The Color Morale kicks out bassist

"Sucks to say but I am no longer playing in The Color Morale. We got home from tour about 2 weeks ago and everything seemed like it was going great. A few days later I tried getting ahold of all the guys to see if and when we were going to practice before the studio and no one responded. I tried calling and texting them all multiple times. After about a week Garret [Rapp] finally called me and when I asked what was going on he said that Justin [Hieser] didn't want to play guitar anymore because he wasn't comfortable and didn't feel as if he was capable of writing songs good enough for the new record and that he just wanted to play bass again. So I asked what that meant for me and he said that we all have to talk about it, that never happened. I found out that they have been talking to another guitar player named Aaron since August and liked a few of his ideas and planned on taking him up to the studio and on their next tour. Aaron had already committed 100% to another band called Serianna and have been sharing the same ideas that he brought to Serianna with TCM. No one in Serianna had any idea that this was going on. TCM are doing whatever they can to scrape up songs for the next record because Ramon [Mendoza] was always the major songwriter in the band. They are even paying Josh from WCAR to write 3 songs for Know Hope, including lyrics. All I asked for was an explanation or that we could discuss what was going on like adults and the only one to ever respond was Garret and he just said that he didn't really know what was going on. There were no apologies, no goodbyes, nothing. After all the lyrics that people have gotten tattooed and all the speeches from stage about being a family, this is how they treat someone who was closest to them."

Official statement written by Garret Rapp, on behalf of every single member of TCM. Sometimes I hate change. I hate being pushed out of my comfortability. I hate that sometimes change involves letting others down, and causing others to experience hurt. Change is inevitable; yet will always be necessary to grow or at least attempt to. I think at this point we owe everyone a lineup explanation and what is going on currently with TCM as we enter the studio to begin tracking our 3rd album KNOW HOPE. While things are very cloudy and emotional at the moment, We (Garret, Justin, Steve, Devin) feel it's best to try and give everyone a little explanation of things the best I can. For months you all have been asking the current position of Ramon Mendoza as he has been absent from the last couple of tours, and some of you haven't even noticed the return of Justin to guitar instead of bass yet as we haven't been to your city. Some of you also have noticed the addition of Ryan Pulice the last couple of tours to replace Anthony Wick, who stepped down to begin his life at home (we miss you Anthony). Members have come and gone a lot in the last year. Everyone of us has given parts of our lives and sacrificed tremendously to keep creating stories and traveling the world to tell them. The Color Morale is not one member, it has been many. But it's message is still the same. No one in this band is incapable of wrong and I think lately that is prevalent in all of us. As a founding member of TCM, here's a current statement from Ramon regarding his current position in TCM: "Hey guys, just wanted to fill all of you in on what's going with The Color Morale as of late. As some of you already know, I recently got married and my wife and I are proud parents of our first beautiful baby boy that we love very much. I have decided to step down from touring with The Color Morale from this point on to focus on providing for my family. As a lot of you may not know, playing music in this day and age doesn't make a living. This is why I strongly urge everyone to please support the artists you enjoy in any way shape or form you can so they can continue to do what they love for as long as they possibly can. Although I will be stepping down from touring, the rest of the guys wanted me to continue to play a role in The Color Morale. With that being said, I will and have been writing for our new album entitled "Know Hope" and will continue to write music for The Color Morale. We are all very excited about the new album and cannot wait for you all to hear these songs. Please keep in touch with me via: Facebook - facebook.com/TCMRamon, Twitter - @Ramon_Mendoza, and Instagram - @TCMRamon I would love to hear from all of you. Our very good friend Devin King will be stepping in my place on tour. I couldn't be happier to have such a great dude and great guitarist take my place on stage, not to mention that sweet red beard of his. I also want to take this time to thank anyone that has ever bought one of our albums, came out to a show, bought some of our merch, wrote me a message on facebook, talk to me at a show, and explained how one of our albums has effected your life in a positive way, let me crash on your floor, bought me dinner, and to everyone that just gave me a chance to do what I truly love, thank you. As we continue to write/record this album, I want you all to know these songs are for you and to never forget that. Thank you. -Ramon Mendoza" With that being said we'd like to welcome Devin King as full time guitarist. We'd also like to announce that Justin Hieser has stepped down from guitar to go back to his original bass duties. Justin felt this was a move he needed to make to deliver the best possible outcome of KNOW HOPE. As for now, Aaron Saunders will be filling in for the tours we will be announcing in the near future. I personally want to thank Ryan Pulice for everything he did in TCM. A lot happened in a very short amount of the worst timing and I hate that things had to end the way they did, but this is not something I can personally control. Ryan is one of the hardest working musicians I've ever had the pleasure of being on the road with, and I apologize to him for the lack of communication and certainty amongst the band and it's members. He gave 110% to this band and sacrificed as much as any of us have. Ryan you will be missed, sincerely. A lot of you are asking questions about Joshua Moore and how he is going to play a part in the 3rd album as well. Josh will be collaborating with us to create 2 songs for KNOW HOPE, one of which will feature vocals by Dave Stephens. These tracks are strictly a collaboration and are untitled. We are very excited as we feel Josh has a firm grasp on why we as a band create music and what's it's meant to be used for. We're very excited to let Josh share his talents and visions with ours through TCM on 2 songs as he already has in We Came As Romans. We are extremely confident in these two songs in addition to the 14 we are entering the studio with. KNOW HOPE is something that has, for me, been a lifetime in the making. As we have all completely given our lives to stay on the road full time, there has been massive amounts of confusion and miscommunication amongst us as a band and you guys. As the voice of our band, I felt I needed to write this and try my best to explain everything, as you all deserve an explanation and give you a clear vision of who TCM now consists of. The studio is where we'll be for the next 6 weeks and we'll have videos and photos coming the entire time we're here. Thank you all for your continued support and patience with our lineup and 3rd album. This band is nothing without you, and this album will be everything, for you.