The Mountain Goats are down one member after longtime bassist Peter Hughes decided to call time on his role in the band, having first joined as a touring member in 1996. Hughes has been a core part of the John Darnielle-led Goats since 2002, and has played on every one of their albums since that year's Tallahassee. In 1995, the band released a 7" EP titled Songs for Peter Hughes.

The news of Hughes' departure comes less than two weeks after The Mountain Goats announced a stripped-down tour as a duo of Hughes and Darnielle. Those dates will still take place, but have been rebranded as the Rule of Three Tour featuring Darnielle and his remaining bandmates Jon Wurster and Matt Douglas.

In a statement shared to social media, Darnielle, Wurster, and Douglas wrote:

"There are dozens of songs about how the road is hard, and the more time you spend on the road, the less they sound like cliches than like a simple and sometimes stark description of your life. Sooner or later everybody spots the exit that has their name on it, and for Peter Hughes, my bandmate of either twenty-eight or twenty-two years depending on whether you mark the 1996 tour or the 2002 one as the start point, the time to leave the highway behind is now. He’s made the call, and all that’s left for us is to salute his legacy."

Describing Peter's contribution to the band and to his own life, Darnielle wrote that his impact "can't be overstated."

"The time, toil, and sweat he has devoted to making our band better, year in and year out, will always be an indispensable part of what “the Mountain Goats” meant from 2002-2024. Peter, the love Matt, Jon, Brandon and I have for you is forever, and my personal gratitude for your service not to my vision but what became our vision cannot be measured. I speak on behalf of audiences around the world when I say thank you, and that you will be dearly missed. To enumerate the memories we’ve made together would fill volumes. Your absence, it should go without saying, will be felt: Musically, personally. By us and by so many."

With the success of last year's Jenny From Thebes album and tour, it seems as if Hughes is bowing out on a high. In an interview with Rochester, NY based radio station WRUR last year, he described the 2023 incarnation of The Mountain Goats as "as good as we've ever been."

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