SEVENDUST guitarist Clint Lowery spoke to ChurchLeaders about his recent revelation that he has just completed his first tour as a “saved Christian.” Asked how he came to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ, Clint said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Oh, man. Yes. Amen. Hallelujah. For real. He’s moved mountains in my life.
“First off, man, just thank you for having me,” he continued. “Thank you for allowing me to have the opportunity to glorify God and Jesus Christ, and how he’s worked in my life and how he’s still working and how I don’t wanna go back without him.
“Just to back up, quick backstory. My mom and dad were musicians, devoted Christians. They had their flaws, but there was always a church life when I was a toddler up till teenage years. And my grandfather was a Methodist preacher, my grandmother was a saint of a woman — just beautiful. So there was a foundation there in the early beginning of a relationship with God and Christ and the Bible and the basic stories. So that was there. That was my connection with God. I always acknowledged Jesus Christ, acknowledged everything that He did and what little I knew. I thought I knew a lot more than I did. So fast forward, that kind of sustains me through life. I go through the typical things where you pray, you go to church for every now and then, foxhole prayers — just going through the motions in a way. And when I got sober was back in 2007, and I got a stronger connection with God because that particular program that I entered asked me to connect with a higher power. I’m, like, ‘Oh, that’s easy. I have a higher power.’ So I go through it, but I’m still not in the Bible. I’m still not building that relationship and what I thought was a relationship.
“I’ve learned through my life that God uses suffering, in particular with me, and others as well,” Clint added. “Suffering is a good teacher. It’s a good way to humble me, puts me in a position. It was the same with sobriety. And every time that I am in a position, and it can be really, really high or really low, but I’ve always gone to God. But then I get things back on track and I take it back into self. I take it back and I’m running the show. I’m doing this. I’m going through the prayers, but I’m not committed to a fellowship in my community. I’m not being of service to others. I’m just kind of doing what I think is the next right thing. I go through a really major medical health scare last year, one that had put me to where I saw four neurologists, and no one could tell me exactly what was going on. No friends or family at that point could help me because I thought I was basically gonna face one of the worst things you could face in terms of disease, neurological issues. So I was at a place in my life where I surrendered it all to God and Christ. I immediately started reading the Bible. I have a pastor that lives four houses down from me. Ironically, I was on my deck and I spent a lot of time on my deck just staring off and pleading and trying to get this relationship going. And he was working on a deck a couple of houses down. And he’s, like, ‘Hey.’ His name’s Jody. He’s, like, ‘Quit that stinking thinking.’ And I had met Jody. Jody‘s a great man. We weren’t really that tight before all this, but we’d see each other all the time and had great conversations. He’s about my age too. And I go down there and start talking to him, go into what I’m going through. And, basically, he just guides me through my just kind of coming to terms and asked me if I was saved. And I couldn’t answer the question. And when I really looked internally, I was, like, ‘I haven’t.’ And he explained to me what that meant, and with my whole heart and my whole mind, giving it to Jesus Christ, acknowledging that he walked the Earth, acknowledging that he is my savior, that he had died on the cross, that he was resurrected, all of these things.
“I’ve been talking to my children about being baptized, ’cause we’ve also introduced them to church and things like that. So right there in the backyard with him, I put my flag down and my commitment and giving myself to Christ,” Clint said. “I went home and had an additional prayer. My perception was, ‘Oh, you’ve gotta go get baptized.’ And he made it very clear that baptism is a great public display of your devotion and your relationship and your journey, but the real thing starts with you and Jesus Christ, you giving yourself and you giving that up. So immediately then, it was that, and it was nose into the Bible, reading the scriptures, Bible studies, just finding mentors, getting people that have walked the road longer than I have to just help me understand the scriptures in a way that applies that I could understand. And even when I’m reading it, a lot of times, sometimes some of it’s confusing, some of it’s a little over my head, but when I’m in the word, the answers, the fear started lifting, the anxiety that started lifting. And I just started really having these connections. I started seeing my encounters with other people change.
“I had this preconceived notion that I needed to go immediately, start doing good works, good works — let me go give some charity, let me try to just put on a smiley face for as many people as possible. And I realized through the scripture and through the readings that it wasn’t about the good works. ‘Cause I still thought I had a terminal illness. But I was still in my faith and I had found relief there. So I was just coming to terms with it. I still had some tests pending, and this and that. I’m trying to do all these good things, and I realized that it’s not about the good works. It’s about the relationship and the grace that Jesus Christ, that he had died for us. He’s already paid that, he’s already done that. So doing the good works is a great thing — goodwill, loving thy neighbor, that’s amazing and that is absolutely what we’re put here to do — but it was more about just realizing I am a sinner. I have no control over what I’ve done. All I know is I’m giving myself to him now, and that does require some changes, some sacrifices and some action. But at the end of the day, no good works is just gonna earn me in. It’s just I need to stay in faith. I need to understand that he is my savior, that when I do do sin, which I will, I repent and then I try to grow. And that’s what I’m doing, man. And I’ve been thirsty for it. And every opportunity I get to talk about it, I do.”
Regarding how the touring life had changed for him after he got “saved”, Clint said: “I’m really close with the [other] guys [in SEVENDUST], obviously. We’ve been together so many years. They knew of all the health stuff that was going on. And when I’d gotten saved, I would have a few conversations with ’em, but they had kind of pulled back a little bit from me, which was another thing. It was like God was taking people and kind of, in my mind, moving them away. People I thought were gonna stay and talk to me and help me and all that, everyone kind of pulled away ’cause there was nothing that anyone could say. So, through that I really built my relationship. Going into it and then talking to my pastor and talking about, how am I gonna enter re-enter this world? If you look from the outside, some of the messages in the old songs, they’re not really aligned with some of the beliefs I have today. But I do believe that there is a reason that all of this happened.
“I know my guys [in SEVENDUST] are good guys,” Clint continued. “They’re sinners and they made mistakes. I was one of the worst of ’em. So I just used the opportunity to take my relationship, taking that to the tour, taking my attitudes toward others, my patience level, my kindness level. They didn’t feel a critical spirit for me, which I’m sure at first they were, like, ‘Man, he’s gonna come in Bible thumping on us’ and all this. And it was the opposite, actually.
“We all have these little barriers sometimes,” Lowery added. “We’re around each other a lot. There could be tensions and there could be all these different things. And I just try to melt through ’em as much as possible, and that required getting rid of some of my ego, some of my fears, being courteous and considerate when I could, being quiet when I needed to be quiet. I don’t need to gossip and join in. You can get negative really quick on tour. And I just tried to be a light, I tried to be a little bit more positive, but I never tried to stand on a soap box or preach to anybody. But Lajon [Witherspoon, SEVENDUST singer] asked me to lead a couple of the prayers before the shows, and that was an honor because I really felt for him to ask me to do that was him acknowledging that he saw that I was on my journey and on my own time and my own way. It was just a really cool thing. And so nothing really changed out there except my perception of it and the way I responded to it. And it made it a better and more peaceful tour, despite still going through some weird physical stuff.
“Someone told me one time, you can’t have worry and fear and faith at the same time. You can’t be anxious and then be based in faith at the same time. You have to have some surrender to it. And, of course, there’s gonna be fears and different things like that, but when they’re overriding. Instead of worrying, I could pray. Instead of soaking in my own stuff, I could help someone else and get out of it. I have these tools that the Bible gives us all.”
Elaborating on how his relationship with his SEVENDUST bandmates evolved as a result of his faith, Clint said: “I know that it takes time for those things, ’cause everyone can go through a little bit of a pink cloud high moment and then crash down. I did it in sobriety, and I’m cautious of it in my faith journey. I’m sure the first few days they were just kind of, like, ‘Let’s just see what pans out.’ I mean, they were very supportive of anything that was gonna give me relief based on what I was going through. And they saw it work and they saw that I had this fear that was all-consuming, just overwhelming, and they saw me not have that. And they saw that I give myself to God and Christ. And they [thought], ‘Well, that’s great for you.’ And then we went out there on tour. They were fully supportive. No one ever really acknowledged it verbally. They just kind of gave love and it was cool. And I think they understood. Like I said, Lajon allowed me to do a couple of the prayers. And so that was cool. That was their way of saying, ‘Okay, you’re on your journey and we respect it.’ And hopefully there’s conversations that can open up. Every now and then we’d get into a conversation where I would refer to the Bible, I would refer to things like that. We’d have little — not debates, but they would talk about it in certain ways. And I’m, like, ‘Well, based on what I saw…’ And I had this knowledge. I had done a few courses, I knew a little bit about the Bible’s history, the manuscripts, how many were preserved, and I had some knowledge finally. And that felt great, that I had something to stand on, in terms of I have faith and this is why.”
Addressing the criticism he has received from some SEVENDUST fans for publicly speaking about his faith, Clint said: “I’m very careful about being boastful about anything, about saying things in a way where it’s just for clout. I was always skeptical about that. I was a very cynical person before and still have those tendencies that I work on every day. But I have seen people say that. And people can be really harsh toward Christianity. I knew that going into this that there were gonna be people that fall off, there were gonna be people that go at me pretty hard, attack. I mean, Jesus Christ was attacked harder than anyone. Not that I’m in any category like that, but just in Christianity, some of the downfall has been the human element. There are people that proclaim to be Christian that do not live that Christian life. And people may see me continuing with the band and say, ‘Oh, there’s hypocrisy in that.’ And the way that I see it is that I could stay home and stay in my community church and be around some stability and all those things and just write worship songs, which is something I absolutely wanna do and I will do. But I think there’s work to be done.
“I think when Head [guitarist Brian Welch] went back to KORN [after publicly embracing Christianity eight years earlier], his template was one of those that I used. I remember thinking, ‘Man, if I ever did that…’ And I actually talked to him a little bit about it and it was kind of the same way that I feel. It’s, lik,e there’s work to be done there. There’s opportunities there. The people that I’ve ran into — I’ve had prayers in front of my bus with people. I’ve had people that are so happy that I’ve boldly kind of come out with it instead of just keeping it kind of ambiguous. And now I can have these amazing conversations with people. I use the music and that situation as a way, ’cause we are sending love to people. It’s not like we’re giving some message that is anti-religion or anti-God or anti-Christian. It is just some of the old anger, all those songs are there. But there’s a spirit of love in the room. I feel it with the people. It is how I make my livelihood, but I do also see it as an opportunity. Now if I continue to pray on it and God does want me in a different place, then I will follow that. And believe me, I pray about it every day, ’cause I was struggling with it. I was, like, do I wanna be around that environment all the time? And am I just chasing the money or the brand that is SEVENDUST? Am I just staying with that? How committed am I to this? And that’s the questions that I ask and I pray about all the time. And I feel like God still sees me in this role with these guys. And we’ve had some major spiritual moments together as a band, as people. And I like being around that. And I do — I see it as an opportunity. And people are gonna say what they wanna say, and again, my relationship with Christ is what holds me. And if I paid attention to everybody and what they feel about it, then that would [end up] being too much of a burden to bear and not worth it.”
Lowery became sober nearly 18 years ago after being arrested at the Hodokvas festival in Piestany, Slovakia following what was described as a “wild drunken night” that resulted in the musician trashing his room. At the time, Lowery was on tour with KORN as the latter band’s backing/session guitarist. A day following Lowery‘s arrest, he was released from police custody after apologizing and paying for the damages. He later released a statement explaining that he was “being a lil’ rowdy and loud” in his hotel and acknowledging that he “pulled some Rock 101 stuff.” He added that he was “not proud of it at all” and claimed that the entire episode was “scary enough” to where he knew he would never be doing anything like that “ever again.”
When Clint celebrated the 17th year of his getting sober last October, he took to his social media to write: “Quick story….When I got sober, the first week was a blur to say the least. I entered a treatment center a few days after getting fired from my hired gun role in KORN. One of the many bottoms I hit that were sufficient enough to be willing to get sober and stay sober a day at a time. I was in a holding pattern for a few days waiting to get accepted into the treatment center and those days were foggy.
“I’ve always had a sobriety date of October 24th. But doing a true gut check and trying hard to remember the true date (which has always bugged me),this being an honest deal, I have to say my true sobriety date is October 27th, 2007 and God willing…I’ll make it to tomorrow without a drink or drug.
“For years I’ve wrestled with that. Sounds like no big deal, right? Well, for me, those lil untruths are not good…at all. For me and especially for God. So only a few days different I’m even more grateful entering another year with that adjustment in the name of truth to self and a God I need to repent to.
“This year has undoubtedly been the hardest in my sobriety dealing with life on life’s terms…but the true miracle is I haven’t thought of taking a drink. That’s a God thing…not a me thing. So before you have any atta boys I give credit to him. I post this also for the alcoholic out there trying to get sober. It can happen for you if it happened for me trust me
“I recently gave my life to Jesus Christ and that has brought me true comfort through the tough times. For me. I’m not here to tell anyone how to live their life and I was certainly one of the people who didn’t like that pushed on me, I just encourage people to open their minds and hearts to him. It helped an old country dude find peace in true chaos and uncertainty.”
SEVENDUST and THREE DAYS GRACE recently completed a North American tour as the support acts for DISTURBED on the latter act’s “The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour”.
SEVENDUST is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, “Truth Killer”, which was released in July 2023 via SEVENDUST‘s new label home, Napalm Records.
The follow-up to 2020’s “Blood & Stone”, “Truth Killer” was once again tracked at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida with producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette, who has previously worked with ALTER BRIDGE and SLASH, among others.
“Truth Killer” showcased the original and current SEVENDUST lineup, comprised of singer Lajon Witherspoon, guitarists Lowery and John Connolly, bassist Vince Hornsby and drummer Morgan Rose.
Last fall, SEVENDUST celebrated the 21st anniversary of its iconic album “Seasons” on a U.S. tour. “Seasons” is the fourth album from the band’s catalog and exploded on to the metal world when it was released in October 2003. The album spawned a Top 10 Rock single with “Enemy” and the album closer “Face To Face” is a show staple and fan favorite of SEVENDUST to this day.
“Seasons” was, for a time, the band’s last album with Lowery as he left in 2004. Lowery returned to SEVENDUST in March 2008 and has remained with the group ever since.
Source: blabbermouth.net
