Choice Cuts

Performer: Widespread Panic
Producer: Widespread Panic; John Keane; Johnny Sandlin; Widespread Panic (Compilation); Darren Salmieri (Compilation)
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Widespread Panic were always the odd band out of the jam-band renaissance of the 1990s. Phish got the glory and Blues Traveller and Dave Matthews got the hits. Widespread had only minor forays onto the radio, and their box-office receipts never quite measured up to those of their Vermont brethren. But--like the Allman Bros. in their day compared to the Dead--Widespread was a much tighter band. With a sound grounded in rootsy Southern rock and blues, the Athens, Georgia, sextet knew how to rock. CHOICE CUTS presents a limited version of the band, dutifully hitting on all the '90s records. There are some live gems from LIGHT FUSE, GET AWAY, suggesting the need for a live retrospective. Although some bootleg cuts might have been an appropriate addition, CHOICE CUTS is uniformly strong.

Though they started out in the '80s in Athens, GA, Widespread Panic are as far as can be from what was known then as the "Athens scene" (R.E.M, Let's Active, Pylon, etc.). Instead, they were among the first of a new wave of jam bands picking up the baton of '60s psychedelic warriors like the Grateful Dead. Though their improvisational skills earned them a huge following, WP bore an important difference from peers like Phish; they had a distinctly Southern sound that mixed rock, jazz, and a bit of Dixie, much in the manner of key influences the Allman Brothers and the Dregs.

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