David Ellefson

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DAVID ELLEFSON To Release Companion LP “Sleeping Giants” To Upcoming Memoir “More Life With Deth”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on April 13, 2019
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

DavidEllefson

MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson has announced the release of “Sleeping Giants”, a companion LP to be released July 5th (CD/Digital, Aug 30th on LP) on Combat Records, in conjunction with his upcoming memoir “More Life With Deth”, in stores July 16th via Jawbone Press. Co-written with Ellefson’s business partner Thom Hazaert, “More Life With Deth” is the follow up to Ellefson’s celebrated “My Life With Deth”, and delves deeper into the later stages of Ellefson’s career, as well as a thorough exploration of the earliest days of Megadeth and beyond.

Featuring cover art by Melody Myers (Altitudes and Attitude, Marc Rizzo, Escape The Fate), “Sleeping Giants” will be a retrospective featuring several new tracks recorded by Ellefson and Hazaert, plus a collection of demos, and unreleased material, from F5 and David’s other projects, including the unreleased demo “If You Were God”, featuring John Bush (Anthrax, Armored Saint), plus several unreleased demos featuring House of Lords/Giuffria vocalist David Glen Eisley. The CD version will also include a second bonus disc, featuring a compilation of EMP and Combat Records Artists.

Produced by Ellefson and Hazaert, with additional production from ICON guitarist John Aquilino at the Platinum Underground in Phoenix, “Sleeping Giants” is tentatively set to include a multitude of guests including legendary MC Daryl “DMC” McDaniels, who shares vocals with Hazaert on the title track, Ken Mary (Alice Cooper, Flotsam and Jetsam), Steve Conley (Flotsam and Jetsam, F5), Ethan Brosh, Bumblefoot, Dave Sharpe and Opus Lawrence of Dead By Wednesday, Mark Tremonti, Juan Garcia (Abbatoir, Body Count), Illias Papadakis (Memorain), Dave McClain (Machine Head, Sacred Reich), a remix by Game of Thrones star Kristian Nairn, and more.

Check out a teaser video of the title track at the link below:

Pre-order “Sleeping Giants” on CD, LP, and in bundle configurations here: http://bit.ly/ellefsonsleepinggiants

Says Hazaert, “David and I were in Tampa for PBX – Playback Independent Music Expo, and had just finished an amazing run of BASSTORY, where I ended up performing with him, and several of our friends, including Bumblefoot, and Dave Sharpe and Opus from Dead By Wednesday. We capped it off with an amazing all-star BASSTORY jam at the Brass Mug in Tampa with Dirk Verbeuren, Troy Sanders from Mastodon, Jason Bieler of Saigon Kick, Head from Korn, Kyle Sanders from Hellyeah. It was insane. So, we went into a local studio, MASTERSOUND in Tampa, with the Dead By Wednesday guys, and ended up writing and tracking “VULTURES”.

He adds, “David had all these other amazing instrumental songs and parts, laying around, that I had always loved, and we just ended up getting a bunch of guests to play on them, polished some of them up, I wrote lyrics, laid down vocals, and the rest is history.”

Says Ellefson, “I love to collaborate and It’s timely and fitting to work up these song ideas with my friends, and get to break out and release some of these great demos and oddities from over the years, the stories behind many of which are told in the book. And to be able to include many of the EMP and COMBAT artists, I think it really brings another dimension to the stories we’re telling in More Life With Deth.”

Adds Hazaert, “It truly was just writing and making music from the purest place of writing and making music… like, buddies in the garage jamming on songs. And while everyone knows him as a bassist, David is such an incredible guitar player, and songwriter, and I love that we can finally showcase that. And to have a bunch of our friends who are IN the book play on it, and for me and David to collaborate the way we did. I think it’s really special. And, at first, we really didn’t know what to do with it, or if we would even do anything with it, for that matter. We’d discussed the idea of releasing the new tracks as singles, then an EP, and then we came up with the idea to create a sort of “island of misfit toys” b-sides release, with all this killer stuff David had been involved with over the years, and it really all just kinda fell into place.”

DavidEllefson-cover

(Ellefson/Hazaert 2019)
1. Vultures
2. Sleeping Giants (ft. DMC).
3. Hammer Comes Down
4. Vultures (Kristian Nairn Remix)
(Unreleased Demo)
4. If You Were God” (ft. John Bush)
(F5 Demos)
5. Deadman Rise
6. I Fall
7. Bleeding
8. Why Can’t We Die
9. Dying on The Vine
10. Faded
11. Undeniable
12. Feel Your Pain
(Unreleased Demos)
13. Out In The Rain (ft. David Glen Eisley)
14. Voices (ft. David Glen Eisley)

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MARK MORTON Releases New Single “Cross Off”, Feat. Chester Bennington

Posted by tarjavirmakari on January 11, 2019
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

MarkMorton

MARK MORTON, the prolific guitarist of Lamb of God, has released the second single from his debut solo album, Anesthetic, out March 1, 2019. “Cross Off” featuring Chester Bennington premiered today as Zane Lowe’s World Record on Beats 1 and is now available everywhere, here.

“Cross Off” was recorded in April 2017 and written by Mark Morton, Chester Bennington, Jake Oni and producer Josh Wilbur. Morton recorded all guitars with Paolo Gregoletto and Alex Bent (Trivium) handling bass and drums. The composition of the song began between Morton, Wilbur and Oni before the three approached Bennington about singing vocals. Bennington loved the song and came to the studio with additional ideas and lyrics that, together with his unique and incredible vocal style, shaped the song to be what it is today.

markmortonchesterbennington-cross-off-press-photo-black-300x200

Morton said his experience working on “Cross Off” with Bennington “was a very free flowing and natural process. We both really loved the song from its inception and everyone that worked on it put a lot of energy and emotion into it. I feel like you can really hear that in the track, and absolutely in Chester’s performance.”

Joining forces with WPP Records and Spinefarm Records on a worldwide basis, Morton will release the 10-track album that sees him further explore his creative drive for writing and collaboration. It arrives on March 1, 2019, but CD and vinyl pre-order and merch bundles are now available here.

The full track listing, complete with the list of guest artists is below. The album was made alongside a dream team of highly respected musicians from a multitude of musical worlds; some friends and some who would never be expected to collaborate with metal genre leaders Lamb of God.

Morton had been writing some of this debut for years. “This album wasn’t a concerted effort to start something outside Lamb of God,” he explains. “Music is always in my head, and until I write and record it, it’s stuck there. But once I record it, it’s out. It’s a catharsis, more for my own sanity.”

Singers on the album include Chester Bennington, Randy Blythe, Jacoby Shaddix, Myles Kennedy, Alissa White-Gluz, Mark Lanegan, Chuck Billy, Jake Oni, Josh Todd, Mark Morales, and Naeemah Maddox. Musically, Morton performs all guitars, with Roy Mayorga, David Ellefson, Ray Luzier, Paolo Gregoletto, Alex Bent, Mike Inez, Jean-Paul Gaster, Steve Gorman, Marc Ford, Yanni Papadopoulos and Chris Brooks rounding out the band.

Mark-Morton-Anesthetic

ANESTHETIC TRACK LISTING:

1. “Cross Off” (feat. Chester Bennington)
2. “Sworn Apart” (feat. Jacoby Shaddix)
3. “Axis” (feat. Mark Lanegan)
4. “The Never” (feat. Chuck Billy + Jake Oni)
5. “Save Defiance” (feat. Myles Kennedy)
6. “Blur” (feat. Mark Morales)
7. “Back From The Dead” (feat. Josh Todd)
8. “Reveal” (feat. Naeemah Maddox)
9. “Imaginary Days”
10. “The Truth Is Dead” (feat. Randy Blythe + Alissa White-Gluz)

MEGADETH’s Dave Ellefson: “I was on METALLICA’s short list when Jason Newsted quit in 2001”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on December 28, 2018
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment
DavidEllefson-Photo-by-MikeSavoia

Photo by Mike Savoia

Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to MEGADETH‘s bassist David Ellefson about his new album with his side project ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE titled ‘Get it out’ (with Anthrax’s Frank Bello), his upcoming book ‘More life with Deth’, the direction of MEGADETH‘s new album, his upcoming induction into the Hall of Heavy Metal History, METALLICA‘s short list when Jason Newsted quit and his upcoming Bass History tour.

Watch the interview here:

When asked about his side project with Frank Bello of Anthrax, called Altitudes and Attitude and their new album
“This side project is an addition to Megadeth and I think that is why the fans like it and embrace it. I have played on a lot of records so fans are used to hearing different sides to me. For Frank Bello, what is cool for him is that he is the singer on this project, so you really get to hear a different side to Frank. Musically it is very different it is not a thrash metal record, it’s got some powerful hard rock drive to it but it also an emotional side. The album has sensibilities to it, it is not just a freight train Heavy Metal by any stretch.”

When asked about his upcoming induction into the Hall of Heavy Metal History January 23 2019 in Anaheim California
“Last year I inducted Nick Menza into the Hall, it was great because his family was there and it was a special privilege and honour especially since Nick is no longer with us. So this year when the Hall’s CEO Pat Guesaldo contacted me for the induction, I thought it was great and super cool. The Hall does a great thing, they are honouring and inducting a lot of cool artists. They are inducting the Ozzy Osbourne Blizzard of Oz artists, drummer Lee Kerslake and bassist Bob Daisley, also my friend Mike Portnoy ex Dream Theater and so many more great musicians. I am especially looking forward to meeting Lee Kerslake (who recently told The Metal Voice he had 8 months to live due to cancer) who did the drumming on Ozzy’s first two albums, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, because those two albums changed my Life. Those two albums were very influential to me as a teenage musician.”

When asked about the musical direction of the upcoming new Megadeth album
“We have been really trying to re frame the band, there have been a few records in the past years that really hit the mark well. I thought Dave did a great job on the Endgame album, 13 Album was an album that I played on when I came back into the group I thought was a really good strong record. So as we talk about this next record we said Dystopia is the bench mark, it seems to be what fans like to hear. A combination of melodies, amazing playing and the thrash stuff a kind of a greatest hits of everything Megadeth has ever done. All this can be heard on Dystopia. To early to say what it will sound like but Dystopia is a benchmark for us.”

When asked if in 2001 when Megadeth disbanded and when Jason Newsted left Metallica, did he ever get a call to join Metallica to join the band
“Metallica didn’t call me, I do know know there was a conversation about considering me. I know I was on Metallica’s short list. ”

When asked about his upcoming new book More life with Deth
” It will be released next summer around the Ozzy Megadeth tour. It talks about me leaving Jackson, Minnesota and going off to Hollywood, I also include the things we doing today with my business partner Thom Hazaert, EMP label group, Combat Records, Ellefson Coffee Company, the Grammies with Megadeth, Dystopia there has been lots that happened since the last book when it came out. Also I go into a lot of Megadeth’s history that wasn’t been talked about on my last book.”

ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE’s debut album, “Get It Out”, which will be released on January 18, 2019 via Megaforce. The follow-up to ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE’s 2014 self-titled EP was once again produced by Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER, STONE SOUR), with Jeff Friedl (A PERFECT CIRCLE, ASHES DIVIDE) returning behind the kit

Ellefson will release “More Life With Deth”, the follow-up to his memoir “My Life With Deth”, in 2019 . The book was co-written by his business partner, radio personality and music journalist Thom Hazaert.

MEGADETH Bassist DAVID ELLEFSON Honored With “David Ellefson Day” In Hometown, Announces Formation Of David Ellefson Youth Music Foundation, Benefitting Underprivileged Youth and Underfunded Public-School Music Programs

Posted by tarjavirmakari on October 3, 2018
Posted in: Int. News. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment
DavidEllefson-Photo-by-MikeSavoia

Photo by Mike Savoia

On October 9th, Megadeth Bassist David Ellefson will be honored in his hometown of Jackson, MN, with a declaration of a ceremonial annual holiday in his honor. “DAVID ELLEFSON DAY” will kick off in Jackson on Tuesday, 10/9, with a ceremony at Jackson High School, David’s alma mater, where Jackson mayor Wayne Walter will declare October 9th “David Ellefson Day”. Ellefson will also perform a special variation of his BASSTORY performance to the student body, and gathered local attendees and media.

The event in Jackson will be the official announcement of the formation of the DAVID ELLEFSON YOUTH MUSIC FOUNDATION, a charitable foundation which will help put instruments into the hands of underprivileged and deserving youth, as well as underfunded public-school music programs, starting with a donation of items to the Jackson Public Schools of donated gear from Jackson Guitar, EVH AMPS, HARTKE, and more.

Says Ellefson, “I grew up in Jackson, and the music program at the High School was so instrumental to the fundamentals of my music education, and, really, served as a huge part of the foundation that I would build my career on. So it is a tremendous honor to not only be able to be honored by my hometown in such an incredible fashion, but to be able to give back, and hopefully help inspire the dreams of the next generation of musicians.”

Ellefson left Jackson in the early 80s to move to Los Angeles, where he met former Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine, and the pair co-founded multi-platinum, Grammy-Winning Hard Rock act MEGADETH, going on to become one of the “BIG 4” of Thrash Metal. Ellefson’s small town Jackson roots have been immortalized in Megadeth lore as the subject of classic songs including the smash hit “Foreclosure of a Dream”, and the underground classic “Mary Jane”.

Ellefson is also an author and entrepreneur, with partner Thom Hazaert, holding the reins of EMP LABEL GROUP, COMBAT RECORDS, ELLEFSON COFFEE CO, and more, in addition to a diverse portfolio of brands and signature products. Ellefson was also inducted into the 2018 class of the Iowa Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame, just over the border from Jackson in Spirit Lake, IA.

There will be a public after-party at ELLEFSON COFFEE CO. inside KAT’S HOG HEAVEN, 608 2nd St. in Jackson, Tuesday afternoon following the ceremony.

Ellefson is currently the middle of his BASSTORY World Tour, with shows across America and Europe. For more dates and information visit davidellefsonbasstory.com

BASSTORY DATES:
10/3 Bradley, IL – The Looney Bin (w/ Green Death)
10/4 Lombard, IL – Brauer House (w/ Green Death, WRATH)
10/5 Sturtevant, WI – Route 20 Outhouse(w/ Green Death, WRATH)
10/6 Ringle, WI – Q and Z Expo Center (w/ Green Death, WRATH)
10/7 Mankato, MN – What’s Up Lounge (w/ Green Death, WRATH, Kublai Khan)
11/16 Manchester, NH – Jewel Nightclub (w/ BUMBLEFOOT, Dead By Wednesday)
11/18 Holyoke, MA – Waterfront Tavern (w/ BUMBLEFOOT, Dead By Wednesday)
11/20 NYC – The Iridium (w/ BUMBLEFOOT, Dead By Wednesday)
11/21 Albany, NY – Chrome (w/ BUMBLEFOOT, Dead By Wednesday)
11/23 Niagara Falls, NY – Evening Star Concert Hall (w/ BUMBLEFOOT, Dead By Wednesday)
11/25 Waterbury, CT – Shamrock Pub (w/ BUMBLEFOOT, Dead By Wednesday)

MEGADETH Bassist DAVID ELLEFSON Announces First Dates for Basstory Tour

Posted by tarjavirmakari on June 16, 2018
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Grammy Award Winning Megadeth bassist, author, entrepreneur, and Metal Icon DAVID ELLEFSON has announced the first dates for his BASSTORY tour, a series of limited and exclusive “Storytellers” dates, starting 9/21 in Portland.

Basstory-tour-DavidEllefson

Dubbed “Basstory: An Intimate Evening of Riffs and Repartee with David Ellefson”, the show combines solo bass performance with David’s celebrated brand of storytelling, as he recounts intimate details of his struggles and triumphs in the name of Rock N’ Roll.

BASSTORY will also include special VIP meet and greets, exclusive merchandise, and more.

Says Ellefson, “I have always done clinics, and a few years ago did an amazing spoken word tour in Australia to support my book My Life With ‘Deth, and have always welcomed the opportunity to be able to meet and connect with fans on a more intimate level. These important parts of my professional life converged to create BASSTORY. Not only will fans get to hear some of their favorite bass riffs, but the stories behind them. It’s not often I get to get into small, intimate Rock clubs, the way this all started, and I’m excited for fans to get to experience this show.”

Tickets and limited VIPS are available for purchase at davidellefsonbasstory.com

BASSTORY DATES:
9/20 Portland, OR – Dante’s
9/21 Spokane Valley, WA – The Roadhouse
9/22 Fife, WA – Louie G’s Pizza
9/28 San Antonio, TX – Fitzgerald’s Bar & Live Music
9/29 Houston, TX – BFE Rock Club

BASSTORY is also the launching pad for Ellefson, and partner Thom Hazaert, to announce the formation of their new booking agency, ETA – Ellefson Touring Agency, with veteran agent Keith Rowley personally booking the trek.

Says Hazaert, “In our management and label endeavors, one of the hardest things to find is a good agent, especially for the more developing artists. So we found a few great agents ourselves, and have started to build a boutique agency to handle not only some of our internal Ellefson/EMP/Combat artists and tours, but a small roster of outside artists. Every day, Myself and David challenge ourselves to find new, underserved niches in the music business, and this one was a long time coming.”

Admat: Melody Myers
Photo: Mike Savoia

For More Information: http://www.davidellefson.net

MEGADETH’s DAVID ELLEFSON Sets Dates For Midwest Coffee Tour, Launches Ellefson Coffee Stout With Hydra Beer Company, Combat Blood And Bullets Cabernet And Hard Cider

Posted by tarjavirmakari on February 16, 2018
Posted in: Int. News. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Fresh off of a hugely successful NAMM SHOW exhibiting with Ellefson Coffee Co, and his labels EMP LABEL GROUP and COMBAT, MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson has announced a string of March Midwest appearances including the launch of the URBAN LEGEND COFFEE STOUT with Sioux Falls microbrewery HYDRA BEER COMPANY.

DavidEllefson-MidwestCoffeeTour

The URBAN LEGEND release comes on the heels of the successful January launch of COMBAT BLOOD AND BULLETS CABERNET, a 2015 California Cabernet, and COMBAT HARD CIDER, a Hard Cider infused with Ellefson Coffee, both cellared and bottled by Scottsdale, AZs DESERT ROCK WINERY, announced officially on Sirius XM with EDDIE TRUNK during NAMM. Currently available online from combatwines.com, both are slated to launch in multiple retail locations, including all Arizona TOTAL WINES locations this Spring.

Also appearing on several of the dates are the RON KEEL BAND, celebrating the EMP release of Keel’s debut outlaw country/Southern Rock release METAL COWBOY RELOADED, also featuring Frank Hannon of Tesla, and guest appearances from Eric Brittingham and Jeff Labar of Cinderella, Paul Shortino, Troy Lucketta of Tesla, and more, in stores 3/23 via EMP OUTLAW/EMP LABEL GROUP.

Says Ellefson, “It’s always fun to get out and meet the fans, especially when I can get back home to the Midwest. Minnesota ALWAYS shows us a great time. With my brand manager, and partner, Thom Hazaert, we’ve launched a lot of exciting new things this year, and it’s really great to get out and meet fans and spread the word and get their feedback.”

“We’re all really excited about these collaborations. DESERT ROCK and HYDRA are both amazing companies, who make an exceptional high-end product. They came to us with a strong vision for a branded collaboration, and saw it through, and we couldn’t be happier. We’ve launched so many unique and exciting brand partnerships this year, and these are no exception.

Honestly, they are all incredibly cool, with amazing artwork by our COMBAT/ECC artist MELODY MYERS, and people will buy them as much for memorabilia, to put on the shelf next to their TROOPER and MEGADETH beers. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that they are just as great inside the bottle, for those who do want to enjoy responsibly.”

Meet David at the following locations:
Friday 3/16 7 PM
HYDRA BEER COMPANY, SIOUX FALLS, SD
URBAND LEGEND COFFEE STOUT LAUNCH/
RON KEEL METAL COWBOY RELOADED CD RELEASE

Saturday 3/17 2 PM
DOWN IN THE VALLEY, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
MEET AND GREET WITH DAVID ELLEFSON
8020 OLSON MEMORIAL HWY
GOLDEN VALLEY MN 55427

SATURDAY 3/17 7 PM
WHATSUP LOUNGE – MANKATO, MN
RON KEEL METAL COWBOY RELOADED CD RELEASE
WITH MEET AND GREET WITH DAVID ELLEFSON

SUNDAY 3/18 2 PM
KNOW NAME RECORDS, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
MEET AND GREET WITH DAVID ELLEFSON
6009 PORTLAND AVE. SO. MINNEAPOLIS, MN

For More Information:
http://www.davidellefson.net
https://ellefsoncoffeeco.com
http://www.combatwines.com
http://hydrabeercompany.com