Josh Brainard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Josh 'Gnar' Brainard was the original guitarist in Slipknot during the Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat era. He stayed with the band until Corey Taylor joined and during the recording of their self-titled album Josh left. Josh wore a black gimp mask which was worn by James Root when he first joined after Josh left. There is a lot of confusion about who the actual guitarist during the self-titled album Slipknot was, and most of the unknowing public believed it to be James Root, though it was known to be Josh.

Josh was also the one who added Corey Taylor and the red jumpsuits to the line-up of Slipknot and was in the band from the start--as well as during the times when they needed to publicize their music and get some media exposure. He decided to leave the band after the self-titled album was recorded.

Also on the self album's cover it features Josh (but no James Root).