Widespread Panic

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Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic at the Vegoose Music Festival.
Widespread Panic at the Vegoose Music Festival.
Background information
Origin Athens, Georgia, USA
Genre(s) Jam band, blues, southern rock
Years active 1986–2003
2005–present
Label(s) Widespread Records
Website www.widespreadpanic.com
Members
John Bell
John "JoJo" Hermann
Todd Nance
Domingo S. Ortiz
Dave Schools
Jimmy Herring
Former members
Michael Houser (d. 2002)
George McConnell
T Lavitz

Widespread Panic is a southern jam band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring. Michael Houser and George McConnell have also played lead guitar for the band.

The band has played as many as 250 shows a year, and have ranked among the top 50 grossing touring acts for eight years running[citation needed], doing so without substantial radio airplay, television exposure, or promotion. The band holds sellout records[citation needed] at:


Contents

[edit] Band history

[edit] Formation of band

Michael Houser (nicknamed 'Panic') and John Bell ('JB') met at the University of Georgia at Athens between 1982 and 1984[citation needed], and began playing music together around town as a duet. JB played solo shows as well.

The band's first performance as Widespread Panic took place on February 24, 1985 at the A-Frame house on Weymanda Court in Athens.[citation needed] Houser, JB, & Schools performed around Athens as a trio, occasionally utilizing local drummers. While their shows consisted primarily of cover tunes (by such bands as the Grateful Dead, Van Morrison, Bob Marley, and Traffic, among others), their repertoire did include a handful of original songs.[citation needed] Sleepy Monkey was the band's first original composition.[citation needed] Other early compositions include Chilly Water, Space Wrangler, and Coconut (although the latter was written by JB before joining the band).[citation needed]

On February 6, 1986, Houser recruited high school friend/bandmate Todd Nance for a WSP gig (an Aid For Africa benefit) at the Mad Hatter Ballroom in Athens, opening for Strawberry Flats (featuring John Keane). This was the first official Widespread Panic show and Nance accepted an offer to join the band.[citation needed] On February 9, 1986, Houser, Schools, and JB, with Joel Morris on drums and Kelly Jo Davis on backing vocals, recorded Monkey Image (Sleepy Monkey) and Coconut Image (Coconut) at Panoramic Recording Studio in Arnoldsville GA, to be released as their first single. The 45rpm vinyl was released (in a pressing of only 500) shortly thereafter on the band's Space Baby label.[1]

During the rest of 1986, WSP played mainly in Athens, though they did branch out to venues in Macon, GA and South Carolina. Early on, they began playing Monday nights at the Uptown Lounge in Athens, a tradition that would last well into 1988, alternating shows with Atlanta jam band The Grapes.[citation needed] Along the way, they developed a solid batch of original tunes (in addition to the four originals that they played in 1985), including Stop-Go, C. Brown, Tie Your Shoes, Porch Song, Driving Song, Conrad, Vacation, Postcard, the instrumental Machine, and another instrumental jam that JB later adds lyrics to, titled Cardboard Box.

On October 6, 1986, Texan percussionist Domingo S. Ortiz ("Sunny"), sat in with the band at the Uptown Lounge for the first time.[citation needed] Sunny continued to perform with the band on numerous occasions in Athens, Macon, and Atlanta, and eventually (late 1988 or early 1989) accepted the band's request for him to join as a full-time member.[1]

During 1987, WSP continued to play primarily in Georgia, while steadily spreading out to South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and as far north as Richmond, Virginia (Dave Schools' hometown). They developed a few more originals along the way, including Barstools & Dreamers, Contentment Blues, I'm Not Alone, and instrumentals L.a. (aka "Liza's Apartment"), and The Take Out. JB added lyrics to Cardboard Box, and to another instrumental titled "Puppet Song", subsequently renamed Pigeons. Cardboard Box was only played a handful of times before being dropped from the repertoire.

In the Fall, the band signed with Landslide Records and recorded their first album, Space Wrangler, at John Keane's Studio in Athens. Guests on the album included Sunny on percussion, David Blackmon on fiddle, Tim White on keyboards, and Alberto Salazarte (of Athens band White Buffalo) on percussion. Phish keyboardist, Page McConnell, also played on the studio version of Holden Oversoul.[1]

In June 1988, producer John Keane appeared for the first time on stage with the band. Usually playing pedal steel, Keane became another regular guest at special Panic shows.[1]

Their debut LP, Space Wrangler, established a small fan base and inaugurated several years of constant touring.

[edit] Rise to national prominence

The band signed to Capricorn Records and released their major label debut, Widespread Panic in 1991. John Hermann ("JoJo") joined the band as a keyboardist in 1992.

In 1998, to celebrate the release of their first live album, Light Fuse, Get Away, Widespread Panic offered a free "CD release party" concert in Athens Georgia. An estimated 80,000-100,000 fans descended on the town, transforming it into the largest CD release party in history.


Their popularity expanded greatly in the late 1990s/early 2000s, drawing large audiences in the Southeastern United States. 2001 ended with WSP one of the top twenty concert draws in the country.[citation needed]

In 2002, the band received gold certification for their concert DVD Live at Oak Mountain. It also headlined two nights of the first annual Bonnaroo Music Festival which drew a crowd upwards of 70,000 people.

[edit] Death of Houser

In early 2002, guitarist Michael Houser was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Houser continued to perform with the band into the summer of that year, but following a performance on July 2, 2002 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa he left the tour due to his declining health. Guitarist George McConnell, a former bandmate of JoJo Hermann's in Beanland, took over as the lead guitarist for the remainder of the band's scheduled dates. Michael Houser died on August 10, 2002.[2]

[edit] McConnell Era

Following the death of Michael Houser, the band announced that George McConnell had been officially named as the new lead guitarist in Widespread Panic. In 2003, the band released Ball, the first studio album with McConnell as the guitarist. The album was unique among the band's offerings in that none of the songs included had been performed live by the band prior to the recording. All of the material included was written specifically for the album with the exception of "Time Waits," a song which John Bell had performed in solo appearances. Late in 2003, the band announced that they would be taking a hiatus from both recording and performing in 2004. However, 2004 did see the release of three live albums: Night of Joy and Über Cobra--both of which were recorded during an August 2003 three-night run of shows at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, SC--as well as Jackassolantern, a compilation of cover songs performed during the band's Halloween shows. A third live album taken from the Myrtle Beach shows, Live at Myrtle Beach was released in early 2005.

In March 2005 the band returned to the stage in full force with a three-night sell-out of Atlanta’s Fox Theatre.[citation needed] They again headlined the Bonnaroo music festival, drawing an estimated 90,000 fans for a two night set. They toured through the rest of the summer and fall, and ended the year with their first annual Tunes for Tots benefit. Held at the Roxy Theatre in Atlanta, it raised over $100,000 to help finance the purchase of musical instruments for children in school. This was followed by the New Year's run in Atlanta.[citation needed]

In January 2006, the band recorded their 9th studio album, Earth to America, with Terry Manning in Nassau, Bahamas, at Compass Point Studios. It was released June 13, 2006. Their May 9th show at Atlanta's Fox Theatre was simulcast in LIVE HD, via satellite, in select movie theatres nationwide.[3] Over 60,000 fans across the country watched it live in the theatres. This show was also released in DVD format on November 14th, 2006, entitled 'Earth To Atlanta'.[4]

On August 2, 2006, the band announced that George McConnell had left the band.[5] Producer John Keane and former Houser guitar technician Sam Holt filled in on guitar for the rest of the tour.

[edit] 2006-Present

In the fall of 2006, Fayetteville, NC native Jimmy Herring took over the reins of the lead guitarist in the band kicking off their fall tour with three nights at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York.[6]

The band released their 10th album, Free Somehow, on February 12th, 2008. It too was recorded with legendary producer Terry Manning at Compass Point Studios.

[edit] Live show

Known for never playing the same show twice, the band has a show-to-show ritual of choosing the night’s setlist. At the beginning of each tour Garrie Vereen, a member of the band’s road crew, makes a master list of all the songs the band performs and laminates it. Each night before the show he marks the last 3 nights' set lists in different colors. The band can see what has been played recently and then decide what songs to play during the first set. They return back to the list during setbreak to pick songs for the second set, and likewise, return after the second set for any additional sets if playing more than two, or the encore. This process is explained by Vereen in the DVD The Earth Will Swallow You.

[edit] Discography

The band has sold more than three million albums[citation needed], and released a total of 15 CDs and five DVDs.

[edit] Studio Albums

  1. Space Wrangler - 1988
  2. Widespread Panic - 1991
  3. Everyday - 1993
  4. Ain't Life Grand - 1994
  5. Bombs & Butterflies - 1997
  6. 'Til The Medicine Takes - 1999
  7. Don't Tell the Band - 2001
  8. Ball - 2003
  9. Earth to America - 2006
  10. Free Somehow - 2008

[edit] Live Albums

  1. Light Fuse, Get Away - 1998
  2. Another Joyous Occasion - 2000
  3. Live in the Classic City - 2002
  4. Night of Joy - 2004
  5. Über Cobra - 2004
  6. Jackassolantern - 2004
  7. Live at Myrtle Beach - 2005

[edit] Other albums

The band recorded two albums with guitarist Vic Chesnutt as brute., in 1996 and 2002.

[edit] Benefit CDs

[edit] Videography

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Everyday Companion Timeline
  2. ^ Widespread's Houser Dead at Forty
  3. ^ May 9, 2006, simulcast in theaters.
  4. ^ November 14, 2006, DVD release.
  5. ^ George McConnell, lead guitarist with the rock band Widespread Panic, has moved on to further adventures
  6. ^ Widespread Panic is happy to announce that Jimmy Herring will be joining the band as lead guitarist

[edit] External links

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