David Ellefson has had an incredible ride. He started as a pre-teen musical wannabe, practiced like crazy growing up on his parents’s farm, then moved to L.A. to try his luck.

He’d studied jazz bass, and he’d practiced hard, so he was certainly qualified. Early in his stay in the City of the Angels, he met Dave Mustaine, former lead guitarist for Metallica. Before he knew it, Daves Ellefson and Mustaine had formed the band Megadeth, which went on to thrash-metal royalty.

It was a good life on the road, with plenty of money, booze, and drugs. There came a point where he knew he had to become sober. Ellefson detoxed from heroin, and he’s been working hard at his sobriety ever since.

The Megadeth years are documented well, but the biggest thrust of Ellefson’s autobiography, “My Life With Deth” deals with his continuing devotion to sobriety, his reawakened religious life, and providing for his wife and two kids.

“My Life With Deth” is an honest book. Ellefson admits his own sins, but he doesn’t tick off a list of which rocker was doing which drug. In fact, he’s brutally honest about his own addictions, and how he stays sober only through working his program religiously.

I use the word “religiously” advisedly: Ellefson joined a Lutheran church with his family. Quickly, he became involved in the church’s youth outreach services. He became a student of The Bible, and the nascent faith of his childhood upbringing finally came to fruition.

David Ellefson’s biography is a quick read, and a good one. He gives a good account of road life, internecine band struggles, and having to find a “real job” once Megadeth broke up. (Fear not: They got back together)

He also describes the incredible chore it is to tour. His work—bassist in a legendary thrash-metal band—is certainly important to him, but now he puts God and sobriety first. He tries to do shorter tours so he doesn’t miss out on too much fatherhood. To be honest, he sounds like a great dad, and his journey is–quite literally–an inspired one.

Recommended
(nb: I received an advance review copy from the publisher via Edelweiss)