SEBASTIAN BACH Explains Guitarist NICK STERLING's Absence From Current Tour

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach spoke to Amber Lee of the Wisconsin rock radio station 93 Rock about guitarist Nick Sterling's recent claim that he was sitting out shows on Bach's current North American tour due to an apparent business disagreement.

The 22-year-old Sterling, who played guitar, and co-wrote many of the songs, on Sebastian's latest album, "Kicking & Screaming", took to his Facebook page on August 2 to announce that he was not going to be performing with Bach later that night at Club Nokia in Los Angeles because "there were some contractual issues that we just couldn't work out." He added, "No hard feelings."

Bach was joined at the Club Nokia concert by a couple of guest guitarists, including Jinxx (BLACK VEIL BRIDES) and Brent Woods (WILDSIDE, VINCE NEIL). The following night's show at the Pacific Ampitheatre in Costa Mesa, California, where Sebastian played as the support act for CINDERELLA, featured Woods on second guitar.

Asked if Sterling is going to be back in Sebastian's band in time for the band's August 13 performance at Oneida Bingo & Casino in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Bach told 93 Rock, "He will not be back for Monday, and he's not sitting out any shows."

He continued, "We did a big broadcast on AXS TV that we worked really, really hard on. It was a very big deal that we were on television from coast to coast all across the United States of America. Everybody that was involved in the broadcast had to sign a release so we could film it and they would agree to be part of the broadcast and the DVD coming out. Everybody [else] signed it. I talked to Nick two days before the show and he still hadn't signed it. And I'm like, 'Dude, we're filming this in two days. You have to sign this.' And he guaranteed to me on the phone that he would sign it and be a part of it, and then when we got to soundcheck, he wouldn't sign the release. So we could not film the show with him; he wouldn't let us. He wanted all these sorts of demands that nobody else in the band wanted that were completely unreasonable.

"If someone is not happy in my band, I will be the first one to show them the door and say, 'Don't let it hit you in the ass on the way out. If you're not happy and you're not part of the team and you're not interested in being successful or being professional, then get out of my band.

"I've been doing this for 25-30 years and all I ask is that somebody is a professional in my band and has it together on stage and doesn't wreck it for the rest of us, which is what he did in L.A. the other day."

He added, "I am very sad about it. I love playing with him on stage… I love the album that we made. I completely love the music that we made, and I hope to make music in the future with him. But the fans out there should know how rare and special albums are. It's not a joke when you get musicians together that all believe in the same purpose and goal and work together to achieve that goal. I'm so proud of the record that we made. I don't know what the future will hold, but everybody should listen to that and realize that we captured a very cool, unique moment in time between me and him. I could not be more proud of the record.

"I wish Nick all the best. I hope he can figure out how to be the type of man, as a human being, to other people as the incredible musician as he is on stage… He's an amazing, amazing guitar player, but if you can't honor your word and can't be a team player and consider all the other musicians on stage and the business side of things and how much effort people put into doing a live broadcast across the country, and then you just [decide not to] do it, like, an hour before the show, I don't wanna play with you anymore. And that's the way it is. I'm not into fightning all the time. So if you wanna fight with me, it's not gonna last too long. [laughs]"

Audio of Bach talking to Amber Lee of 93 Rock about Nick Sterling's current status in Sebastian's band can be streamed using the player below (audio courtesy of 93RockOn.com).