Steep Canyon Rangers Announce Woody Platt’s Departure

Steep Canyon Rangers announced the departure of guitarist Woody Platt. The founding member has been with SCR for 23 years since the band was formed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and plans to play his final shows with the band in the coming months.

“Being a Steep Canyon Ranger has been one of the highlights of my life!” Woody said. “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!”

Steep Canyon Rangers — banjoist Graham Sharp, mandolinist Mike Guggino, fiddler Nicky Sanders, bassist Mike Ashworth and guitarist Barrett Smith — are currently in the studio with Platt where he’ll help them finish a single. SCR also has a new album on the books.

Additionally, the Grammy-winning group shared a note to Platt:

Obviously, Steep Canyon Rangers wouldn’t be where we are without Woody; we’ll miss him and we wish him all the success in the world in his next chapter. Right now we’ve got a renewed energy around the change. It’s given us a chance to unlock everyone’s talent and has made room for us to step into some new roles. We truly think our fans are going to love where we’re heading right now and can’t wait to get it on stage and in the studio.

Platt will play his final concerts with SCR in the coming months. Find out where to catch them below: