Megadeth fans have a new Minnesota road trip destination to an unlikely place: the town of Jackson, population 3,299. David Ellefson, bassist and co-founding member of the thrash metal band, will debut Ellefson Coffee Co. there on Monday, with a grand opening in the spring.

Ellefson, 52, was born and raised in Jackson, near the Iowa border, just under three hours southwest of St. Paul. While he now lives in Arizona, Ellefson has kept ties to Jackson, where he befriended a local coffee shop owner, Susan Reiter, and worked with her to create a signature coffee blend dubbed Urban Legend. A business partner of Ellefson’s suggested the pair take the collaboration to the next step, and they have partnered to rebrand Reiter’s shop, Coffee Choices, as Ellefson Coffee Co.

The coffee, and the brick-and-mortar store, are part of Ellefson’s burgeoning record label and production company, Ellefson Music Productions. He launched it in 2015 with an EP from Doll Skin, an all-female, pop-punk band from Phoenix. The label has grown and now represents two-dozen emerging rock and metal acts, including new projects from former members of Faith No More, Drowning Pool and Candlebox. Related Articles Nashville Coop food truck sets up bricks-and-mortar shop in St. Paul

Minnesota State Fair to hold second set of food parades in October

New eateries set up shop at malls around the metro

Saint Paul Brewing has new owners, magical new patio — and pizza!

Documentary on women in the restaurant business now streaming

In addition to serving Urban Legend and Ellefson’s other custom coffee blends, Ellefson Coffee Co. will sell albums and other merchandise from his label. The store also features a “Museum of Deth,” with displays from Ellefson’s collection as well as memorabilia from other artists.

The town of Jackson actually influenced several Megadeth singles. Its Loon Lake Cemetery spawned a ghost story that led to the song “Mary Jane,” while Ellefson’s family farm inspired the track “Foreclosure of a Dream.”

“I’ve been blessed to travel the world year after year as a musician but my roots have always stayed in Jackson,” Ellefson said in a news release. “It’s a true honor for our coffee brand to have a retail shop on the main street I grew up on, and to serve the very community I was born and raised in. Aside from some great coffee and a fun rock and roll atmosphere, our store is a go-to destination for coffee that also tells my story of heavy metal and global music history.”

Ellefson co-founded Megadeth in 1983 with guitarist David Mustaine, shortly after Mustaine was fired from an early version of Metallica. While Megadeth’s membership has changed numerous times over the years — about two dozen musicians have cycled through the live and studio lineups — Ellefson has stuck with the group longer than anyone else beyond Mustaine. (He sat out the latter half of the ’00s due to a contract dispute.) Megadeth continues to maintain a busy schedule and played local shows last year at the Myth in Maplewood and St. Paul’s Roy Wilkins Auditorium.

Despite his membership in a band that named their debut album “Killing Is My Business … and Business Is Good,” Ellefson is a devout Christian, as is Mustaine. Ellefson grew up attending Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Jackson and re-embraced his faith at the age of 25, after going through a 12-step recovery program. When he later settled down in Arizona, Ellefson started a contemporary worship service at a church in Scottsdale.

In 2012, Ellefson began studying for the ministry through an extension program of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. As he told a reporter at the time: “Some people want to morph things together into one, but I have a hand in both worlds. I love praise and worship music, and I love heavy metal.”

And now he loves coffee, too.

IN THE CLUBS

Just three years after scoring a breakthrough hit with “Closing Time,” Minneapolis trio Semisonic called it a day in 2001, but left a door open. In the time since, they have reunited for the occasional one-off show in and around the Twin Cities, and it’s looking like they may have bigger plans for 2017. They were booked to headline First Avenue for a sold-out concert Saturday featuring a full performance of their 1996 debut album, “Great Divide.” But drummer Jacob Slichter slipped on ice and fractured his wrist. The concert will be rescheduled, with details to come. Guitarist/vocalist Dan Wilson has hinted at further band activity on Twitter, and Semisonic’s website currently reads “We have plans, plans that involve us and you.”

The Replacements’ Tommy Stinson returns to First Avenue’s small room, the 7th Street Entry, on Thursday to launch “Anything Could Happen,” the new album he’s releasing under the name Bash and Pop, a nod to the short-lived group he formed in 1992, the year after the ‘Mats split up for first time. He made it with a series of musician friends including Steve Selvidge (the Hold Steady), Frank Ferrer (Guns N’ Roses), Cat Popper (Jack White, Ryan Adams) and Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi All-Stars). Admission to the Entry show is $75 through Stinson’s PledgeMusic campaign, and includes a pre-show party with the band. As of Tuesday, some tickets were still available. Expect to see Stinson back in town later this year, presumably at a more affordable price. Related Articles Latino radio station La Raza opening new studios after destructive fire in May unrest

MPR fires Eric Malmberg, Current DJ who was under investigation by reporter Marianne Combs

Cairo choir sends musical message of hope amid virus gloom

Longtime MPR reporter Marianne Combs resigns after she says #MeToo allegations against a Current DJ were dismissed

Fall Arts Guide: Stadium concerts are out, but still plenty of musical options

St. Paul’s Como Park Zoo is giving music fans a break from the cold with its free Music Under Glass series of concerts, held Sunday afternoons at 4:30 in the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory. Teague Alexy, of the Americana duo Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank, performs Sunday and is likely to preview some tracks from his upcoming new album, “Circuit Sessions.” The rest of the series features blues guitarist Javier Matos (Jan. 15), folk act Rachel Ries (Jan. 22), roots duo Sister Tree (Feb. 5), rockabilly band the Bad Companions (Feb. 19), French/Latin dance group Cafe Accordion Orchestra (Feb. 26) and eclectic fusion quartet Jelloslave (March 5).