ekoostik hookah guitarist Ed McGee, who first joined the band in 1996, has announced that hookahs New Years Eve performance will be his final one as a member of the group. Shortly after that show the band itself will be taking time off the road, although it has indicated that it plans to return some time in the spring of 2006. McGee is the second member of the group to announce his departure in recent weeks, following percussionist Johnny Starcatt Polansky. Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, McGee and Polansky will continue to perform together in their new group, One Under.

McGee will appear with hookah tonight at Generations Pub in Wheeling WV, one of a dozen gigs left before the New Years Eve show at Lifestyle Communities Pavilion in Columbus.