Jason Newsted , the ex-bassist of Metallica (you may have heard of them) is “auditioning guitar players for a heavy project”!
Recently. Newsted stopped by Gator 98.7’s Gator Garage for a Q&A session and VIP in-studio performance with hosts Jason and Franny. At the end of their chat – after talking about his history, experiences and future plans as a visual artist – Newsted was asked about his current and forthcoming musical endeavors.
"Actually, I spent six months of last year putting together 'The Chophouse Band Volume 1.' The Chophouse Band has been together [and] making music since 1992. It says it right there on that guy’s shirt! So, it was our first album after 30 years and I spent a lot of time on that. And then, once I got that under my belt, I'm kind of stepping back into the heavy now. So. the last couple of weeks I've been auditioning guitar players for a heavy project. I'm back on bass and singing with a metal drummer – double bass, you know, gettin' loud again. So, I've got a couple of things – a couple of irons in the fire. I'm putting two new projects together right now — but loud."
Jason Discusses His Art And His Plans for A New Heavy Band w/ Gator 98.7
IFKYK- the Chophouse Band formed in 2016. As demonstrated by their 2021 take on Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” among other covers, the project leans more toward styles such as folk rock, bluegrass, country and rockabilly.
That said, and as transcribed by Blabbermouth, Newsted told Gator 98.7 in April 2022 that the group “now . . . gets to some places that are as heavy as anything else that I’d been involved with – Voivod, Ozzy [Osbourne], Metallica, Newsted band; any of that stuff – it gets to those places now.”
Prior to the Q&A, Newsted and “friends” played an original song called “Black Bird,” too. You can watch that clip below:
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