Photo Credit: Mike White

Tonight in incredibly sad news: Ross Shapiro, the singer and guitarist for beloved Athens rock band The Glands, has passed away after an illness, friends confirm.

In addition to fronting The Glands, whose two albums, 1998's Double Thriller and 2000's self-titled outing, remain near-perfect documents of a band in its prime, Shapiro owned and operated the Athens location of Schoolkids Records, which shut its doors in 2011.

The Glands had recently become active again after a lengthy hiatus, playing a handful of shows over the last couple years. Southern Shelter's Sloan Simpson has a nice recording on his site of the band's marathon October 2014 show at now-defunct local venue Green Room.

Flagpole's Gordon Lamb will have more information on Shapiro's passing in next week's Threats & Promises. For now, our thoughts are with the musician's friends and family.