Since Soundgarden reformed in 2010 (and became more active with touring and recording), drummer Matt Cameron has been juggling roles in two Seattle grunge pioneering groups (the other being Pearl Jam). Now the inevitable has happened, with Cameron announcing that he’ll have to sit out of Soundgarden’s tour dates next year to play with Pearl Jam.
Cameron, who joined Pearl Jam in 1998 shortly after Soundgarden’s demise, gave the following explanation to fans about his future absence from the road:
“Hello Knights of the Soundtable faithful,
I will be taking 2014 off from Soundgarden touring due to prior commitments promoting Lightning Bolt with my brothers in Pearl Jam and the desire to have more time at home with my family. I am trying to balance the many twists and turns of my awesome music career. This is temporary. I am still an active member of Soundgarden. Chris, Ben, Kim and I are in the process of finding the perfect substitute for the upcoming Soundgarden dates in 2014.
Thank you all for listening and the Years of Support!
Loudest of Love.
Matt Cameron”
As he mentions, Soundgarden have yet to find a fill-in on drums but the key thing to take away is that Cameron is still in the band. His absence also makes sense given that Pearl Jam will be considerably busy in the coming months than Soundgarden given the former band’s newly released album. In fact, so far Soundgarden only has plans to play a few shows in Germany and Lollapalooza festivals in South America. Whether more shows will be planned in support of Sub Pop’s reissuing of Soundgarden’s very first record releases at the end of the month, though, remains to be seen.
