John Bell To Appear With Mike Mills, Chuck Leavell & Paul Riddle In Washington DC
By Andy Kahn Apr 14, 2016 • 12:59 pm PDT
Widespread Panic’s guitarist and lead singer John Bell will perform with R.E.M.’s multi-instrumentalist Mike Mills, The Rolling Stones’ keyboardist Chuck Leavell and Marshall Tucker Band’s drummer Paul Riddle at the White House Correspondents’ Jam II. The event, which coincides with the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, will be held at The Hamilton in Washington D.C. on April 29.
The one-night-only outfit being billed as Phil And The Busters will perform in support of the environmental news and outreach website Mother Nature Network, which Leavell co-founded. Also on the bill are a number of bands featuring members of the DC press corps, such as The New Yorker reporter David Remnick and his group The Sequoias.
The announcement comes on the same day as John Bell’s 54th birthday. To help celebrate the birthday today of the man with strong ties to Georgia, below are videos of past times he’s shared the stage with Georgia residents and upcoming band mates Mills and Leavell.
First up are three officially shared Widespread Panic videos of Leavell joining JoJo Hermann on keys. Watch “Sitting In Limbo” and “Many Rivers To Cross” with fellow special guest Jimmy Cliff from last year’s Lockn’ Festival, followed by Chuck’s sit-in on The Allman Brothers Band’s “Jessica” from Panic’s show in Atlanta on December 29th of last year:
Mills has also been an onstage guest of Widespread Panic on a number of occasions. Below watch a pair of guest spots in Atlanta, including his sit-in on keyboards (with Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi as well) on Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” from December 30, 2006, followed by his appearance exactly three years later playing guitar and singing on a performance of R.E.M.’s “Don’t Go Back To Rockville.”
