A-Frame to A-Fame

Behind the Doors of an Athens Music Landmark

originally published April 18, 2007

The yellow and black labs bark and hover at the dark green door. A few white words are scrawled on the door that sticks when it opens, and gets stuck again before shutting completely. In daylight, the A-frame conspicuously occupies the corner of Weymanda Court, looking exactly as it did more than 21 years ago when then-unknown jam band Widespread Panic played for a group of eager listeners.

Inside, Owen Gray’s shaggy brown hair falls above his eyes as he gazes at the computer screen, displaying a picture of a performance from Feb. 24, 1985. “They played right over there,” he says pointing toward the small yard on the left side of the house.

The picture shows three guys with Owen-ish hair standing in front of tapestries hung from the side of the house and armed with acoustic guitars. The picture depicts less of a concert and more of a friendly gathering, or maybe just people in search of free beer. It's a familiar scene in Athens.

Michael Houser and John Bell had previously played as a duo around Athens before meeting bassist Dave Schools. On this particular night, Houser, Bell and Schools decided to play together under the band name Widespread Panic, chosen from Houser’s nickname, “Panic.” As the sounds of Joe Cocker, Van Morrison and The Moody Blues resonated over Weymanda, a wooded street off South Milledge Avenue, the musicians - who, contrary to rumor performed here but never lived in the house - probably didn’t even realize they were making history.

Couches outline the perimeter of the living room where Owen stands while an old coffee table strewn with cigarette boxes and Rolling Stone magazines occupies the center of the room.

“We just got the roof fixed the other day,” Owen remarks, looking at the V-shaped ceiling with white lights strung in triangles. “There are so many things wrong with this house… it doesn’t have any insulation.” If it weren’t for the glowing beer signs and lights wrapped around the porch rails, the green and brown house would be camouflaged at night by the surrounding trees. Mary Kent Robinson, who only recently moved into the house, sits on the couch watching a movie. Tyler Lathem is relaxing on another couch with a full beard and an almost-full beer, when Owen comes up the steep green wooden stairs that lead down to one of the many interesting features of the house.

Painted at the bottom of the steps is a skeleton wearing a rainbow-striped top hat, jacket and red sneakers staring ominously at anyone who views it. The heavy black words “Grateful Dead” are printed above the picture with “INSPIRATION” below.

Four years after the first A-frame show, Widespread Panic added bandmembers Todd Nance, Domingo Ortiz and John "Jojo" Hermann and released the first album Space Wrangler. Since then, the group has produced 15 more studio and live albums.

Starting with the early A-frame days to the upcoming Athens shows this week, Panic never repeats a set list and credits all songs to the entire band, with no one member in the spotlight. Curiously for a grass-roots act like Panic, the band’s business model has been so successful it's earned feature coverage in publications like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Fortune Magazine.

With no recent visits to the A-frame by bandmembers since making it big, Widespread still calls Athens home. On tour, these guys always seem to find their way to Athens, most notably with the free outdoor concert in downtown Athens in 1998 and a three-night stand at the Classic Center in April of 2000. Widespread Panic is enthusiastically involved with Nuçi’s Space and other local and regional charities, while its management, Brown Cat, Inc., is based in downtown Athens.

All of the current A-frame residents are Widespread fans. “Panic was the first concert I’ve ever been to,” says Mary Kent. Tyler and his band Rhythm Token play Widespread songs and originals in the basement of the house, and frequently perform around Athens, from small venues like Amici to larger rooms like the Georgia Theatre. Tyler initially knew nothing about the house’s famous past before moving in. “It was pretty cool when I found out,” he says. “It has a really cozy feeling.”

“This house definitely has ambience,” Mary Kent adds. From the coasters on the wall from Owen’s travels in Europe, the hammock that hangs in the living room, the lack of insulation and sometimes heat, to the Pink Floyd poster on the wall, ambience is present, if loosely defined.

R.E.M.'s steeple downtown may be more prominent, but the A-frame house has followers of its own. Whenever it goes up for lease, people line up. “One time there was a fist fight right in the front yard about who had gotten here first,” Tyler says.

“This house attracts a lot of weird people,” Owen says. “A lot of random people show up at our parties… people know about the A-frame.” After living at the A-frame for two years, the residents say the novelty has slightly worn off. The laid-back atmosphere prevails, with the house hosting parties or providing an outlet for Rhythm Token to practice and play. “We definitely live on in the same spirit,” says Owen.

Summer Faust

Widespread Panic is playing three sold-out shows at the Classic Center this week, Apr. 23–25.