Widespread Panic

Ain't Life Grand

Capricorn

Well, it's been two long years since their last album, Everyday, and I'm happy to say it was well worth the wait. (Although, I was kinda hoping for a live double-album after the '93 H.O.R.D.E. Tour.) Needless to say, I've been playing this disc at home and in the car for so long (just like last time) that nothing else sounds as good or begs to be replayed as often. (Except for the new Belly disc, but that's another story...) Looks the Panic have done it to me again. They've got me in such a fit of aural pleasure (you can feel this stuff down to your toes) that I'd start to babble, foam at the mouth, and fall over backwards if I tried to translate this stuff. Thanks to Marcia Flowers at Capricorn I don't have to. Instead, I'll let bassist Dave Schools and guitarist/vocalist John Bell enlighten you on their music in their own words.

"I think we've really accomplished something with Ain't Life Grand.", said Dave Schools of the band's fourth album. "It's probably gonna be hard to top this one." Most of the songs on the album will be familiar to those who have studied the bands live shows carefully. "That's how we develop a lot of our songs," said Schools. "We play them in concert before we record them - a baptism by fire. We hammer them into shape live so we're all-the-more prepared to go into the studio and record them rather than waste time coming up with arrangements while we're recording. It's fun, too -- we can try out different approaches to see how they work and get the audience reaction." After last years tour, the band returned to its home turf of Athens, Georgia to record the new album, reuniting with producer John Keane, who worked on Panic's debut, Space Wrangler.

"We knew we could be at our best close to home," Said John Bell. "John Keane's direction was largely responsible for the album's sound. He used varied guitar tones, varied sounds through the songs to create different textures from song to song. We've grown up with John so we're very comfortable with him. It's still very much a party kind of atmosphere with him in the studio, just come and sit in. He added a steel guitar onto "Ain't Life Grand" which really adds an element to the song." "It was such a great combination of events and elements," added Schools. "In the past when we'd record it was an eight-week chunk of not touring and not being at home. By recording in Athens we were able to sleep in our own beds at night, party with friends, eat at our favorite restaurants. It was a healthy feeling that translated into the recording. Some of the songs Mike (Houser) and JB have been writing have been purer songs," said Schools. "Mike goes for the everyman kind of approach and JB gets a little more figurative, using metaphors and double meanings that the listener can think about. We grew up listening to records like that. You can't predict what the next line is gonna be. That's been one of my pet peeves about what you've heard on the radio over the past ten years."

All of the tracks on Ain't Life Grand were recorded live with no splices and virtually no sampling-- the only sampled sound on the album is a van door slamming shut. The band was so well-focused going into the project that three of the songs here - "Raise The Roof," "Fishwater" and "Jack"-- are from the original demos. "At the time we really didn't know "Raise The Roof," so we played it carefully," said Schools. "It was such a mellow and moody song and the way we played it had a combination of tentativeness and spookiness, We wanted to keep that mood. We kept "Jack" because Mike was in love with his guitar solo and he never plays it the same way twice. We tried to record that session after session and never captured the feeling that says it all. We've got about five different versions of "Jack." This one finally gets it."

"Fishwater'" is another song that's been in the band's repertoire for years. "Fishwater'" was born on stage," Bell explained. "We were playing this jam and I came up with some words. We were three days away from New Orleans. At that point we'd been down there once and gotten a good response. Here we were trying to recreate it, a slight return." Danny Hutchens of the group Bloodkin, a longtime Panic collaborator, contributed "Can't Get High" to the sessions. "Airplane'," Bell said somewhat mysteriously, "was written on the way to a real airplane being waited for." "Little Kin" (a cleverly-written parable), "Junior" (an ode to childhood), "Heroes" (the everyman anthem), "Blackout Blues" (the searing blues), and the instrumental "Liza's Apartment" round out the selections. "I feel good about the progression of our albums because every one has been more of a group effort," Bell said, "More of the bandness is coming out. It's another year; we're a bit older. What we do - improvisation in a rock and roll, R&B format - we've been doing a lot and we're getting better. We push the songs in the studio a far as the inspiration will take us. Still, it's just a snapshot. That's what an album is. The songs continue to grow as we play them. There's such a mystery to being in a band, playing on the road and making albums," Bell concluded. "To maintain that mystery is to sustain the source of power. For a lot of people the mystery isn't comfortable. It's not a sure thing; it's not Vegas. The very thing other people try to accomplish, to play a perfect, glossy show that never varies, we have no interest in that at all. It's good to keep the freedom that comes with the mystery. Because you never know what's going to happen next." Schools added, "Things have really started to open up for us. We're not a goal-oriented band in the sense of sitting around and saying we're doing this, this and this. We enjoy hanging out with each other and playing. It's like a brotherhood of fun. Keeping that spirit alive is what's important to us."

With that, this writer can only add; if you don't already own all four Widespread Panic albums, you're missing out on some wonderful music from six exceptionally talented musicians. And if the opportunity to catch one of their many live shows has eluded you, that's the only way to you'll be able to experience the Panic "mystery" until the next time they come to a venue near you. (SC)

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