John Rowe, born in Oakland, CA started his musical career at age 7, playing clarinet and saxophone.  John’s family moved to Colorado and at the age of only 12, played clarinet alongside his father in the local symphony as well as saxophone in the local high school jazz band. John took up guitar at age 13 and soon began performing with local rock bands. He later toured the Midwest with various bands and eventually ended up back in the Bay area where he started ATR Studios in Lafayette, CA with his two brothers. John Rowe branched out into the recording and sound production world, being mentored by the legendary Dr. Richie Moore, PhD. who was known for his work with The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Little Feat, etc.He has been the recording engineer and/or producer for artists including Eddie Money, Greg Kihn, Mickey Thomas, Monty Byrom, Annie Sampson , Charlie Musselwhite and numerous other artists. John has also worked with producers Richie Zito and David Kerschenbaum. Over the years, John has done numerous sessions as a studio musician playing either guitar, saxophone, bass, or keyboards. John is also a respected slide guitarist. Among John’s current projects besides judging for “SongWars” include: restoring vintage tape recordings (Billie Holiday, Lester Young, and others), Producing, Songwriting, and renovating  vintage pro-audio recording equipment.

John has been awarded  2 Gold Albums, 2 Platinum Albums and 2 Ampex Golden Reels Awards for his work in the music industry.