Guitarist Leot Hanson Exits The Sheepdogs (Updated)
If you’ve managed to catch The Sheepdogs in concert since they kicked off their summer festival dates in mid-June, you would’ve noticed 
someone missing: Leot Hanson, the group’s long-time guitarist. Since nothing was said, it was easy to assume that he was perhaps missing gigs for personal reasons. Well, it turns out that the guitarist has officially left the band.
Multiple media outlets began reporting the story yesterday ahead of The Sheepdogs’ headlining set at Toronto’s Edgefest. The Star Phoenix reports that the band will make a statement today regarding the matter. Hanson, for his own part, told the publication: “We parted ways, yes.” Meanwhile, Hanson informed Metro that: “Right now it’s (sic) a tricky situation because things are still be (sic) resolved, but I’m def (sic) not in the band anymore.”
Lately, Rusty Matyas of Imaginary Cities has been filling Hanson’s role, but it’s unclear if he’ll be a permanent fixture with the band.
In 2011, The Sheepdogs rose to fame after winning a contest that landed them a Rolling Stone cover story, as well as a record contract with Atlantic/Warner. Since then, the group has gone on to tour plentifully, while winning multiple JUNO Awards.
“I think we’re always going to be associated with that contest,” conceded Sheepdogs bassist Ryan Gullen in a June 2014 interview with Riffyou.com. “But at the same time, it would’ve been very easy for us to win that thing and put our feet up. We took a route that resulted in getting into the spotlight very quickly – to the general public – because we’d been a band for seven years at that point. But, you can’t shy away from the fact that that helped propel us to more success.
“We had to make records and play shows…and play good shows [after that],” he continued. “In a lot of situations, other bands could’ve very easily done the complete opposite and just disappeared, as there is a lot of work involved.”
Update: In the early evening of July 2, The Sheepdogs issued the following statement on Facebook:
“It’s with a heavy heart that we announce that guitarist Leot Hanson is no longer with The Sheepdogs. Leot has been with us for eight great years, and we wish him all the best with his future ventures especially his new bar in Saskatoon, The Capitol.
“We are excited to see you all at our upcoming summer shows. We will be heading to the studio this Fall and can’t wait to record our next LP and share it with everyone.
“This is going to be a tough transition and we appreciate everyone’s support at this time“
-Adam Grant
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