Today, Steep Canyon Rangers announced that founding member Woody Platt will be leaving the band. Platt has been with the Grammy Award-winning group for 23 years and made the decision to leave the band because of a desire to step away from touring and staying closer to home.

Platt will be playing his final shows with the acoustic group, which formed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the late ‘90s, over the next few months. During their time together Platt and his friends released 13 studio albums, three collaborative LPs with Steve Martin, were inducted into the Carolina Music Hall of Fame and appeared on many notable stages.

“Being a Steep Canyon Ranger has been one of the highlights of my life!” said Platt in a press release. “I was so fortunate to meet a few wonderful friends in college while simultaneously reconnecting with childhood friends and together, from the ground up, we built something truly special! It’s been an honor and absolute joy to be a member of this band — I’m incredibly excited to see what gold lies ahead for my brothers in music – the Steep Canyon Rangers!”

According to the press release, The Rangers, including Platt, are in the studio in Asheville, N.C. working on a new single due to be released next month. The Steep Canyon Rangers are comprised of Graham Sharp, Mike Guggino, Nicky Sanders, Mike Ashworth, and Barrett Smith and will start their new musical chapter, touring the album over the summer and into the fall.

Read a message from the band to Platt below:

Twenty-five years have gone by in a minute with this guy. Together we’ve built this band that was too ridiculous to even dream up into a reality and it’s given us all so much joy.  Woody has decided that it’s time to stay closer to home, and is bidding farewell to the band and the road. He will be playing his final shows with the band over the next few months. We’re excited for the next chapter in his life, and also excited for the next chapter of Steep Canyon Rangers.  

We love Woody and owe him a massive debt for all the work he’s put in, both on the stage and behind the scenes.  A lot of you who follow the band, have had the chance to get to know him, so you know that there’s not a finer person to be found.  It’s been a true honor to share all these times with Woody; it seems like we’ve done it all and done it all together. We know this comes as a great surprise to many of you; please know that SCR is not slowing down. We have a new album in the works and a truly renewed spirit as we look ahead.  It won’t be the same without him, but change and growth is the name of the game, collectively and individually.        
Trout of the world be warned: Woody’s coming for you.