Railroad Earth has confirmed to Hidden Track that bassist Johnny Grubb will leave the band at the end of the year. According to a spokesperson, Grubb’s last shows with the band will be its New Year’s Run concerts in San Francisco, CA (Dec. 27, 28) and Portland, OR (Dec. 30, 31).

[Photo by Lewis Cooper of GonzoShots.com]

Grubb first indicated he would leave Railroad Earth in a post to his personal blog on Wednesday. According to the bassist, the decision was one borne of a “medium-range plan that had me exiting RRE at the end of [2010]” and continuing into a career in production and computer programming.

“About a year and a half ago (as regular readers know), the flame of my creativity began lighting a different path than the one I was on with RRE,” Grubb wrote. “I’d always been pretty good with computers. I only recently realized that the main reason that I like recording and production so much was mainly because it involves using and being good with computers. It took an iPhone to spark the idea that I should take matters into my own hands and start learning how to program myself.”

Grubb writes that he accelerated his plans depart once it became apparent that Railroad Earth was about to sign a new record deal. The deal was hinted at by RRE’s Todd Sheaffer in an interview with Hidden Track earlier this week. READ ON for more on Johnny Grubb leaving RRE…

“I’m a lawyer’s son, so when it became apparent that this deal was probably going to actually happen, it kinda screwed up my plan,” Grubb says. “I couldn’t sign a piece of paper committing myself to RRE and touring for the next 3 to 4 years when I knew good and well that I didn’t have it in me. Then’s when I knew I had to tell my bandmates what was going on with me. Needless to say, they were probably a little surprised themselves. I gave them until the end of next May, but they’ve rightly decided that since a new record needs to be written, and we won’t be on the road while that’s happening, it’s probably best to just go ahead and call it.”

Grubb goes on to praise his bandmates and the band and say he’s “lucky to be able to say goodbye to a few of my favorite cities in America.”

Grubb first joined Railroad Earth in 2003, replacing original bassist Dave Von Dollen. He appeared on 2004’s widely praised “The Good Life,” the RRE live effort “Elko” and its most recent studio disc, 2008’s “Amen Corner.”

Railroad Earth hasn’t yet commented on who will replace Grubb in 2010.