KEVIN BOUTOT Explains Why He Suddenly Left THE ACACIA STRAIN

Longtime The Acacia Strain drummer Kevin Boutot suddenly left the band in 2023 after nearly 20 years. Boutot was replaced by Matt Guglielmo, though it was never clear why Boutot suddenly left.

Now in an interview with the Riff Tacos Podcast, Boutot explained that being away from his young daughter simply got to be too difficult. Which is a very admirable reason to leave any band.

"I had a phone call with my mother one day on tour, and she was hanging out with my daughter that day in particular," said Boutot as transcribed by Metal Injection. "My daughter – it was just becoming too hard and she made it very clear to my mom about it. My mom called me and told me. It was the hardest and easiest decision I've ever had to make. It was instant, also. The bubbles went off and everything clicked pretty much immediately. It was just too hard for her for me to be gone."

"In a way, I was ready to be done. The touring was good, the shows are always good, the money was good. Nothing seemed to be slowing down, everything was just going faster and faster. But the being away from home part, and you know sleeping, in a van still… almost 40-year-old bodies aren't meant to be sleeping along van benches for more than half their life."

Boutot later explained that he and his daughter spent so much time together during COVID that all of a sudden being away for a long stretch of time was just too much: "My daughter and I were together a lot of that downtime, so me being there so constantly for all that time and then all of a sudden I'm just like 'See ya!'"