SKID ROW Bassist RACHEL BOLAN To Sit Out European Shows Due To 'Urgent Family Matter'

SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan will sit out some of the shows on the band's European tour due to "an urgent family matter." Filling in for him at those concerts is SKID ROW's guitar tech Casey Sproatt, who previously stepped in for guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo last October for some of the shows on its U.K. tour after Sabo tested positive for COVID-19. Sproatt also played guitar for SKID ROW in April 2022 when Scotti Hill was forced to miss the band's concert in Ashland, Kentucky after contracting COVID-19.

On Saturday (June 10),SKID ROW released the following statement via social media: "TO THE SKID ROW FAITHFUL! Rachel Bolan will not be performing on some of the shows on the European tour due to an urgent family matter. He hopes to join the tour as soon as possible."

Fan-filmed video of SKID ROW's June 10 concert at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden — featuring Sproatt on bass — can be seen below.

SKID ROW's latest addition, Swedish-born singer Erik Grönwall, famously went from auditioning for the competition show "Swedish Idol" back in 2009 by singing a cover of SKID ROW's "18 And Life" to now fronting the band.

Grönwall joined SKID ROW as the replacement for ZP Theart, who had been in the group for more than six years.

In March 2022, SKID ROW released its first single with Grönwall, "The Gang's All Here". The song is the title track of the band's latest album, which arrived in October via earMUSIC.

SKID ROW recorded most of "The Gang's All Here" in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who has previously worked with FOO FIGHTERS, STONE SOUR, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, RUSH and ALICE IN CHAINS, among many others.

Grönwall, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2021 and was declared cancer free six months later after receiving a bone marrow transplant, released his cover version of "18 And Life" that same month via all streaming platforms.

During an appearance on a recent episode of "The BlackSheep Podcast", Sabo spoke about how the introduction Grönwall brought about a rejuvenated energy and a burst of creativity that had been previously missing for quite some time.

"One of the great things about the way the band is now is that we've already started writing for the next record," Snake said. "I mean, there's four potential songs for the next record already. And who knows whether they'll make it or not. We've never done that before. So that's kind of where everybody's head is at. We're really staying in the moment, but we're also utilizing this newfound energy, shall I say, to be really creative and productive.

"We always kind of went by write the record, record the record, tour, get off tour and get done with touring, write the record, record the record, tour. That's been kind of the way that we've worked," he explained. "But not this time. We're actively writing. Erik is a very creative guy. He's a really good guitar player. So it really helps. We're exchanging ideas back and forth again and writing during soundchecks and things like that. So it's been nothing but positive."