Guesting on the podcast …And Podcast For All!, onetime Metallica therapist and “performance coach” Phile Towle spoke about the tumultuous relationship between the band members and bassist Jason Newsted when he was brought in on January 2001. Newsted would leave the band and be replaced by Robert Trujillo in 2003. 

Towle says: "I don't think (Jason) wanted to leave the band. I think he wanted to leave the reality of what existed. And this was the only way he could start to do something with it. And that triggered a whole bunch of things. That contributed to ultimately James [Hetfield, Metallica frontman], months later, going into rehab. It wasn't the exact fact, but if you look at the overarching life of Metallica and you see that they were trashing each other in Playboy magazine, in that interview, and you see then a month later they come in, or maybe two months later they come in — January of 2001, I think — and there's this kind of animosity, that Jason is acting out. He's the identified patient of the therapy, so he's acting this act. And then the fight ensued."

Back in March 2019, Jason Newsted - who played bass for Metallica from 1986 to 2001 - and The Chophouse Band played a benefit show at the Lighthouse ArtCenter in Tequesta, FL. Newsted has uploaded video of their performance of their original song, "Blackbird", written by Newsted and lead guitar, backing vocalist Amir Tal. Watch below:

Previously released footage of Newsted and crew covering Jason Isbell's "Cover Me Up", John Anderson's "Seminole Wind", the Johnny Cash songs "I've Been Everywhere", "Cocaine Blues", and "Big River", as well as the Neil Young classic, "Rockin' In The Free World", and Tom Waits' "Jockey Full Of Bourbon" can be seen below: