Rockin' with Jason Newsted of Metallica!

Jason Newsted was the bassist for Metallica from 1986-2001, a time when the band experienced it's greatest commercial success. Newsted teamed up with lead singer James Hetfield, guitarist Kirk Hammett and drummer Lars Ulrich on the self-titled album "Metallica" (1991), commonly referred to as "The Black Album", which remains the best-selling Metallica album to date. In January 2001, with differences of opinions and wanting to pursue a solo project, Newsted made the decision to leave Metallica. Newsted remains on good terms with his former band mates, even performing with them at their 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony.

Jason Newsted made an appearance on radio show here in Los Angeles on 1/14/2013 to promote his new band called Newsted. Listening to Jason and his insight over the radio, it becomes apparent that he is an intelligent guy and entertaining guest. After his appearance on the radio show, one of Newsted's handlers came out of the studio first and told us that Newsted would be out "in about 5 minutes". True to the word, Newsted came out and we asked him if he would sign. Newsted came straight over to the 5 of us assembled, already with a blue Sharpie in hand. Signing for my sister, Newsted asked her name and personalized each autograph he signed. After signing her fourth and final item, Jason said, "I have something for you." He proceeded to reach in his pocket, producing a round sticker with the Newsted band logo and a bass guitar pick and handing both of them to her. Jason ended up giving each of us autograph seekers a pick and sticker, which was especially nice since none of us asked or expected it. He signed and personalized my four photographs as well and continued to sign autographs for the remaining collectors. Two of the collectors had a few Metallica albums, already in various states of being completed with the signatures of the other members of Metallica. Newsted autographed all of their record albums until coming to a stack of guitar pick guards each collector had stationed on the bottom of their piles. Upon seeing each of them with about 10 pick guards apiece, Newsted said, "I'm only going to sign one of those." This was nice and understandable at the same time as many musicians refuse to even ever sign guitar pick guards - they are often the preferred item to get signed by autograph dealers, as they can be easily affixed to a guitar and thus sold for high dollar value. Jason happily posed for photographs with each of us who asked and after we thanked him for taking the time to sign our autographs, he appologized for making us wait and thanked us for coming out to meet him.