Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach spoke to Billboard recently about his autobiography 18 And Life On Skid Row (due out June 28th on Dey Street Books), his current An Evening With Sebastian Bach tour dates and his friend Axl Rose’s decision to reunite with Slash in Guns N' Roses.

“My favorite photos in the book are the day that I went to see KISS in 1979 at Maple Leaf Gardens,” Bach explains. “I tell the story that my parents had divorced in Peterborough when I was 10 and then I didn’t see my dad for a long time with my mom. I would go back and forth. And then when KISS came on August 4 of ‘79, he came back to my family and reunited with my mom and took me and my sister to the KISS concert. It’s almost hard to even talk about. But he had pictures from that day, our outing, they capture 1970s rock and roll fandom. Nobody’s ever seen these shots, pictures of KISS too, of Gene because we’re in the front row. Nobody’s ever seen these. And me, he captured my excitement, at 11.  And those are in the book. Then the pictures captured the time, like big time. It’s not like a bunch of Polaroids of little kids. It’s artistic, unbelievable photos just in and of themselves, as art, and nobody has ever seen these, nobody in the world because I couldn’t look at ‘em [laughs]. They’re too heavy. It’s too powerful.  But then there’s the task of doing a book. So I have all those archives. I went through them all and there’s just so much in this book because this is the very, very first-ever Skid Row book. I know in the future there will be more books on the band Skid Row, but when I go to Barnes & Noble, there’s zero.  There’s none. And every other band has a hundred books, Motley Crue, Cinderella, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith; every band has 10, 15 books. There’s none on Skid Row. So this is the first one, so I’m going to pack it full of as much info as I can because you only get one chance to make a first impression [laughs].”

On the Guns N’ Roses reunion Bach says it surprised him.

“Yes. Yes, it did. But I always thought that if you can go through my interviews and bullshit, all of the animosity from Axl towards Slash or anybody else in Guns N’ Roses, he would hang out and we would drink a lot of booze and talk about bullshit, this and that, but at the end of every single night going into the early morning or late afternoon [laughs], he would always say, ‘But Bas, never say never.’ He would always end the night with a ‘but you never can tell, you know, maybe someday.’ One part of me was surprised and the other part was not surprised.”

Read more at Billboard.

In anticipation of 18 And Life On Skid Row, Sebastian Bach has embarked on a US Spring Tour that will incorporate an intimate acoustic set followed by a full electric live show.

"'An Evening with Sebastian Bach'. No, that doesn't mean we're going to end up in the back of a police car. It means that for selected shows on the upcoming tour, we want to do something brand-new. Let's bring the music back to its purest form. We have been touring a lot in the last few years so it's time to do something different. You're going to get two sets for the price of one. We're going to open up the show with some stripped-down tunes, re-set the stage, and then come back with the Big Guns", says Bach.  

The tour wraps up in Salt Lake City on June 3rd. Tickets go on sale Friday March 4th, at 10 AM local time. VIP package upgrade will be available here.

About 18 And Life On Skid Row Bach says. "Pushing the book gives us the opportunity to really finish it properly. The publishers asked me for 30 pictures. I gave them 150. There are easy ways to do memoirs, simple ways to do biographies. What separates these books is the archival content. 18 And Life On Skid Row could also be called the Skid Row Archives. I am giving you my personal collection, photos, & documents none of you have ever seen. A lot of them. I look forward to the book release and the book tour following the book release. If I am going to go on a tour of book stores, I have to really be into the book. June 28th release date gives us an extra month to pay attention to detail. In a project of this scope there are many details."
 
In his memoir, Bach recounts lurid tales of excess and debauchery as he toured the world with Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Mötley Crüe, Soundgarden, Pantera, Nine Inch Nails and Guns N' Roses. Filled with never before seen photos from his own personal collection, 18 And Life On Skid Rowis the story of hitting it big at a young age, and of creatively reeling from a band that broke up in its prime.

From a man who achieved his wildest dreams, only to lose his family, and then his home, this is a tale of perseverance, of wine, women and song, and of a man who has made his life on the road. 18 And Life On Skid Row is not your ordinary rock memoir, because Sebastian Bach is not your ordinary rock star.

Tour dates:
 
April
28 - John's Creek, GA - 37 Main
29 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt
30 - Orlando, FL - Moonstone Music Festival*

May
1 - Mobile, AL - Soul Kitchen                   
4 - Corpus Christi, TX - Brewster Street Ice House
5 - Houston, TX - Scout Bar
6 - San Antonio, TX - Alamo City Music Hall
7 - Dallas, TX - Trees
8 - Baton Rouge, LA - Lava Cantina                
10 - Memphis, TN - Hi Tone
11 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Ballroom                     
13 - Greensboro, NC - The Cone Denim Entertainment Center
14 - Charlotte, NC - Amos Southend
15 - Falls Church, VA - The State Theater            
17 - Baltimore, MD - Soundstage
18 - New York, NY - BB Kings
19 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
20 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
22 - Pittsburgh, PA - Altar Bar                            
24 - Cincinnati. OH - Bogart's
25 - Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
26 - St. Charles, IL - The Arcada Theatre
27 - Toledo, OH - Ohio Bike Week*
28 - Dubuque, IA - Mystique Casino
29 - Pryor, OK - Rocklahoma*
31 - Kansas City, MO - Knuckleheads

June
1 - Lincoln, NE - Vega
2 - Engelwood, CO - Gothic Theatre
3 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot

* - Festival date