The Acacia Strain Guitarist Tom Smith Calls It Quits, Says There’s No Beef and Names Final Shows

At the end of the day, we don’t buy the whole tough-it-out thing when it comes to being in a band. Don’t get us wrong, sometimes you’ve gotta push through some really tough situations as a member of a touring act, but if you think your creative outlet is harming your mental, emotional, or physical health, then you gotta take care of yourself. Which is why we applaud Tom Smith, guitarist for The Acacia Strain, for leaving the band, even though that’s a bummer.

You can read Tom’s full statement below, but the long and short of it is, there’s no beef or drama, he just needs to focus on his own wellbeing. He also lists March 4th’s show at Worcester, MA, and March 5th’s show in Amityville, NY, as his last dates with the band, so diehard fans should show up and wish him farewell.

Everyone at MetalSucks wishes Tom good luck with his future endeavors. Check out his statement here:

“Hey everyone. It’s weird to be posting this, but I am here to announce that the upcoming shows in March will be my last with The Acacia Strain. There is no bad blood and this decision was completely my own.

“It’s time for me to take some time to finally focus on myself and care for my mental health/overall well being. This is by no means a goodbye to music or to the industry. I don’t know what the future holds for me but I’m open to possibilities in and out of music.

“I’m focusing on living in the present and doing what I need to for my day to day happiness right now. You’ll see me becoming more active with @twsmithguitars and you’ll see me releasing music on my own in the near future.

“But I can’t put into words what these last 6 years in this band mean to me and I could not thank all of our fans enough for making me feel like I did something important for the world of heavy music. Thank you to my band mates and friends for having me along for this ride and spending so much of our lives crammed into a van together ❤️

“Come see us 3/4 in MA, 3/5 in Long Island, and 3/6 in Albany!”