield [on select dates] joining us on this run. I’m sure we’re gonna have a great time,” John 5 said.
Doors at the Sherman (524 Main St., Stroudsburg) open at 6 p.m., and the concert starts at 7 p.m.
General admission tickets, which are $20, are on sale now and available at the Sherman Theater box office and online via shermantheater.com and Etix.
To just call John 5 a shredder does not do him justice. There’s little he can’t put his hand to. He was born John William Lowery on July 31, 1970 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. His love of guitar began at age 7 when he began watching “Hee Haw” on television with his father.
“I watched the guitar playing and knew that was what I wanted to do. My friends wanted to be astronauts and such, but all I wanted to do was play and play and play,” he recalled. Other notable influences include KISS and Jimi Hendrix.
John 5’s solo career turned out not to be a flash in the pan, and he has now released nine studio albums, two live albums, and a remix album. He has worked with several special guests on those records, including Albert Lee who called him “one of the nicest guys I’ve worked with,” Steve Vai who called him “underrated,” Joe Satriani, Jim Root, Eric Johnson, and many more. In addition to his solo albums, 5 teamed up with the vocal talents of Joe Grah (formerly of Texas band Jibe) to form “radio rock project” Loser. Their first single, “Disposable Sunshine,” was featured on the “Fantastic Four” soundtrack.
In 2006, John 5 was invited to join Rob Zombie for a short Ozzfest tour. Despite being told “not to get too comfortable,” the pairing brought a resurgence in Zombie, who at the point was turning his hand to directing movies and taking a break from music, and they began work on 2006’s “Educated Horses.” As a consequence, John 5 had to make the decision to leave his fledgling band Loser.
“Being the founding member of Loser, my decision to leave was not an easy one,” he said.
5 has been part of Rob Zombie’s band since. Their most recent album, “The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy,” was released on March 12 and saw enormous success on Billboard, hitting No. 1 across 11 charts, including Current Rock, Top Albums, and Top Current Albums and No. 9 on the Top 200.
In 2015, following a series of web shows to celebrate the release of his solo album “Careful with That Axe,” John 5 decided to take his solo set on tour and formed The Creatures to support his live shows. Initially joined by longterm friend Rodger Carter on drums, the band continues touring to this day and now works as a unit on 5’s solo albums, including “Season of the Witch,” the live album “It’s Alive,” and 2019’s “Invasion.” The current lineup includes Ian Ross on bass and drummer Logan Miles Nix.
Although John 5 does less “hired gun” work these days, he has contributed to music with Lynryd Skynrd, Meatloaf, Ricky Martin, Rod Stewart, Mötley Crüe, and Rod Stewart. Most recently, he combined forces with Rob Zombie, Nikki Sixx, and Tommy Clufetos to create a supergroup dubbed The LA Rats and recorded “I’ve Been Everywhere,” the lead track for upcoming Netflix movie “The Ice Road” starring Liam Neeson and Laurence Fishburne.
He is now hard at work on his next solo album.
“I’m busy, constantly busy with work, but I look at who I am in the studio with or sending music to and I think I don’t ever want it to stop.”
Jared James Nichols was recently named Global Brand Ambassador for Gibson guitars. He is one of three guitarists to now be given this title, the other two being Slash and Dave Mustaine. His brand new single “Skin ‘N Bone” ushers blues power into the modern age.
Black Satellite is an New York City-based rock band coming off of their recently released single “Void” from their upcoming sophomore album “Aftermath.” The duo is also hitting the festival scene this fall with additional appearances at Metal in the Mountains Fest alongside John 5, as well as Blue Ridge Rock Festival. They have a new single and music video coming soon.
