Building A Better Ark

Widespread Panic Welcomes New Guitarist Jimmy Herring For Free Somehow And Upcoming Tour

originally published February 27, 2008

Things keep on changing for genre-bending, Athens-based Widespread Panic. But, that doesn’t mean the wheels are ready to fall off the group’s proverbial wagon just yet. Since the passing of founding bandmember and longtime guitarist-songwriter Mikey Houser in 2002, Widespread’s remaining members have had a lot of obligations to satisfy, whether contractual, personal or related to the group’s sizable legion of fans. At the same time, the extended 2004 hiatus taken by bandmembers was likely not near enough time to fully process and put into perspective the loss of dear friend and bandmate Houser.

Shortly after Houser’s passing, guitarist-vocalist John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, keyboardist Jojo Hermann, drummer Todd Nance and percussionist Domingo “Sunny” Ortiz announced that George McConnell, an old friend of Hermann’s from the two’s days of churning out blues and R&B on the Mississippi/ mid-South club circuit, would be taking on the lead guitar slot for an undetermined length of time. In late 2006, after two studio albums and many more tour dates with McConnell, the group announced McConnell’s sudden departure and that former Aquarium Rescue Unit/ Jazz is Dead member Jimmy Herring would be stepping in as Panic’s new guitarist.

What exactly prompted McConnell’s exit from the band has been kept under wraps on both sides. Though McConnell had stated in interviews shortly before leaving the band that he didn’t feel he was given enough room to incorporate his own style into the Widespread catalog, and had even received threats from the most hardcore of Panic fans due to his stepping in for Houser, frontman John “J.B.” Bell chalks up some of these comments to McConnell’s mischievous sense of humor.

“[Some of those comments] struck us as pretty odd, too,” says Bell when asked about the validity of McConnell’s perceived “threats.” “I guess he was trying to be funny at that moment or something like that. I think the folks that come to see us were very supportive of George’s efforts and what he was doing in the band. Especially when you consider he had to step in and fill some pretty big and long-standing shoes.”

Message board and Spreadhead community rumor-mongering aside, McConnell was never announced as a permanent addition to the band. He stepped into the role when needed and when asked. After almost four years of heavy travel, the blues-loving Mississippian guitar store owner might’ve just needed to return to a less hectic life off the road. Enter Herring, an old compadre of Widespread’s membership dating back to Herring’s tenure with 1990s jam community fixture Col. Bruce Hampton’s Aquarium Rescue Unit.

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Herring makes his first recorded appearance on the group’s latest release, Free Somehow. The album again pairs Widespread Panic with veteran producer Terry Manning (Joe Cocker, ZZ Top, Lenny Kravitz), who was also at the controls for 2006’s Earth To America, the band’s last studio effort with McConnell on board. Herring’s addition to the fold is noticeable, even more so given repeat listens to the album. However, the new guitarist often blends into the mix more than he stands out from it. Seeing as Free Somehow is Herring’s first outing with Widespread, this is probably a wise move. He lays low in some spots, simply providing a stable six-string rhythm. In other instances, Herring lets loose with bruising, fuzzed-out riffs (“Flicker”) or some tasteful, near orchestral, solo work as heard on the horn-assisted “Her Dance Needs No Body.” You know something’s different; that someone new is on board. But, the range of guitar dynamics Herring is capable of bringing to the band has, most certainly, yet to be heard.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better situation,” says Bell of Herring’s addition to the Panic fold. “He’s a professional, and, as far as his creativity goes, he brings a lot of his own personality and his own material to the mix. Hopefully, that’s evident on this new album. We met Jimmy when he was playing with Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, so that’s going back to ’92 or ’93, around that time. So, he’s someone we’ve known for awhile and, also, whose talent we already respected.”

Gone, for the most part, are the gritty, direct blues textures that McConnell brought along. Though McConnell provided a more measured, concise style opposite from Houser’s crescendo-building adventurism, having Herring in the lead sounds like certain elements that brought a sense of unpredictability, and even sometimes potential chaos, to Widespread Panic performances of yesteryear are lining up again. Opener “Boom, Boom, Boom” sets a shuffling “big rock” tone not unfamiliar to the band, while later tracks like “Dark Day Program” and the introspective title cut sound like Bell and the boys are, both lyrically and physically, riding out the fog of uncertainty that has accompanied them since Houser’s passing. That the album was recorded in the same hallowed quarters (Nassau, Bahamas’ Compass Point Studios) as were black vinyl classics like AC/DC’s Back In Black and Joe Cocker’s Sheffield Steel could have something to do with this new vitality breathed into the band. Or it could be that having Manning at the helm once again lit a new fire beneath the guys during the sessions for Free Somehow, another chapter in the WSP catalog not overseen and engineered by long-standing local producer John Keene.

“When we finally got down to the studio, that’s when we started acting like little kids and asking Terry a bunch of questions,” laughs Bell. “Terry’s been around in the thick of it with some great players over the years and a lot of great folks have come through that studio. It’s always fun to put your head back in time there and envision Joe Cocker or the B-52's cutting their stuff there. It was just a chance, for me, to feel like a kid again. The big difference between working with John, as we have several times, and with Terry, this time, was the geographic location of where the album was cut. In Athens, you know, it’s like a little playground where you got all your restaurants and bars and friends.

"You have people, friends, popping in and out of the studio. When we went down to Compass Point to work, though, we went in 12 hours a day. There’s really nothing to do down in that part of the Bahamas, so it was a more work-intensive environment than we’re used to in Athens. Both John and Terry are very good at working with the digital format, but are also champions of the old-school way of producing. They know how to coax the most genuine performance out of the players, instead of just relying on the computer components to do all the work. When you’re working with technology like that, it can be used for good, or it can be used for evil. Our relationship with John is still close and ongoing, though. This was just a good change of venue for us to, I guess, clear out some of the cobwebs.”

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As was the same for Panic’s frequently acknowledged predecessor the Grateful Dead, any WSP studio release will be subject to some degree of speculation until all its contents have undergone the onstage rebirthing process. With a nimble and broad-ranged vet like Herring along, the band’s upcoming spring tour should promise new surprises and a more fluid, more adrenaline-infused version of Panic than crowds have seen the past couple of tours. For now, the bandmembers are wrapping up various solo engagements: Hermann’s festive Mardi Gras Band, Bell’s Hannah’s Buddies Charity Classic benefit and Schools' participation in shows with the Jerry Joseph-led Stockholm Syndrome. However, the lengthy schedule of tour performances set to begin in May will be the most appropriate forum in which to prove the mettle of Widespread Panic version 2008 and beyond.

Michael Andrews