Frontiers Music Srl has confirmed that Phil Lewis's new project with Tracii Guns is unaffected by the singer's announcement that he was quitting the most recent version of L.A. GUNS. Lewis and Guns have been playing shows in recent months and were supposed to release an album through the Italian record label in 2017, also under the name L.A. GUNS. After Phil's surprise revelation on Thursday that he was leaving L.A. GUNS, the guitarist posted several short messages on Facebook to confirm that Lewis's departure only refers to the version of the band that includes drummer Steve Riley. The axeman also revealed that the recording of the new L.A. GUNS album featuring Lewis and Guns is going well. The following message was later posted on the Frontiers Music Srl Facebook page: "For you diehard L.A. GUNS fans out there, you might have seen or read about Philip Lewis's announcement on Facebook yesterday that he was leaving THAT version of L.A. GUNS. To clear up any confusion, Philip and Tracii Guns are currently hard at work on their brand new studio album. The lineup is rounded out by Shane Fitzgibbon on drums and Johnny Martin on bass with Michael Grant on guitar as a touring member. Their album will be released in 2017!" Earlier today, Grant released a separate personal statement commenting on Lewis's announcement. He wrote: "Although I'm saddened by the end of one chapter, I'm excited for the start of the next. "I wish no one would have to get burned through all of this, but, unfortunately, we don't live in that kind of perfect world. "Phil has a right to feel the way he feels. You gotta respect how he came from the heart with all of that. Takes courage. I can actually relate to his feelings in regards to my own music MICHAEL GRANT & THE ASSASSINS. "I'm fortunate enough to be joining Phil Lewis, Tracii Guns, Johnny Martin and Shane Fitzgibbon in the new lineup of L.A. GUNS and we have a lot of tour dates already booked all around the world. So this isn't the end but the beginning of something really cool." The last time Lewis and Guns joined forces was back in 2000 with legendary producer Andy Johns for the making of what would become "Waking The Dead". Regarding the decision to use the L.A. GUNS moniker for the new album, Guns told LA Weekly: "When you put Phil and I together, that's the sound of L.A. GUNS. There's no way around that. As much as I love certain other [former] members of the band, it's hard to say what their contribution to the overall sound of the band was — but Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns, the band's gotta be L.A. GUNS. It can't be anything else." On the subject of the musical direction of the next L.A. GUNS album, Tracii told radio personality Eddie Trunk: "We are nostalgia. The fact that we're making a record is killer, and I know that L.A. GUNS fans and people that like our kind of heavier music are gonna love it." Guns also reiterated his desire to make the strongest L.A. GUNS album possible, explaining: "L.A. GUNS I never looked at as a hobby, so I'm certainly not going to now. If I'm gonna write music with Phil Lewis with the L.A. GUNS name on it, it's gonna be taken very seriously by me personally, and I will strive to make those shows and this record and whatever the future is, you know, what I feel is the best thing for the band and the audience. And this is really the only band I've ever felt that way about — that I've gotta take care of it; I've gotta do what I think is right for it. Especially at this point, because if this is the last record that Phil and I ever do, well, that would be pretty damn good, because it would suck to leave it on a mediocre note."
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