Leroy Bach leaves Wilco

According to Wilco's official website, guitarist/keyboardist Leroy Bach has left the band. There aren't a lot of details yet, but it appears that leaving the band was Bach's decision. This seems to resemble the departure Max Johnston, the band's former banjoist/fiddler (among other things), it stands in contrast to the more recent firings of original drummer Ken Coomer and multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett, the latter of which was chronicled in the documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart.

Notably, Bach's departure comes as the band wraps up its as-yet-untitled new album, which is scheduled for a spring release, while Bennett's firing took place during the final stages of the production of the band's critically acclaimed last album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It seems to be a difficult feat to survive the recording of an entire album with bandleader Jeff Tweedy. Apart from bassist John Stirratt (who seems a safe bet to eventually split to concentrate full time on his side project The Autumn Defense) Tweedy is now the only original member of the band. Wilco's original lineup consisted of the members of the final incarnation of Uncle Tupelo, which dissolved with the acrimonious split between Tweedy and longtime friend and co-leader, Jay Farrar, who went on to form Son Volt.

At this point, you could pretty much form a band made up of Farrar and the guys who used to be in Wilco. It'd be basically Uncle Tupelo with Jay Bennett in place of Jeff Tweedy, and it would actually be a pretty good band. Get cracking, men.