Jeff Loomis
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Jeff Loomis (Appleton, Wisconsin, September 14, 1971) is the lead guitarist for Seattle's heavy metal band, Nevermore. Jeff took up guitar at an early age, self-taught even to this day, and played in various Wisconsin death metal bands while growing up. At the age of 16, Loomis's guitar entry won Wisconsin's Guitar Wars contest. He has listed players such as Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine, Jason Becker and Marty Friedman as his influences.
Jeff was auditioned by Megadeth (during the So Far, So Good...So What! era) at the age of sixteen, when their lead guitarist Jeff Young left the band. After they played a few songs together, Dave Mustaine, the band's mastermind, thanked Loomis and told him that one day he would become a great guitar player, but because of his age and lack of experience he was not right for the position. Jeff Loomis saw Cacophony on tour, and told Marty Friedman, who was very interested, about the audition. Marty tried out for the position and joined the band in 1989. Ironically, in 2005, Loomis would share the stage with Megadeth, as the lead guitarist for Nevermore as part of Mustaine's Gigantour festival.
Not too long after being auditioned for the lead part in Megadeth, Lenny Rutledge left the band Sanctuary. Jeff was able to take his place at this time, however, but because of pressure from the band's record label, Sanctuary broke apart two weeks afterwards. Subsequently, Warrel Dane (vocalist) and Jim Sheppard (bassist) made plans to form Nevermore, and in late 1994, Jeff became Nevermore's lead guitarist.
Jeff is the main songwriter of Nevermore, immensely 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 and their latest album This Godless Endeavor (including Steve Smyth, who previously featured in the band Testament). Currently, Jeff plays an important role in portraying the sound that Nevermore is today, one of his most important musical showcases being in the album Dead Heart in a Dead World, in which he wrote most of the songs before Nevermore.
Jeff Loomis has recently been given a monthly column in Guitar World magazine entitled "Merchant of Menace" where he explains how to play the riffs and solos of Nevermore. In more recent columns, Jeff's co-guitarist in Nevermore, Steve Smyth has co-wrote the column, which is now dubbed "The Merchants of Menace."
Jeff plays various Schecter seven string guitars, including the Hell-Raiser 7 with EMG active humbucker pickups, and the Blackjack 7 with Seymour Duncan pickups. He was endorsed by Peavey amplifiers (using the XXX model), but has recently switched to Krank Krankenstein amplifiers. He has also made his own 6-string custom Warmoth guitar with EMG pickups. Schecter guitars has recently announced the production of a Jeff Loomis signature guitar.
Jeff has mentioned at various times that he's been planning for a long time to record a solo album, but it is not yet known if or when that album may be released.
In 2006, Loomis appeared on Pamela Moore's album Stories from a Blue Room.
