Guitarist Clint Lowery, co-founder and longtime axe man for Sevendust, is gearing up to release his first ever solo album, God Bless The Renegades, at the end of January 2020. He sat down for a phone interview — stay tuned for the full version of this Inquisitr exclusive! — to talk about the album, one which he’s looked forward to doing for the past decade.

The album’s first single, “Kings,” premiered on November 1, bringing with it a theme of redemption.

“There’s a message to the chorus. I’ve lived this intense life. There’s been a lot of decadence, but I’ve survived it. I don’t regret anything. I’m glad I survived. ‘Kings’ sums up the vibe of the record,” Lowery said in a press release announcing the track’s debut.

When recalling the craziness of days gone by, Lowery is reflective and grateful for those who helped him along the way. During a period of time away from Sevendust, Lowery hit the road in 2007 with alt-metal pioneers Korn, who had been struggling without guitarist and co-founder Brian “Head” Welch after he left the band in 2005 to focus on his sobriety and life as a father. It was at this time that Lowery hit his own low point.

“Those guys ended up ultimately probably saving my life by sending me home. I was getting arrested, I was binge drinking, I had a lot of personal issues going on. So some of those things, like say when I got arrested in Slovakia, it doesn’t seem real. It doesn’t seem like I’m the same person. And I’m not. Looking back again, it’s one of those things where I’m kind of glad it happened because it just needed to happen to pull my life together. I had that white flag up, surrendering.”

When asked if he saw any irony in filling in for a guy who left Korn to get his life together and ultimately being sent home by the band in order to do the same, Lowery said there’s “a tremendous amount of poetic justice to all that.” He reflected on recent conversations with Welch in which he asked about his book and sought out some advice. Lowery also drew a comparison between their respective journeys.

“I went back to Sevendust after healing and getting my life back together. So we both kind of reentered our bands kind of self-improved and self-repaired. There’s a lot of parallels with that,” he said.

Lowery said he’s taking the time off between Sevendust’s album cycle to hit the road in support of his solo release. He’ll be joining Alter Bridge for 15 dates in February before hitting the summer festival circuit.