WIDESPREAD PANIC

'Widespread Panic' is a southern rock 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.

Contents

Band history

Formation of band

Rise to national prominence

Death of Houser

2003 to Present

Live Show

Benefit CDs

External links

References

Band history

Formation of band

Michael Houser (deceased) and John Bell ('JB') met at the University of Georgia at Athens between 1982 and 1984, and began playing music together around town as a duet. JB played solo shows as well.
In the Fall of 1984, David Schools saw JB play a solo show at Abbots in Athens. Dave Schools and JB were introduced by a mutual friend. Shortly thereafter, JB & Houser recruited Schools to play bass with them. The band was named Widespread Panic after Houser's nickname "Panic".
The band's first performance as Widespread Panic took place on February 24, 1985 at the A-Frame house on Weymanda Court in Athens. 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. ''Sleepy Monkey'' was the band's first original composition. Other early compositions include ''Chilly Water'', ''Space Wrangler'', and ''Coconut'' (although the latter was written by JB before joining the band).
On February 6, 1986, Houser recruited high school friend/bandmate Todd Nance for a WP 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. 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.
During the rest of 1986, WP played mainly in Athens, though they did branch out to venues in Macon, GA and South Carolina. Early on, they began playing every Monday night at the Uptown Lounge in Athens, a tradition that would last well into 1988. 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. 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.
During 1987, WP continued to play primarily in Georgia, while steadily spreading out to SC, NC, AL, TN, and as far north as Richmond, VA (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, Paige McConnell, also played on the studio version of Holden Oversoul.
In June of 1988, the first known guest appearance of producer John Keane on stage with the band occurred. Usually playing pedal steel, Keane became another regular guest at special Panic shows.
Their debut LP, ''Space Wrangler'', established a small fanbase and inaugurated several years of constant touring

Rise to national prominence

The band signed to Capricorn Records and released their major label debut, ''Widespread Panic'' in 1991 (see 1991 in music). Keyboardist John Hermann ("JoJo") joined the band as a keyboardist in 1992. He brought the friendship of local guitar store owner George McConnell, his former bandmate from Beanland. After appearing with the H.O.R.D.E. tours for a few years, the band became one of the most popular new jam bands that arose in the mid-1990s. Their popularity expanded greatly in the late 1990s/early 2000s, they proved to be a large draw in the Southeastern United States.
The band also recorded two albums with guitarist Vic Chesnutt as brute. in 1996 and 2002.

Death of Houser

Triumph and tragedy both helped define 2002 for the band. The previous year had ended with Panic as one of the top twenty concert draws in the country. They had received gold certification for their concert DVD Live at Oak Mountain. In addition, the band headlined two nights of the first annual Bonnaroo Music Festival which drew a crowd upwards of 70,000 people. All of these accomplishments, however, were overshadowed by the passing of founding member and band namesake Michael Houser on August 10, 2002. Due to pancreatic cancer, Houser’s death left the band and their fans in disarray. Before he passed, Mikey made clear his wish for the band to persevere and continue. The band did so and released Ball in 2003 with the help of their good friend George McConnell helping out on lead guitar.

2003 to Present

That same year the band announced that they would be taking a hiatus in 2004 to spend time with friends and family. In March 2005 the band returned to the stage in full force with a 2-night sell-out of Atlanta’s Fox Theatre. They toured through the rest of the year in the spring, summer and fall, and ended the year with their first annual Tunes for Tots benefit. Held at the Roxy Theatre in Atlanta, the first annual Tunes for Tots concert raised over $100,000 to help finance the purchase of musical instruments for children in school.
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, exclusively into select movie theatres nationwide.^[1] 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'.^[2]
On August 2, 2006, the band announced that George McConnell would no longer be playing with the band.^[3] In the fall of 2006, Jimmy Herring took over the reins of the lead guitarist in the band kicking off their fall tour with two nights at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York.^[4] That December the band went on to sell-out their 15th consecutive sold out New Years show at Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA. A banner now hangs in the rafters of the arena commemorating the milestone.
To the present the band continues to tour throughout the country and is planning on another album release in the near future.
Playing as many as 250 shows a year, Panic has built a large fan base. True road warriors, Widespread Panic ranks among the top 50 grossing touring acts for eight years running, even without substantial radio airplay, television exposure, or promotion at retail stores. The band holds sellout records at Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver (23 shows), Oak Mountain Amphitheatre near Birmingham, Ala. (17 shows), Philips Arena in Atlanta (15 straight sold-out New Year's Eve shows), and UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans (18 shows). The band also has 20 sellouts at San Francisco's Warfield Theatre, seven sellouts across the Bay at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, nine sellouts at Mud Island in Memphis, seven at Memphis' Mid-South Coliseum, and in October 2003 for the popular Halloween shows sold out two concerts at New York's famed Madison Square Garden. 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. Estimates of 80,000 to 100,000 fans descended on the town, transforming it into the largest CD release party in history. The band was also the headlining act at the 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2007 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, TN, where the crowd in attendance was an estimated 80,000 people.
The band has sold more than 3 million albums, and released a total of 15 CDs and five DVDs (including Live at Oak Mountain, which is certified Gold).

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.
==Discography

=Studio Albums===
# ''Space Wrangler - 1988
# ''Widespread Panic'' - 1991
# ''Everyday - 1993
# ''Ain't Life Grand'' - 1994
# ''Bombs & Butterflies'' - 1997
# '''Til The Medicine Takes - 1999
# ''Don't Tell the Band'' - 2001
# ''Ball - 2003
# ''Earth to America'' - 2006
===Live Albums===
# ''Light Fuse, Get Away'' - 1998
# ''Another Joyous Occasion'' - 2000
# ''Live in the Classic City'' - 2002
# ''Night of Joy'' - 2004
# ''Über Cobra'' - 2004
# ''Jackassolantern'' - 2004
# ''Live at Myrtle Beach'' - 2005

Benefit CDs

★ Contributed a track to ''Too Many Years'' to benefit Clear Path International's work with land mine survivors, 2005

★ In 1999, the band contributed a live performance version of ''Blue Indian'' to ''Live in the X Lounge II'', an album benefiting United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham, a Birmingham, Alabama charity.

★ Contributed a cover version of Van Morrisons ''And It Stoned Me'' to the Capricorn compilation album Hempilation a benefit CD for norml (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) in 1995

★ Recorded a cover of John Lennon's "Crippled Inside" for the compilation album
==Videography==

★ Live at Oak Mountain (2001)

★ Panic In The Streets (2002)

★ The Earth Will Swallow You (2002)

★ Live From The Backyard (2003)

★ Earth To Atlanta (2006)

External links

★ Widespread Panic: The Official Site

★ Widespread Panic on MySpace

★ Widespread Panic on YouTube

★ Everyday Companion Online

★ Live Widespread Panic

★ PanicStream

★ Widespread Panic at Rolling Stone

References

1. May 9, 2006, simulcast in theaters.
2. November 14, 2006, DVD release.
3. George McConnell, lead guitarist with the rock band Widespread Panic, has moved on to further adventures
4. Widespread Panic is happy to announce that Jimmy Herring will be joining the band as lead guitarist