American Aquarium, As We Know Them, is Over

Today (April 2) Bill Corbin broke the news on his personal Facebook page. The long time bass player of American Aquarium announced that he, Kevin McClain, and Whit Wright are leaving the band.

The announcement comes just a couple months after former members Ryan Johnson, and Colin Dimeo announced their plans to pursue other interests. However with Johnson's and Dimeo's exodus fans got several weeks and shows to process it. Corbin, McClain, and Wright leaving was much more abrupt and because of this certainly more shocking to their fans.

I'm proud of the music that we all made together and am happy to say that I can look back on it fondly. It was wonderful to be a part of a group of musicians who challenged and pushed each other to grow and to continue to be better. It was an absolute privilege to be in the trenches with those guys and after all these years on the road together "friendship" seems like an insufficient term to cover those relationships. "Brothers" even seems to fall short.

Most of all, I'm thankful for all the amazing people I was able to meet along the way. From the random kind words of a fan at the merch table, to the kindness of strangers helping us stay on the road along the way, and to the people who have gone on to become some of my best friends over the years.

So what doe this mean for AA fans?

Within two hours of Corbin's post, American Aquarium front man, BJ Barham took to the band's official Facebook page to assure fans that American Aquarium would solider on.

American Aquarium isn't going anywhere. Like most things in life, band members change, however these songs and my dreams of playing them for folks every night do not. I've had to replace 20+ band members over the last decade and this time, although much harder, will be no different. If you've ever met me, you know that there isn't an ounce of quit in me, so after my annual summer solo tour in May/June I will be hitting the studio with a new group of musicians to work on American Aquarium's seventh full length record entitled "Things Change" and will be playing full band AA shows throughout the rest of 2017 and into the new year.