Guitarist Bob Britt has spoken out about his departure from Bob Dylan‘s live backing band.
Over the weekend, Britt was reported to have left the touring line-up after he shared a brief social media post that was later deleted. He had played with Dylan since 2019, and been a regular fixture during the ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways’ tour.
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The news came after electric guitarist Doug Lancio was replaced in the live group by acclaimed jazz guitarist Julian Lage. Lancio had toured with the legendary singer-songwriter since 2021, but was absent from his June 17 show in Santa Barbara, California.
According to Ultimate Classic Rock, Dylan has since enlisted Chicago-based jazz and blues musician Joel Paterson as his sole guitarist. Paterson then played his first show with Dylan and co. in Austin, Texas, on Monday (June 29), per Setlist.FM. Lage is said to have stepped back due to scheduling conflicts.
Britt has now shared an update on the situation via Facebook, confirming that he was “not fired” by Dylan.
“Apparently there are quite a few threads out there with people speculating about my departure from the Bob tour. I’d like to clear it up,” he began.
“I was not fired but left of my own accord for reasons I would prefer to keep private. I will miss my band mates and crew.”
Britt continued, saying he was “looking forward to getting back to doing sessions (give me a call)”. He then hinted that a return to live performing could be on the cards at some point, adding: “As far as any touring goes, we will see what the future holds.”
He signed off: “Meanwhile, I have some flower beds to weed.” You can check out the post in full above.
Lancio is yet to speak out about his departure from Dylan’s band, at the time of writing.
Dylan’s current North American summer tour continued in New Braunfels, Texas, last night (June 30). Further gigs are scheduled throughout the rest of this month, with the trek set to finish in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 1.
The run of dates has already seen Dylan dust off several rarely played songs. Earlier this month, he performed ‘I Shall Be Released’ for the first time in 18 years, after also reviving ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’ for the first time since 2012.
In other news, the 85-year-old musician recently shared his thoughts on ageing, saying that one of the benefits of getting older is that “you outlive the clocks that have been chasing you”.