144: Wes Geer: Korn and Hed PE guitarist on music for recovery

The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast

Wes Geer is a professional guitar player, songwriter, recording artist, and producer, who signed his first record deal to Jive Records with the band he founded, (Hed) P.E.. Wes toured the world for nearly a decade, and the band sold over 1 million records worldwide. Their music was on high rotation on MTV, radio stations, as well as having numerous placements in popular feature films, TV, and video games.

What many didn’t know at the time was while he was leading his band to their first-ever record deal, Wes was a full-blown drug addict, using alcohol, methamphetamines and other drugs, daily, for years. No matter the efforts to quell his addiction and control it, things continually got worse. After nearly a decade of touring the world, with the biggest names in rock, Wes’ life was imploding, and he finally left in 2003, for a ‘lifestyle change’ that ultimately ended him up in rehab in 2004.

In 2010, Wes decided he wanted to get back into music and started praying and meditating on what that would look like. Not long after, and only because he was sober, Geer was offered the gig as a guitarist with the rock band Korn. He traveled the world, performing in more than 40 countries with the multi-platinum stars, as well as appeared on numerous live televised and studio recording sessions.

Geer was then moved to give back, wanting to create something that could help people who struggled the same way he had. He then founded Rock to Recovery (R2R), a non-profit organization created in late 2012 with the purpose of providing those in various types of treatment and recovery programs the cathartic, uplifting, healing experience of connectivity through music.

Episode Resources

• Rock to Recovery | rocktorecovery.org
• Rock to Recovery Tickets | Concert Tickets
• Rock to Recovery Book | amazon.com

Connect with Wes Geer

• Instagram | @rocktorecovery
• Facebook | @rocktorecovery
• Twitter | @rocktorecovery

Connect with The Courage to Change

• Podcast Website | lionrock.life/couragetochangepodcast
• Podcast Instagram | @couragetochange_podcast
• YouTube | The Courage to Change Podcast
• TikTok | @ashleyloebblassingame
• Podcast Email | [email protected]
• Podcast Facebook | @thecouragetochangepodcast

Lionrock Resources

• Lionrock Life Mobile App | lionrock.life/mobile-app
• Support Group Meeting Schedule | lionrock.life/meetings