When Jerry Garcia died on Aug. 9, 1995, the world stopped spinning for their legions of followers. A new generation of Deadheads had sprung up in the ’90s, and they weren’t ready for the culture that had evolved during the Dead’s 30-year career to be extinguished. They had begun to follow bands like Widespread Panic, who would not take the stage again for a month after Garcia’s death. They closed their Sept. 8 set in Raleigh, N.C., with Dead live chestnut “Turn on Your Lovelight,” paying tribute to their predecessors and illuminating the way toward the future.
Thirty-six years after four Athens, Ga., musicians played their first show as Widespread Panic, there is no end of the road in sight. Their origin began five years earlier, before Athens was best known as the spawning ground for “college rock” bands, right around the time R.E.M. released their first single. Guitarists John Bell and Michael Houser were University of Georgia students and aspiring singer/songwriters who formed a bond that grew into a band when they were joined by bassist Dave Schools.
Drummer Todd Nance was invited to play with them at a 1986 charity event, which would be the first time they used the name inspired by Houser’s anxiety attacks. They set about developing their improvisational sound at parties and clubs, but Panic didn’t go for a Summer of Love sound, and they were distinctively different than the quirky bands in the Athens scene. The Allman Brothers music was in the band’s blood.
Panic played anywhere and everywhere, and like the Dead they allowed taping of their shows. By 1991, they were signed by Capricorn Records, the label that discovered the Allmans, and by the time keyboardist John “JoJo” Hermann was enlisted, they had reached the stage where they could join forces with Phish and Blues Traveler for the inaugural H.O.R.D.E. tour in 1992. By the end of that first tour, the jam band community had solidified and Widespread Panic graduated to headlining outdoor venues on their own.
Houser died in 2002 of pancreatic cancer, and Nance would leave for personal reasons in 2014 (he passed away in 2020). Panic marched on with lead guitarist George McConnell, who would be replaced by Jimmy Herring in 2006. Herring had played with the Allmans and bands with former Grateful Dead members, while current drummer Duane Trucks is a nephew of Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks and sibling to virtuoso slide guitarist Derek.
Widespread Panic is stronger than ever. They tour less in favor of multidate engagements at places like their annual Panic en la Playa in Mexico and the Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The granola-and-patchouli stereotype of flower children twirling in ecstasy to extended musical explorations still exists, but Widespread Panic’s music is for everyone.
Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, March 11-13, starting at $69, 4+. axs.com
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