Dawes bassist Wylie Gelber has announced he is leaving the band he co-founded after nearly 14 years. A social media post penned by frontman Taylor Goldsmith confirmed Gelber will play his final shows with the band at the end of April, leaving to pursue a career as a craftsman.
“Some of you may have noticed him building basses, guitars and pedal boards for the band through the years,” Goldsmith wrote. “Well this kind of handiwork of his goes way beyond the music realm and he has become something of a designer/contractor/builder all rolled into one. He’s kind of a genius at all of it (no surprise there) and he’s realized he needs to commit to this path more fully. He still loves us and is going to be cheering us on from the sidelines. And we completely understand and support this big shift in his life despite the Wylie shaped hole in our hearts that no one is ever going to be able to fill.
“We’ve been playing music together since he was 15 and I was 18 and Griff was 13,” he continued. “I don’t know what being a musician is without him. He has set the bar for what great bass playing sounds like to me. It’s gonna be hard and tears have been shed but change always leads to some kind of newfound strength and Dawes isn’t going anywhere, I promise.”
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Goldsmith noted that Gelber will leave the band “after these two runs in March and April,” presumably following the group’s sold-out April 28th show at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, CA. The post did not name a replacement bassist.
“I admire the hell out of Wylie for making these realizations about himself,” Goldsmith concluded. “But oh will he be missed. There will be a time when he won’t be on the stage with us but he will ALWAYS be a member of this brotherhood and one of my best friends I could have ever asked for. I love you so much, Wylie. To our sweet fans – we look forward to celebrating Wylie’s last ride with you all on these next two runs. See you out there.”
Gelber co-founded Dawes with brothers Taylor Goldsmith (guitar, vocals) and Griffin Goldsmith in Los Angeles in 2009. He has appeared on all of the band’s albums to date, from its 2009 debut North Hills through last year’s epic Misadventures of Doomscroller.
For a full list of Dawes tour dates head here. See the full post from the band below.
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