John Bell Discusses New Widespread Panic Album

Georgia rockers Widespread Panic are currently in the middle of a fall tour that finds Duane Trucks holding down the drum seat for Todd Nance. The group’s front man, John Bell, discussed the choice of Duane, the plan for the next Panic album, the free webcasts the band provides each night and much more in a just-published interview with Atlanta Business Chronicle.

[Photo by Ian Rawn]

It’s been over four years since Widespread Panic last released a studio album, 2010’s Dirty Side Down. Bell was asked when the band’s next album will come out and he responded, “Expectations, expectations. Maybe in the summer, if everything goes according to plan.” Later in the Q&A Bell revealed, “we’re plucking away at some new studio stuff, some new songs to go into the studio with.” John explained the decision to go with Duane Trucks as he told the publication, “He’s been working with Dave on some other projects (Hard Working Americans), so there is familiarity and communication there. He’s also Jimmy’s son-in-law and, most importantly, he’s a great drummer. He’s been working out real well.”

We always love when band members talk about the process of creating a setlist. “We look at what we’ve played in the recent past and try not to repeat anything for three or four shows. You just kind of look for a mix of songs that fit together, either systematically or momentum-wise, so there is a good balance. Mostly, you pay attention to what we’ve played recently and dive back into stuff that you haven’t played recently and try to throw out a couple of things you haven’t played on tour,” Bell told Atlanta Business Chronicle.

For over a year now Widespread Panic has been offering free official audio for live webcasts from each performance. When asked why the decision was made to serve up the free streams Bell responded, “We do stream the shows and that’s basically an answer to the kids who were streaming them themselves through their cellphones. The reliability and quality was very questionable, so with technology popping up like that but not being the best quality, that wasn’t necessarily a fun Widespread Panic experience if you’re getting all glitched out on the listening end. We just went ahead and give the folks a superior feed to work from and hopefully have a seamless listening experience.”

Widespread Panic’s tour visits the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama tonight before they head to Alpharetta’s Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Georgia on Saturday night. Be sure to read the whole interview for more of Bell’s thoughts on Jimmy Herring, what they’ll play in Alpharetta and additional topics.