Megadeth bassist and metal icon, David Ellefson, recently announced his new Basstory: An Intimate Evening of Riffs and Repartee tour. A series of limited, storytelling engagements that combines details of Ellefson’s illustrious career in music with solo bass performances.

The tour kicks off Sept. 20 in Portland, OR and includes stops in places like Spokane Valley, WA; San Antonio and Houston, TX. More dates will be announced shortly. VIP meet and greets along with exclusive merchandise will also be available at each event.

AXS recently spoke with Ellefson about his new Basstory tour, Megadeth(which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year), career highlights and more in this exclusive new interview.

AXS: How did the Basstory Tour come about?

David Ellefson: I had done as spoken word tour for my autobiography, “My Life With Deth,” back in 2015. I tried doing them in a lot of different formats. Some nights it felt like stand-up comedy and other nights it felt like a bass clinic. On the very last night, I tried a different approach. I just came out and sat on the stool with my bass and started telling stories about my life as a bass player and writing songs. I kept that in my mind as I was looking at my schedule this year. That’s where the idea of merging the bass and the storyteller began.

AXS: What’s the one thing that most fans want to know?

DE: People often ask if I can play the “Peace Sells” riff or about the interworking of Megadeth and how it works. Those are the top two. From there, it can be all kinds of random questions, which is cool because it forces me to stay up to speed on the catalog and riffs.

AXS: What can fans expect from your Basstory Tour?

DE: This year, we’re celebrating the 35th anniversary of Megadeth, and on our recent tour of Europe, we dug back into the catalog for some classic gems. So, we’ll have that be an open discussion and palette to draw from. I also like to open it up to Q&A, and in America, we’ll even have some support bands play on the bill as well. It’s an interactive bass event and every one of them will be different. That’s the beauty of it.

AXS: You mentioned the 35th anniversary of Megadeth. What goes through your mind when you look back now with so much perspective?

DE: It honestly seems like it was just last year when I moved to L.A. and when we were out doing the Killing is My Business Tour. At the same time, we’ve grown a lot together. It’s funny how Dave [Mustaine] and I will talk about things and it’s almost like we’re revisiting the halls of our high school together. It was the golden years of the L.A. metal scene, and there were three bands (Guns N’ Roses; Mötley Crüe and Megadeth) who were on the edge of debauchery and disaster. Bands from three different genres who, in some ways, epitomized the lifestyle of L.A.  A lot of that comes into Basstory. That’s part of the charm of the storytelling.

Read the rest of my
Interview with David Ellefson by Clicking Here!