Greta Van Fleet was established in 2012 and adopted hard rock and blues-rock as their music style. Their first single, ‘Highway Tune’ from the debut EP ‘Black Smoke Rising,’ became a top on the Billboard US Mainstream Rock chart. Their following albums, ‘Anthem of the Peaceful Army’ and ‘The Battle at Garden’s Gate’ earned the group further popularity in the rock scene.
Besides their success in the rock industry, drummer Kyle Hauck‘s departure from Greta Van Fleet also drew the attention of their fans. In 2013, one year after the band’s establishment, it was announced that Hauck was parting ways with the band. They continued their music career with Danny Wagner, but the audience wondered why Hauck left so early when he had just started his music career.
Why Did Kyle Hauck Leave Greta Van Fleet?
Previous Greta Van Fleet manager Michael Barbee revealed the real reason behind Kyle Hauck’s leaving the band in a past interview with Alternative Nation. As Barbee stated, Hauck was not adequately attached to the group and had health issues. According to the ex-manager, Hauck disappointed them because he was not thinking about the musical career of the band; instead was interested in money. Barbee indicated that he realized this when Hauck said he had a problem with his foot, but then he was seen by someone playing football.
Barbee explained in his words:
“He had some health problems, and there was a sudden drop in his ethics as a member of the band. He was the kind of guy who wanted to be paid to rehearse. He let us down. I had not found out until we were ready to do this show at a club, and he said he had injured his knee, then someone came and told me: ‘I saw him walking normally at the football game last night.'”
In the same interview, the former manager mentioned that no fights between them and Kyle happened except when he said he could not perform one of the shows. The manager explained that Hauck could have had unpleasant statements, although he never said these to them directly. According to Barbee, they wanted to solve this issue peacefully.
He continued in the same interview:
“There was no fight with Kyle other than the night he appeared and said he could not do the show. I know he must have some not-so-cool things to say about all of us. He never said anything directly to us. We wanted to leave things in the most peaceful state possible. And rock n’ roll, man. I don’t want to know if your foot is falling; you have to go and introduce yourself. Nobody gets into that sh*t for free.”
Later on, Barbee reached out to Danny Wagner to be the drummer of Greta Van Fleet. Wagner was accepted as the drummer after he played with the Kiszka brothers. They quickly took him into the band and were pleased with the situation.
