Ex-Korn Member Brian Welch Appears At Local Book Signing

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Brian “Head” Welch, former lead guitarist of Korn, who professed a spiritual awakening in 2004, appeared in Bakersfield Wednesday to promote his New York Times Best Selling memoir, “Save Me From Myself.”

Lines stretched out the door of Russo’s Books at the Marketplace where fans gathered to greet Brian Welch who came out of seclusion for his recent book tour.

Fans brought in guitars, wore rocker T-shirts, though all held copies of Welch's inspirational book detailing his conversion to Christianity. Some fans even read portions of the memoir while waiting in line.

Welch discussed his memoir in a recent interview with ABC23. “I think a lot of people go through what I went through inside and they don’t tell anybody,” he said.

In his book, which he almost had ghost written before taking over the project, Welch discusses his days in the nu-metal band Korn, past addiction to drugs, eventual spiritual awakening, and growing up in a family he didn’t consider especially close.

“We have problems when we’re kids, with whatever, with friends, bullies, with life in general what we go through, with drugs, and we don’t talk about a lot of it. And I wanted to talk about it,” he said.

Welch even talks about Bakersfield church leaders in his best-selling memoir.

When asked if he thought any Bakersfield church leaders got caught up in his rock star persona, Welch mentioned the media sensation that followed his 2004 conversion to Christianity.

“Maybe a little bit, yeah,” he said. “It was pretty crazy. They (Valley Bible) were getting hit by thousands of emails daily when all that stuff happened. I think everybody was affected by it. It was way crazier than any of us thought it would be. It was nuts. “I got overwhelmed and I’m sure the church got overwhelmed too.”