The Mavericks come clean about firing bassist Robert Reynolds

Reunited country rockers The Mavericks have fired founding member Robert Reynolds because he cannot kick his drug addiction issues. Raul Malo, drummer Paul Deakin and guitarist Eddie Perez have told Rolling Stone Country they had no choice to part ways with the bassist, who was previously married to Trisha Yearwood, in October (14), because he’s in the grips of an alleged opiate addiction and has been unable to record or tour.
Deakin tells the publication he knew Reynolds was having problems before the band reformed in 2012, adding, “There were many signs when he first came back into the studio. I confronted him about it, and he denied (it). When he finally admitted it, I said, ‘I’m not going to sign these (record) contracts until you go into rehab’. On three separate occasions we put him in different forms of rehab over the past three years.”
In a post on their website shortly after they parted ways with Reynolds, the bandmates wrote, “At this moment Robert has chosen to take time to attend to personal matters. We wish him nothing but the best. And we offer our full support to him and his family in this difficult time.”
In asking him to leave, Malo, Deakin and Perez launched a fund for Reynolds’ wife Angie, who is battling cancer.
The drummer adds, “We set up, inadvertently, some assumptions. Everybody assumed it was about his wife’s struggle with cancer, when in fact it wasn’t. We let that go, but then the situation got worse and we had to make something more final.”
Malo continues, “We found out he was hitting fans up for money. It’s like, ‘Man, what if he hits somebody up for five grand ($5,000), and then they go, ‘Why didn’t you guys tell us anything?’ And now we put this fan in harm’s way and they’re out five grand because we didn’t have the balls to say anything about it.
“This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen as far as addiction. He’s far gone.”
Malo reveals the final straw came when Reynolds couldn’t perform at gigs – and his bandmates had to find a replacement bassist to cover for him, adding, “Fans were going, ‘Why is Robert not on bass, and (playing) a barely audible acoustic guitar?’ It’s like, I don’t know that you’d want to hear what he’s playing.”
Deakin adds, “This is not something that happened overnight. We would have countless meetings on it. I remember one of the first times when we talked, shortly after the band reunited; Raul and I went out with him in London, Ontario, Canada, and sat him down and said, ‘You need to do something’. That’s when he went to outpatient rehab.
“He had two months when he was on (drug) Suboxone when I could see the light in his eye.”
But Malo reveals he never fully recovered: “He turned the Suboxone into a party favour.”
When Reynolds fell ill during The Mavericks dates in Australia in September (14), his bandmates had to go ahead with the tough decision to fire him.
Deakin explains, “He was a mess in Australia. We said, ‘You need to leave and go home now and go straight into rehab. He said, ‘No, no, I have my Suboxone, and I’m going to take that’. But he didn’t.”
Things got so bad that the band’s lawyers served the bassist with papers, effectively kicking him out of the band.
Deakin concludes, “At some point, you start to look at it as, ‘We’re not making it any better, so we’re part of the problem!’ It’s devastating – it’s our good friend this is happening to. There are so many emotions that are mixed up in it. You’re sad, you’re p**sed, you’re confused. You’re like, ‘F**k, this sucks!'”