Evanescence Surviving Without Guitarist

[TexasStooge]

NEW YORK (AP) - Amy Lee and her band, Evanescence, are surviving without guitarist and songwriter Ben Moody.

Moody left the group in October, packing his bags the morning before a concert in Berlin and catching a plane out of the country.

"I don't understand Ben," Lee told Newsday in Sunday's editions. "He makes a lot of very impulsive decisions, and he does whatever he wants for the moment."

Evanescence won the Grammy Award for best new artist this year, having conquered radio with the single "Bring Me to Life" and selling about 3.5 milli'on copies of their debut album, "Fallen."

Lee prefers to look forward, praising the talents of replacement guitarist Terry Balsamo, formerly of the metal-rock band Cold.

"He has a lot of creativity on the guitar end that we might have been lacking," she said. But mostly, Lee can't wait to stop touring and start writing songs for the next album.

"I don't care how long it takes. We could take all year," Lee said. "I want it to be a clean page for me."