Metallica fans curious what former bassist Jason Newsted has been up to recently have a great way to stay up on the musician’s musical activities. The rocker keeps his YouTube channel regularly updated with live clips of his current performing vehicle, Jason Newsted and the Chophouse Band.
The most recent of those emerged on Tuesday (April 20), a video of Newsted and his bandmates rocking through a version of Johnny Cash‘s classic “Folsom Prison Blues.” The performance comes from a benefit show the Chophouse Band played at the Lighthouse ArtCenter in Tequesta, Fla., in March 2019.
Watch the combo’s Johnny Cash cover, along with other recent Chophouse Band renditions shared by Newsted, down toward the bottom of this post.
The ex-Metallica member formed the Chophouse Band in 2016 after spending a couple of years out of the limelight following the dissolution of his eponymous solo band, the more metal-minded Newsted. Last year, Newsted spoke with the Palm Beach Florida Weekly about some of the differences he’s experienced when working with the Chophouse Band versus performing with Metallica.
“We all get along great because there’s [no] money involved,” Newsted offered of his Chophouse Band bandmates. “They’ve got their own bands, their own families, their own gigs. We do benefit gigs, six a year, and that’s it. I record and write and play songs the whole rest of the time. They could all run circles around me musical theory-wise. They could tell you everything they’re playing and all the relating chords.”
He added, “I surround myself with the badasses, and they make me look really good. I’m playing cowboy chords the whole time, and they’re doing their fancy shit to make me look good. I just concentrate on singing and getting across the things I want people to hear.”
