Widespread Panic
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
Widespread Panic released their energetic debut LP, Space Wrangler, in 1988 on the tiny Landslide label; after several years of relentless touring, they signed to major label Capricorn, which issued the groups eponymously titled sophomore effort in 1991. Appearances on the 1992 and 1993 H.O.R.D.E. tours greatly expanded their fan base prior to 1993s Everyday, while 1994s Aint Life Grand spawned the AOR hits Airplane and Cant Get High. After teaming with fellow Georgian Vic Chesnutt to record 1995s Nine High a Pallet under the name Brute, Widespread Panic reconvened for the album Bombs and Butterflies, released in 1997. In the spring of 1998, the band released Light Fuse, Get Away. Til the Medicine Takes followed a year later. Another Joyous Occasion (2000) and Dont Tell the Band (2001) marked the bands first albums of the new millennium. In June 2002, Widespread Panic returned to the road for their annual summer tour of the States, but within a month, founding member and lead guitarist Michael Houser had to bow out. Houser was battling cancer and returned home to Athens, GA, to rest while guitarist George McConnell stepped in to finish the tour. On August 10, 2002, Houser succumbed to complications from pancreatic cancer at the age of 40.
Housers wish was that the band would carry on after his passing, and with McConnell becoming a permanent replacement, Widespread Panic did just that. Their next full-length album, Ball was released in April of 2003. Night of Joy and Über Cobra, both of which appeared in late March 2004, featured live selections from two of the bands shows at The House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, SC, while they toured in support of Ball. It marked Widespread Panics second and third live efforts, follow-ups up to 2000s Another Joyous Occasion. They returned to the studio later that year for the Halloween-themed covers record Jackassolantern and again in 2006 for Earth to America.
