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I have heard through our office, because I never read the chatboards, that a lot of people think that we are taking the year off next year. We are not. So, we've got to put that little fire out. We are definitely coming out and working and while I can't tell you the exact dates that we'll have for Red Rocks, I can guarantee that we will be there during the summer of 2009. -Sunny Ortiz |
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Photo by Jackie Jasper
That's good to hear because a lot of people have been saying that there will be no tour until the fall.
 JB :: 10.31.08 by Ian Rawn |
I know where you are coming from. I am even getting it from my kids. My oldest is 14 and my youngest is 10 and they are going, "Dad where are we going next year?" and I'm going, "What do you mean?" And they said, "Well, we heard that you guys are taking the whole year off." When Mikey passed away, bless his heart, we took 2004 off but they were a little bit younger. So, while they knew that he had passed away they didn't realize that it meant that I was going to be home for the whole year.
We will be there and we will be working in 2009.
Maybe a little less touring, but not a hiatus?
Not a hiatus. "A little less?" I don't know about "a little less." To us there is no "a little less." To me, it's not work. To me, it is socializing, its conversation, its anything but work and anything but touring. It is like being in a traveling minstrel show, I guess, maybe a circus. It is a way of life for us. It may sound corny but it really is. When we were growing up as young kids, teenagers, in the back of our minds we always wanted to be full time musicians and probably never thought we could sustain ourselves doing this. When I met the boys in '86 they were attending UGA and on their way to being golf pros, chemistry majors, business majors and then something happened that put everything on hold.
Our motto as a band has always been that we are willing to go to the edge and then think about it, and then actually dive off the edge and see what happens. A lot of people say, "They just don't do it anymore," and I kinda think that they just don't see that we are doing it and they need to step aside and let someone else that gets it get it and pass it back to them.
Some people have said that there seems to be a new life in the band lately, and I was wondering if that comes from having Jimmy Herring in the band? What is it like to have him as a full time member?
Jimmy Herring is an angel that we knew about back in the '80s. We connected with him when he was in Aquarium Rescue Unit. He is a virtuoso and a very studious player. He gives 110-percent every day, not only every night but everyday, too. He's a sweetheart of a guy; we are almost derelicts compared to him. He's been around the block a couple of times and when things were looking gloomy for us he was the one so nice to us and offered his assistance, but he was committed to Phil & Friends and The Dead and we had to look at other alternatives. When the second calling came he was available.
Is there a new Panic album coming any time soon?
 Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz by Susan J. Weiand |
The writing in the band has just kept getting better and we have some good new material that we haven't even pulled out yet. We have so much material that we are going to have to start using it. So, that's just a good problem to have. It has gotten to the point now where we are asking, "Where do we want to go record? Where do we want to go do this next project?" That seems to be the thing that is holding us back. We want to record, but we also realize that we need to see what happens. We aren't in any rush. We feel that we can do a lot of woodshedding in the next six months and come up with some hot stuff and maybe take it on the road and experiment with it like we've always done - just throw it out there and see if we get any bites from anybody who wants to sustain us, wants to invest or wants to make good use of it as a new product.
Anything we do as Widespread Panic is with everyone's input. There are obviously thousands of studios around Athens but who knows, we might do something in Nashville, we might do something in Atlanta. There are lots of options for us to dabble in, and it is just a matter of where everyone feels comfortable. That's the big name game right now, the comfort level. When we all agree that we are ready the ball starts rolling. We start sending out feelers for producers, studios and then we need to block out the time. If all that fits together then we are ready. There are just so many things involved. Who knows what form this monster is going to take.
So, through all of this, it's been more than 20 years that you've been playing together; what keeps you going?
Some say 25 [years]! Well, I guess when we reach 2010 it'll be 25 years. The music business is one big rollercoaster ride, and we've learned that through a lot of good times and a lot of bad times. The thing that keeps us bonded together and our feet on the ground is knowing there's a lot of folks that enjoy, love and really care about Widespread Panic. It's that give and take, that communication, that excitement that we've always gotten from our fans that just keeps us going on and on. Our way of giving back to these folks is giving that piece of music, which is our life. That energy is still there, that drive, that magic. Whatever you want to call it, it is still real strong. We love what we do and we are going to keep on doing it probably for a pretty good while now.
JamBase | Widespread
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