About Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring. The band's original guitarist and sometime songwriter, Michael Houser, died of pancreatic cancer in 2002, and the original drummer, Todd Nance, left in 2016 and died in 2020.
The band was formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1986, and is influenced by the Southern rock, blues-rock, progressive rock, funk and hard rock genres. They have been compared to other jam bands such as the Grateful Dead and Phish. Widely renowned for their live performances, they have held the record for number of sold-out performances at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and State Farm Arena .
John Bell and Michael Houser met in 1981 in their dorm at the University of Georgia. Bell had been playing guitar as a solo act, and invited his new friend Houser, also a guitarist, to join him. They began living together and collaborating on music in that year, writing still-popular songs such as "Driving Song" and "Chilly Water" together. Bassist Dave Schools met Bell and Houser in 1984 and first played with them on February 24, 1985, at the A-Frame house on Weymanda Court in Athens. On February 6, 1986, Houser called childhood friend and drummer Todd Nance to sit in with Houser, Bell, and Schools for a charity event in Athens; it was their first show as "Widespread Panic." The band was named for Houser's once-frequent panic attacks. Texan percussionist Domingo S. Ortiz began sitting in with the band regularly later that year.
The band played in fraternities and bars regularly before Panic signed a contract with Landslide Records in 1987. In February 1987 the band played the now-legendary series of one dollar Monday night shows at the Uptown Lounge in Athens and the crucial local press began to take notice—FLAGPOLE & Athens Observer art columnist Shan Clark emphasized Widespread Panic's musical virtuosity, songwriting and professionalism. In September of the same year, they recorded their first album, Space Wrangler, at John Keane's studio in Athens. Col. Bruce Hampton is rumored to have delivered the first pressing to the band. Songs on the album included "Chilly Water", "Travelin' Light", "Space Wrangler", "Coconut", "The Take Out", "Porch Song", "Stop-Go" and "Driving Song." After Space Wrangler, touring expanded to include additional northeastern dates, along with Texas, Colorado, the west coast, and internationally to Vancouver, Canada. It was also around this time that Domingo Ortiz joined the band full-time. They played their first show in Colorado in March 1990, opening for Jerry Joseph's band Little Women.
Widespread Panic signed with Capricorn Records in January 1991. Later that year, they released their major label debut, Widespread Panic . That same year Billy Bob Thornton directed the movie Widespread Panic: Live from the Georgia Theatre which was recorded over two nights in Athens, Georgia.
As the band began to tour more, John Hermann joined the band as a keyboardist in March 1992 replacing Dixie Dregs keyboardist T. Lavitz who joined the band a year earlier. The band continued to tour throughout the entire US in 1992 joining the famous H.O.R.D.E. tour with Blues Traveler, Phish, and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, among others. They released Everyday in March 1993 and Ain't Life Grand in September 1994. Panic marked their rise by playing on network television for the first time in November 1994.
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