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Jeff Loomis


Member

1989-1991 Experiment Fear - guitars  
1991-2011 Nevermore - guitars  
2005- Jeff Loomis - guitars, bass  
2013- Conquering Dystopia - guitars  
2014-2023 Arch Enemy - guitars  

Studio musician

2006 Pamela Moore - guitars  

Live musician

1990 Sanctuary - guitars  
2010-2011 Sanctuary - guitars  

Guest musician

2003-2004 God Forbid - guitars  
2007 Annihilator - guitars  
2008 Warrel Dane - guitars  
2008 Marty Friedman - guitars  
2009 Switchblade - guitars  
2009 Tim "Ripper" Owens - guitars  
2010 7 Horns 7 Eyes - guitars  
2010 Periphery - guitars  
2010 Merrow - guitars  
2011 Metalusion - guitars  
2011 Single Bullet Theory - guitars  
2011 Stéphan Forté - guitars  
2011 The Rain I Bleed - guitars  
2012 Ihsahn - guitars  
2012 Merrow - guitars  
2013 Ashes Of Ares - guitars  
2013 FB 1964 - guitars  
2013 Mason - guitars  
2013 Michael Angelo Batio - guitars  
2013 Francesco Fareri - guitars  
2013 System Divide - guitars  
2013 David Maxim Micic - guitars  
2013 Pamela Moore - guitar solo  
2014 Helstar - guitars  
2014 Ron George - guitars  
2014 Hannes Grossmann - guitars  
2015 Tony MacAlpine - guitars  
2015 Ghost Ship Octavius - guitar solo  
2015 Soul Rape - guitars  
2015 Abnormal Thought Patterns - guitar solo  
2016 FB 1964 - guitar solo  
2016 Necromancing The Stone - guitars  
2016 Nothgard - guitars  
2016 Oracles - guitars  
2017 Strength Of Will - guitars  
2017 Scale The Summit - guitars  
2018 Against Evil - guitars  
2018 Bloodshot Dawn - guitar solo  
2018 Ilusen's Fallacy - guitar solo  
2018 Jason Becker - guitars  
2018 Lady Catman - guitar solo  
2018 Verni - guitars  
2018 Silver Talon - guitars  
2019 Hannes Grossmann - guitars  
2019 Andy Gillion - guitars  
2019 Merrow - guitars  
2019 Michael Sweet - guitars  
2020 Amaranthe - guitars  
2020 Binary Code - guitar solo  
2020 Blackguard - guitars  
2020 Tomorrow's Rain - guitars  
2021 Alexandra Zerner - guitars  
2021 Ola Englund - guitar solo  
2021-2022 Shaded Enmity - guitars  
2022 Graham Bonnet Band - guitars  
2023 Till The Dirt - guitars  
2023 Joey Concepcion - guitars  
2023 Marcus Forstbauer - guitars  

Personal information

Born on: 14.09.1971

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Jeff Loomis (born September 14, 1971) Is an American musician, best known for his role as lead guitarist in the Progressive Metal band Nevermore. He has listed guitarists such as Eddie Van Halen, Jason Becker and Marty Friedman as his influences.

Biography

Early days

Loomis started making music with drums (as stated in a Youtube video interview by him), but soon he was bored and he started playing guitar. He got his first instrument at nine or ten years old, but didn't start practicing seriously until around the age of 15. As a teenager in Wisconsin he played in a handful of cover bands and three death metal bands before joining more established bands. At the age of 16, Loomis won Wisconsin's Guitar Wars contest.

He was auditioned for Megadeth (during the So Far, So Good...So What! era) at the age of 16, after their lead guitarist Jeff Young was fired from the band. After they played a few songs together, Dave Mustaine, the band's frontman and other lead guitarist, thanked Loomis and told him that one day he would become a great guitar player, but because of his age he was not right for the position. Jeff Loomis saw Cacophony on tour, and told Marty Friedman, who became very interested, about the audition. Marty tried out for the position and joined the band in 1989. In 2005, Loomis would then share the stage with Megadeth, as the lead guitarist for Nevermore as part of Mustaine's Gigantour festival. Coincidentally, Loomis' co-guitarist in Nevermore, Chris Broderick, later auditioned for, and became a member of Megadeth.

Sanctuary

Not too long after being auditioned for the lead part in Megadeth (which was also auditioned for by Steve Smyth and Chris Broderick, both playing for his later band Nevermore at different points), Loomis was unable to join the band Sanctuary after guitarist Sean Blosl had left. He was able to take his place at this time; however, because of a dispute caused by guitarist Lenny Rutledge wanting to make grunge oriented music, Sanctuary broke up 4 months afterwards.

Nevermore

After the break-up, Loomis and former Sanctuary members Warrel Dane (vocalist) and Jim Sheppard (bassist) made plans to form Nevermore, and in late 1994, Loomis became the lead guitarist of Nevermore after the brief period being in Sanctuary. Now, he is the main songwriter of Nevermore, adding to the unique sound that fans are familiar with. His contributions can be found in albums such as The Politics of Ecstasy, Dreaming Neon Black, This Godless Endeavor (including Steve Smyth, who previously featured in the band Testament) and Nevermore's 2010 album, The Obsidian Conspiracy. Currently, Loomis plays an important role in portraying the sound that Nevermore has today, using 7 string guitars and techniques such as sweep-picking. One of his more important musical showcases is in the critically acclaimed album Dead Heart in a Dead World, in which he wrote most of the songs before Nevermore.

Solo

In 2005, Jeff reported that he would take some time as a break and then begin recording a solo album. He said, "It's something I've been wanting to do for sometime... It will be like a Jason Becker/Marty Friedman kind of thing." On April 1, 2008, Jeff said that all 10 songs which have been written have had the drumming recorded (which was done by Mark Arrington pretty much overnight) and they will soon begin tracking the rhythm guitar. On 3 July 2008, it was announced that the album will be called Zero Order Phase. It was released 30 September via Century Media Records. During this time Dave Mustaine of Megadeth invited Jeff to join Megadeth as the lead guitarist, but declined the offer to work on his solo record.

Other

Loomis had a monthly column in Guitar World magazine entitled "Merchant of Menace" where he explained how to play the riffs and solos of Nevermore. In more recent columns, his former co-guitarist in Nevermore, Steve Smyth has co-written the column, which is dubbed "The Merchants of Menace." He has also been featured in Young Guitar Magazine, showing guitarists how to play, and explain his style and signature guitar in Nevermore.

In 2009 Guitar World released his first instructional video.

Slated for a Winter 2010 release; Jeff has recorded a 2 part instructional DVD series with RockHouseMethod. Recording took place late Fall of 2009.

As of 2008, he is engaged.

On 29 November 2010, Jeff Loomis met Keith Merrow and recorded a solo with him, for one of a few tracks featuring him on Keith's new 2011 album entitled Awaken The Stone King.

(Source: Wikipedia)