Drummer Jay Lane has left Furthur to rejoin Primus, according to a post by Phil Lesh on the Philzone message board.

Lesh’s message reads, “Over the past year, both Jill and I have come to know and love Jay for the great guy that he is. At the end of our tour he rode back on Bob’s bus and informed Bob that he had an opportunity to play drums with Primus. He and Bob discussed it, and they decided that the logical time to make the change would be after the birthday show. I only found out about this the day before the show; as their relationship goes back a long way, I told them both then that I support any decision they might make. I will miss Jay’s enthusiasm and ebullience; he’s a great guy to hang and play music with.”

Lane played in an early incarnation of Primus in the late-1980s. He also played with Primus’ Les Claypool and Todd Huth in the group Sausage in the ‘90s. Around the same time, Bob Weir recruited Lane for his side-project with bassist Rob Wasserman. The three musicians co-founded RatDog and continue to play as Scaring the Children. Weir and Lane are the only original members of RatDog still with the group. Please click here for a recent interview with the drummer.