The Cult Change Guitarist

The Cult have welcomed back touring guitarist James Stevenson after Mike Dimkich decided to bow out.

Dimkich had been with them since they reformed in 1999, and is moving on to cover for Greg Hetson in Bad Religion, who’s reported to be dealing with “personal issues.”

That’s opened the door for Stevenson, who replaced Dimkich after his first year-long stint in 1994, and remained until the band split in 1995. He’ll be back in place for their upcoming Electric 13 shows during which they’ll play classic album Electric in full.

Lead axeman Billy Duffy says: “Electric is very much a two-guitar album. So with Mike moving on, we’ve decided to welcome James back into the fold. As a Cult alumnus he was the obvious choice.”

The band have started rehearsals as a three-piece with Duffy, bassist Chris Wyse and drummer John Tempesta. “We felt like we just wanted to get a bit of the rust off,” the guitarist explains.

Stevenson has said of his first stint with The Cult: “It was great fun for me – just stand at the back and play A and E all night!” He’s also worked with UK Subs frontman Charlie Harper, The Alarm and Glen Matlock, plus his first band Chelsea, and recorded sessions with a number of musicians including Jimmy Nail and Scott Walker.

Meanwhile, Duffy has hinted at what the full Cult live show will offer. He says: “The plan is to play Electric in order, then break and play a bunch of other stuff from other eras.

“It will be interested to see how Memphis Hip Shake goes down – it sounds really good but it’s not your traditional set-ending song.”

A two-disc set called Electric Peace, pairing Electric with the abandoned follow-up album Peace, is due out on July 29 via Beggars Archive.