This week’s geek is a luthier and performer based in Memphis, Tennessee. His name is John Lowe and he performs under the moniker Johnny Lowebow. This bookstore owner had a penchant for music and building things. He started building cigar box guitars in the late 1990’s and eventually created a new type of instrument. The Lowebow, as it is called, has two dowel necks, one with a bass string and one with several guitar strings. It has 2 outputs, so the player can plug it into both a bass amp and a guitar amp. This allows the musician to essentially play both bass and guitar at the same time.
One of John Lowe’s homemade Lowebows
However, this wasn’t enough for Johnny Lowebow. He also plays drums while strumming the Lowebow which makes him a 1-man band, as seen above. He puts on a fun show. Additionally, Lowe’s instruments are well known in the roots music community. They’ve been played by artists like Kid Rock, Lyle Lovett, Ben Prestage, Harry Manx, Bo Ramsey, Purgatory Hill, North Mississippi All Stars, and many others. From book geek to music geek and now geek of the week, John Lowe.
KALE: A geek who works in the IT field and lives in Dallas, TX. He is also a music geek who has played in several local bands. Previous to his IT career, Kale worked as a photojournalist. He brings technical advice and artistic counterpoint to the podcast. 
