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  • John's picture
    Band Announcement
    Posted by John
    February 13, 2011
    Panheads, fans, friends, and rockers,

    What's up everybody? We have just returned home from Australia,  New Zealand, and Japan, where we had an awesome tour! However, as we are taking a little time off, we have a sad message to share with you. Our long-time guitarist Ben Kasica is going to end his time with Skillet. We have had 10 years working together, and it has been an amazing ride! From the years we spent driving through the night in a van; to playing concerts all the way around the world, I've seen Ben transform from the kid who was nervous to play a guitar solo, to the rocker who now plays a solo...with his teeth! I always knew the time would come for Ben to leave and pursue other dreams, and now it is here.  We are a family and we are going to miss him.  We appreciate how hard he has worked for us and wish him the best in his  life off the road.   We have asked Ben if he would like to give a  message to the fans, being that I'm sure all of you would like to hear from him, and of course he did:

    Hello panheads. After 10 amazing years of playing with Skillet, as John has told you, I will be leaving the band. This has been an incredible journey for me. Joining the band shortly after turning 16 and basically growing up on the road, I had no idea how long the ride would last but have enjoyed it immensely and been thankful to God for everything I've been a part of. We've traveled to loads of places, met many many wonderful people, drunk way too much coffee, made tons of memories and hopefully touched lives with eternity. I feel completely blessed and honored to have been a part of Skillet's history. I want to thank John and Korey for the opportunity of a lifetime. They've been encouraging, compassionate, long-suffering  with me and it's been what's kept me going on all these years. I'm grateful for their years of input in my spiritual, personal and business life. They're amazing, inspiring hardworking people that i have the utmost respect for. I wish them the absolute best in their future in and outside the band.

    After getting off the road, I will be focusing on building my other companies, producing and developing artists at Skies Fall Studios and designing for LifeLoveMusic Clothing. I also look forward very much to being home and catching up on churchlife, family and friends.

    I want to thank you panheads for 10 years of incredible support. You've been encouraging over the years and made touring an amazing experience. You are the absolute best fans ever.

    Thank you
    Benjamin Judah Kasica

    We appreciate Ben's work , we love him, and wish him the best in his music and various business ventures. Thanks to all of the fans for your support,  and we will see you  all soon on tour!

    Stand and be strong,
    John Cooper


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John's picture
on February 13, 2011 - 7:00pm
Panheads, fans, friends, and rockers,

What's up everybody? We have just returned home from Australia,  New Zealand, and Japan, where we had an awesome tour! However, as we are taking a little time off, we have a sad message to share with you. Our long-time guitarist Ben Kasica is going to end his time with Skillet. We have had 10 years working together, and it has been an amazing ride! From the years we spent driving through the night in a van; to playing concerts all the way around the world, I've seen Ben transform from the kid who was nervous to play a guitar solo, to the rocker who now plays a solo...with his teeth! I always knew the time would come for Ben to leave and pursue other dreams, and now it is here.  We are a family and we are going to miss him.  We appreciate how hard he has worked for us and wish him the best in his  life off the road.   We have asked Ben if he would like to give a  message to the fans, being that I'm sure all of you would like to hear from him, and of course he did:

Hello panheads. After 10 amazing years of playing with Skillet, as John has told you, I will be leaving the band. This has been an incredible journey for me. Joining the band shortly after turning 16 and basically growing up on the road, I had no idea how long the ride would last but have enjoyed it immensely and been thankful to God for everything I've been a part of. We've traveled to loads of places, met many many wonderful people, drunk way too much coffee, made tons of memories and hopefully touched lives with eternity. I feel completely blessed and honored to have been a part of Skillet's history. I want to thank John and Korey for the opportunity of a lifetime. They've been encouraging, compassionate, long-suffering  with me and it's been what's kept me going on all these years. I'm grateful for their years of input in my spiritual, personal and business life. They're amazing, inspiring hardworking people that i have the utmost respect for. I wish them the absolute best in their future in and outside the band.

After getting off the road, I will be focusing on building my other companies, producing and developing artists at Skies Fall Studios and designing for LifeLoveMusic Clothing. I also look forward very much to being home and catching up on churchlife, family and friends.

I want to thank you panheads for 10 years of incredible support. You've been encouraging over the years and made touring an amazing experience. You are the absolute best fans ever.

Thank you
Benjamin Judah Kasica

We appreciate Ben's work , we love him, and wish him the best in his music and various business ventures. Thanks to all of the fans for your support,  and we will see you  all soon on tour!

Stand and be strong,
John Cooper


Comments

Jakub's picture

Ben :(
Panhead Nr.9's picture

We will all miss you ben ='(
Bisho's picture

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO>>>>BEEEEEEENN :'(((
Stephii_86's picture

Gonna miss you Ben, thanks for the amazing contribution you made to Skillet, good luck on where God's path leads you :)
Warriorspoon's picture

I do understand a lot of things come to an end, but is there a back up plan? a replacement? and will the group go back into the studio?
Ashley.klx140's picture

I hope he does!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was really looking forward to it:(
jeffscoolkidacount's picture

Yeah, i told my youth group about this, and everyone was all sad and stuff. But just wondering, is he going to perform at HEAVEN FEST this year in Colorado?
ilskillet_4's picture

god has used u guys to help me and my gf too and i ty so much for the music and the messages u have in em :) i've learned like 4 songs within 1 month of getting a guitar ilu guys way too much :)
ilskillet_4's picture

first the drummer then we get a new 1 jen ur awesome :) now we lose the best guitar solist ever!!!!!! sad :( hope we get someone just as good :( so when u coming to canada :) when u guys going to start looking for a new guitarist?
Elvin's picture

Man, I'm very sad after hearing this. I'm glad I was able to see him in action twice in Denver, CO. Ben, you will be missed. May God lead your path. Elvin
david_15's picture

a não eu gosto tanto do Ben ele faz uns solos na guitarra muito bom. Quando vocês vão fazer uma turnê aki no brasil?
ilskillet_4's picture

i love skillet i've seen u guys 3 times now twice at KB and onather later in tenesse :)
Skilletfan01's picture

Wow, i'm really sorry to hear that Ben was leaving. He was an amazing guitar player. I looked up to him as well as you john. I was completely shocked to hear the news. But for Ben i wish you the best and i'm so glad that you are striving towards what God has in store for you. It was amazing seeing you play the guitar like you did at the concerts. It seemed you had a certain way you played the guitar and i always thought it was amazing. I wont ever forget your amazing guitar skills and i think it will be hard for skillet finding a guitar player as talented as you. You set the standards reeeeally high in my opinion. So....good luck in everything you do Ben....cause this message goes out to you. Josh Hall
jsaucedo's picture

Ben you will be missed so much! It's going to takes someone amazing to fill your shoes, but it is great to hear that the Lord is taking you to a new place. Good luck and lots of love from your fellow panheads!
Aimee 2's picture

Very sad to hear that Ben is leaving. He will be missed dearly by all the panheads!
Jen_4's picture

I wish him the best in his future life ventures. I live close to St. Louis and was so excited when I heard him on the Point in October talking about being from here. Your band is the best and best wishes in finding a replacement. There is however only one Ben.
TravisTheShadow's picture

Man, Ben was a cool dude, but he had a great run, and who knows, he may well be back sometime
Risa's picture

I felt like crying when I saw this so I went and drowned my sorrows in all of ben's amazing guitar solos. Ben will actually be sooooooooooo missed its unbelieveable!
Dolemite's picture

I met you guys when Ben had just joined the band. I've got a picture of a few of you guys from the months after Ben had just joined. It was a small show (well, they were all small shows back in those days) at a church and you guys did a meet and greet afterwords. I'll try to dig some of those photos out and post'm on here. I still follow Ben on twitter. Maybe I'll make it by skiesfall one of these days. Ben was a cool dude. Sad to see him go, but I understand. It's hard to live a normal life unless your family is on the road with you. And well, after 10 years, he's probably wanting a little more normalness and a chance to settle down in one place a bit.
Skillet_2011's picture

nooo i am so sad to hear ben is leaving, we all will miss you
jdog's picture

nnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooo
Benjamin579's picture

I felt sick when I saw this for the first time. Ben was the reason I started to play guitar, and he has been my role model for a long time now. Dont get me wrong he still is! But im very sad to hear that he left. I wish him the best in his new projects like Skies Fall and LLM Clothing. We'll all miss you Ben:( God Bless - Ben L.
ntwgrl's picture

NOOOOOOOOOOOO NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOON OOOOONOONONONOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHH Im gonna cry!!!
Skhigh's picture

Hey, Sorry to hear Ben is leaving. You guys are an awesome band. I have a suggestion for your song I Feel Like a Monster-I know you already have a video for it but I was listening to it today and being prior military with friends who have PTSD, I thought it would be cool to do a video of Military PTSD Awareness to that song. It would totally fit. Anyway-keep rockin!! -Skhigh
musiclover19's picture

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Withgrace1982's picture

I am so sad but very excited for him all the same we will miss him i have been a fan of skillet many many years and have listened on cds and watched in concerts he will be missed.
1 skillet fanlsugurl's picture

It would be AWESOME if Skillet, Relient K, and Kutless toured together!! thousands of people would show up! I would SO go to that concert!!
1 skillet fanlsugurl's picture

NO!!! man!! Skillet wont be the same!! Skillet will ALWAYS be my favorite band no matter what! good luck to Ben! im sure he is making the right decision. I pray that God will have something big and awesome in store for him! I am planning to go to a skillet concert in June and im SO SAD that he wont be there!! all of us (TRUE SKILLET FANS!) are gonna miss him ALOT!!
guitargurl's picture

BEN IS LEAVING!!!!!????? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! :'( that is so sad. gunna miss u ben
maricarmen's picture

ummm k maloo ustedes sois los mejores, pero bueno si eso fue su decicion yo los apoyareee los kiero

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