"This is the truth, the lowdown," say Richie Sambora, explaining the title of his long-awaited new solo album. "And after you speak that truth, there's always an aftermath. A lot has happened in my life over the last ten years, personal stuff that's cathartic for me to get out. Any artist is a microcosm for humanity, but I happen to also be in a band with the biggest concert tour in the world, and the glare of being in the public eye."

With Aftermath of the Lowdown, his new release on the groundbreaking, independent Dangerbird record label, Sambora is revealing another side of one of the world's best-known musicians. As a member of Bon Jovi for almost three decades, the guitarist and songwriter has been crucial to the band's sales of more than 130 million copies worldwide of its eleven albums, and ticket sales approaching 35 million. But with these eleven songs, the 2009 Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee is stepping into a different spotlight, and offering something more personal and intimate than the anthems for which he is known.

"Hopefully, this album will help change the perception of who I am," says Sambora. "I come across as just a guitar player, and I need to separate from that. I was a bandleader in every previous band I was in, and that never left my spirit or my psyche. So this is really a product of my life experiences and everything I've gone through for 30 years."

Sambora began work on these songs immediately following the conclusion of Bon Jovi's record-breaking Circle Tour. "We finished 18 months on the road," he says, "and the week I came home, I took my daughter on vacation for a week, and then I just started to pen some songs. They just came rushing out, I had such a desire to get this stuff out."

As he started to shape this new material into an album, he quickly called on his friend Luke Ebbin. "I can't say enough about that guy," says Sambora. "We just get along really well. We'd gotten together on various projects and soundtracks—he's my go-to guy to get things done."

Ebbin, who produced Aftermath of the Lowdown and co-wrote almost every song, put together a band for the recording—an all-star list of session players including Aaron Sterling (drums), Matt Rollings (piano/organ), Curt Schneider (bass), Rusty Anderson (guitar), and Roger Manning (keyboards). The first song they cut was "Every Road Leads Home to You," and Sambora proudly recalls how instantly the line-up felt like a real band. "I let them go as musicians," he says. "I gathered them a little, but I really just let them be themselves."

The results cover a wide stylistic range, but themes of independence and self-reliance appear throughout. "Burn the Candle Down," according to Sambora, "started out about sex, but turned into an observation about the world, a song about protest and freedom." The sweeping "Takin' a Chance on the Wind," he explains, is a "declaration of freedom, artistic freedom from the style of the band."

One of Sambora's own favorites on Aftermath of the Lowdown is the last song written for the album, "I'll Always Walk Beside You," which came from a very specific inspiration. "There's a picture of me and my daughter, walking down a road," he says. "You see our backs, and I wrote that phrase to her on the photo. She was an essential part of taking me through the ups and downs of the last ten years. So it's about my daughter for me—but it could be somebody's woman, it could be a wedding song. That's how songs get through, when people are able to relate to the lyrics and say, 'Hey, man, that's my life, too.'"

A special thrill for Sambora was the chance to work on a song with one of his idols, Elton John's writing partner, Bernie Taupin. "We just met and hung out, had some long dinners and deep conversations," says Sambora. "He gave me these lyrics for 'Weathering the Storm,' and they just connected to me and my life, and even to the world stage. I've never written like that—no one's ever handed me a lyric and said 'Go.' It took me just an hour and a half to finish the song. It was amazing, and I felt very honored."

Of course, Sambora knows how to put an album together. In addition to his work with Bon Jovi, he has released two previous, well-received solo albums: Stranger in This Town in 1991, and Undiscovered Soul in 1998. With those experiences in mind, he set out to do things differently this time, and was delighted to connect with Jeff Castelaz of Dangerbird Records, home of such vital acts as Silversun Pickups, Butch Walker, and Fitz & the Tantrums. For Sambora, who was president of his own independent record label when he was 23 years old, it represented something of a return to his roots.

"I've been on all sides of the major label realm," says Sambora, "and I've seen what this business has come to. And that's why I went to an independent label—I think it's the best shot for art to live by itself. I've circumnavigated the whole corporate thing and I got out alive. So instead of the usual, cookie-cutter marketing plan, we're doing something different, and I really think we'll stay together and carry on, while the music business keeps changing so drastically."

Richie Sambora knows that he truly has the best of both worlds, and that being part of one of the world's most beloved bands enables him to make a record as liberating as Aftermath of the Lowdown. "I don't have to have anxiety," he says. "I can make the sonic paintings that I need to make, and I don't have to conform. This album is the product of everything I've gone through for 30 years, all my life experiences—and I'm still going to college, I still take guitar lessons and voice lessons, it never stops.

"This is my favorite record I've ever made. It's the most fulfilling and beautiful experience in my life as a musician."