Ball

Performer: Widespread Panic
Producer: John Keane; Widespread Panic
Distributor: BMG (distributor)

Notes: Widespread Panic: John Bell, George McConnell (vocals, guitar); Dave Schools (vocals, bass); Todd Nance (vocals, drums); John "JoJo" Hermann (keyboards); Domingo S. Ortiz (percussion). This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Of the many Southern-based "jam bands" that garnered large followings in the wake of Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead's untimely demise, Widespread Panic is perhaps the only ensemble to both fully explore the progressive tendencies touched on by contemporaries like Phish and Dave Matthews, and accurately capture the Dead's rootsy, homespun hippy vibe. While Widespread Panic have never equaled the Dead in terms of songwriting, on BALL, the band makes a significant leap forward in this department. WP properly balances its trademark butt-shaking, percussion-fueled Southern boogie grooves with just enough hooks to attract those who generally use the bass solo as an opportunity to hit the concession stand. Fans of the band's jammier side should make sure to check out the hidden bonus track at the end of track 13, which is about as close a musical equivalent to a mellow late-night summer trip as has ever been recorded.

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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