Former CLUTCH keyboardist Mick Schauer has died. The Maryland rockers announced his passing via their official Facebook page.

They wrote: “We are saddened to hear the news of Mick Schauer’s passing. Mick was an incredible talent and he will be missed. His contribution to the albums ‘Robot Hive Exodus’ and ‘From Beale Street To Oblivion’ brought a new sound to the band at a time when the band sought to stretch into new territory. Mick helped us to achieve those goals and more. He was also a powerful force at our live shows. His natural ability was unmatched and his love for the music made us all play better. We are grateful for having had the opportunity to make music with you Mick!“

In addition to the aforementioned albums, Schauer performed on CLUTCH’s 2008 live DVD, “Full Fathom Five”. He also played on EARTHRIDE’s “Vampire Circus” and THE BAKERTON GROUP’s 2007 self-titled album.

In a 2010 interview with Blogcritics, CLUTCH frontman Neil Fallon stated about Mick:
“He was out with us for close to three years, I think. I guess we had never sought a permanent addition [once he left the band]. And I think with him, a lot of the driving force is he really wanted to pursue his professional bike riding, like touring bikes. Yeah, and that’s pretty time consuming. So I guess he wanted to pursue that, and more power to him.“