Today, Trey Anastasio surprised fans with the announcement that he would conduct his upcoming late-April Trey Anastasio Band tour with a Trey Anastasio Trio lineup featuring himself, drummer Russ Lawton, and bassist Tony Markellis. The decision to change the plans for the eight-date run comes after Monday’s announcement by Anastasio that longtime TAB keyboardist Ray Paczkowski had undergone surgery to remove a tumor from his brain last week, which raised questions about how his absence would be addressed for the upcoming shows.

As Trey explains in an announcement post on his Facebook page:

As we noted Monday, longtime TAB keyboardist and dear friend Ray Paczkowski is recuperating after having a tumor removed from his brain last week and is expected to make a full recovery.

April 17, 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of the first time Trey shared the stage with Tony and Russ as part of the “8 Foot Fluorescent Tubes” concert that took place at the original Higher Ground in Winooski, VT. That show featured the debut of many brand-new songs and the genesis of the first incarnation of TAB. While Ray rests up, we have decided to use this upcoming short tour to celebrate this milestone and play the entire run as a trio for the first time since 1999. We will keep Ray in our hearts and minds as he recovers over the next few months and look forward to the full TAB lineup returning to the road soon.

Refunds are available up until April 10th at the original point of purchase for fans who do not want to attend the shows as Trey Anastasio Trio.

[Photo: Trey Anastasio Facebook]

You can see a full list of upcoming Trey Anastasio Trio shows, or grab your tickets via Trey’s website.

Following the spring run and a pair of dates at Levitate Music Festival in July, Trey’s other band, Phish, will hit the road for their nationwide summer tour. For a full list of Phish summer tour dates, head to the band website.