Well, only for  My American Heart. Jesse Barrera, former guitar player of San Diego’s My American Heart, has announced yesterday that he will be leaving the band. From his blog:

Yesterday I announced my departure from My American Heart and many of you have been questioning why I left. First off, I just want to say that it was nothing personal. I love all the guys in the band. They are and will always be my brothers. I hope nothing but the best for them in the future and all of their endeavors.

I’ve spent over 6 years of my life dedicated to this group. Have played probably close to 1000 shows and have seen the world. We started out as just a group of guys who wanted to make music and fit in socially at school. But it sparked into something bigger than I could have ever imagined and am so thankful for the blessing of playing with such talented musicians through the years and being able to see places many people don’t get a chance to see in their entire lifetime.

We signed to a record label called Warcon records which was, in the beginning, owned by Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman. We were all about sixteen years old, naive and really excited when we signed. I was just excited over the fact that I could have a record in stores and not do school for a couple years. The years went on and we put out a couple records that weren’t promoted as much as I would like. Both records only sold a combined estimate of probably 60,000 copies… Sadly.

Eventually, Kevin had lost interest and a bunch of new positions at the label were being filled by other people who we didn’t even know or had even heard of. Kevin then resigned from working there and supporting it. Which left me to believe that we weren’t going to get what we signed on for.

Recently the label had spent more money than they initially wanted to and weren’t making enough to keep going. So they decided to fold and it left us in the most horrible predicament you possibly think of. We were signed to a label that didn’t even exist. This had happened at the end of last year and led to the insane amount of time at home. We were hoping to get bought out somehow but the owner of the label wanted an insane amount of money. We even got an offer from another label that was basically… Laughed at.

During all the downtime, I spent most of this time writing songs for myself because it’s basically what I do. Songwriting has always been my passion. It’s what I live for and what I want to do for the rest of my life. It’s what I’ll continue to be doing from here on out as well as starting to produce and finding a new project to play for.

The past few months I had so much time to think of the industry and how much it has changed. How much talent, sometimes, can only get you so far … That the saying, “being in the right place at the right time” is so true. That labels and managers can make or break your career, no matter how good you are and no matter how much you believe in yourself and the group you play in. That iPod samplers can make a bigger impact on kids than a 5 piece rock band. It is beyond depressing and has taken a huge toll on me and my outlook on music.

I am leaving because I feel like my future is out of my control. I have always felt that I couldn’t do anymore than write songs and hope that the person I hand it to could make something happen with it. It’s always been a gamble. That’s how this industry works. You never know what hand you’re going to be dealt.

For those of you who followed me on the journey – Thank you from the bottom of my heart. To everyone who has let us stay in their homes and sleep on their living room floors. Thanks to the people who cooked breakfast for us before a 6 hour drive. To the people who drove 10 hours just to see us play and wait 5 hours in the sun because they couldn’t drive and had their parents drop them off at the venue. Thanks to everyone who screamed our lyrics back into my face. To everyone who waited in line to see us. To everyone who burned a copy of our CD and gave it to a friend. Thank you. It is all of you who kept me going and I am forever grateful for your support and friendship.

I will continue writing music for all of you. We will also be playing a couple final shows in California. Larry and I are planning to continue writing together and will probably form a new music outlet that will sound a little different in the future. Thanks for everything. I love you guys.
We wish the best for Jesse Barrera and plase check out his music Myspace here.