Widespread+panic

Widespread Panic are carving a niche for themelves in the rock arena that separates them from the crowd. Subtle, intelligent rock that blends numerous elements into a smooth, propulsive blend of structure and improvisation – rock with energy, talent and brains…

Politics aside – this is the first-ever Widespread Panic record that hasn't had numerous versions of tracks available on the Internet; the band kept it under wraps until release time – this is the most ambitious and refined album the band has ever issued. Widespread Panic is the only band from the whole jam scene that emerged from the south and the oft-spouted Allman Brothers' font of inspiration who remains interesting…

Recorded live at the House of Blues in South Carolina, this Widespread Panic date featured the addition of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band playing alongside them. It makes for an entirely different 'spread show to be sure…

Another Widespread Panic album, another attempt to transfer the band's live energy onto tape. Free Somehow isn't Widespread's best studio effort to date, nor does it pack the same punch as the band's ever-popular concerts, where extended solos and long-running jams are more likely to illicit dropping jaws than drowsy, nodding heads…

The Athens, Georgia quintet Widespread Panic deserves the name Jam Band probably more than any of their fellow piers (Minus The Grateful Dead of course). They have toured non stop for practically eight-teen years. They have gotten through line up changes, tour cancelations, album flops, unpopularity and even death…

Widespread Panic's third album offers 14 southern-fried rock songs, some of which have become the band's most-loved show stoppers…

Widespread Panic are another of the wave of jam bands who let their music flow organically, a la the Grateful Dead, and like the Dead have had a bit of a problem transferring that loose feeling onto disc…

That a quarter of the songs on this generous three-CD live set stretch beyond the ten-minute mark goes a long way toward explaining why Widespread Panic continues to be such a popular draw on the jam band circuit. Playing before an enthusiastic hometown Athens, GA, crowd, the band combines exploratory jamming and muscular riffing in just about equal measures…