Singer finds 'natural adventure' on course

By MICHELLE HISKEY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


Every time he takes a stage with Widespread Panic, and that's some 250 times a year, lead singer John Bell must make the familiar music new. His legions of "Spreadhead" followers expect each evening to be a completely authentic experience of Southern jam music that Bell and company started in Athens two decades ago.

To see how he pulls it off musically, watch Bell, 46, play golf. He's on the same quest for the real, only with a club and a ball.

He's out to discover what the environment, his intuition and the moment create.

"This is fun," he says, smiling, as he tees off at Druid Hills Golf Club last week, having driven down from his home in north Georgia. Widespread Panic is on a break between the release of the new CD "Free Somehow" and headlining the Bonnaroo fest in mid-June.

His first drive is average, but he doesn't try another. Unlike most casual golfers who skirt the rules, Bell treats each shot as a unique personal challenge. As in a concert, there are no do-overs. His music, golf and life are played in real time.

Bell is not bothered by marking a 10 (that's not a typo) as his score on a single hole. He does that twice. His sunny disposition does not waver.

Don't call him a purist, though.


"I'm more of the Pigpen of golf!" he says. His flannel shirt and jeans are gone, replaced by an untucked polo shirt, pleated trousers and a Panama hat taming his shoulder-length graying hair.

Evolution of Bell's passions

Golf gave rise to Bell's musical style. His music, in turn, transformed golf into a new quest.

He learned the game as a kid in Cleveland, where by age 10 he had already played some of the best courses in Jack Nicklaus country. By 17, he had already shot 74, almost par.

He was a "feel" player, driven not by technique but by a vision of how a ball should move between grass and sky. He's still that way, as shown by his best shot of the day.

About 20 yards below the mounded second green, he putts perfectly to a few feet from the cup. It's the kind of creative shot that Tiger Woods pulls off in the British Open, one that most golfers would never think of trying.

As a kid, golf was Bell's opportunity to conquer; team sports had little room for a free spirit.

"In organized sports, they just kept me on the team for entertainment," he says.

He still uses the grooved blade putter from his tempestuous teenaged years ("I had to climb a few trees to get it back," he says of the times he launched the club in disgust). And he still twirls the putter in his hand as he bows to line up a putt, tuning his instinct as he reads the slope.

When he was in high school, his family would drive from Ohio to golf vacations in Sea Island, and that exposure led to Bell attending the University of Georgia. By then, music had replaced golf, partly because a bad sunburn had messed up his swing.

Part of what carried over to music was his belief in his own style. "I was lucky. There were 12 guys in my high school that sang just like James Taylor," he says on the ninth hole. There, he needs four shots to get out of the pine needles and ends up with a quintuple-bogey 10. That gives him a 53 on the front nine, 17 over par.

"That was intense!" he says.

Why no club throwing now?

He explains as the back nine gets underway.

'Like rock and roll'

As Widespread Panic began to build an appeal akin to the Grateful Dead, Bell put up his clubs for 15 years, and when he returned, the music had erased his golf ego.

Jamming night after night, extending the songs depending on the vibe from other musicians and the crowd, had transformed how he viewed golf. The two became so intertwined that on show days, he'd play a round then perform in his golf clothes and spikeless shoes.

He rates Woods as golf's equivalent of Delta blues guitarist Robert Johnson.

"Golf is so much like rock and roll," he says. "Anything can happen. You try to do your best, but you're constantly having to make adjustments. It doesn't even have to be with the music on stage. It could be the bus breaking down." Each shot, like each note he played to his audience, reminded him he was truly alive. A good stroke or sound was pure surprise that often transported him into new space and time.

"It's like you get lost in the woods," he says on No. 15 tee, about to do just that. "We start out wanting to do a one-hour set. Then you look up and it's gone 1 hour, 20 minutes. You've lost your way. Time kind of loses its value, becomes distorted. You know what you want and you play and you feel it, and that's the ultimate confirmation that it's happening. You get your brain out of it and you stay in it. You know what song you're singing, but you're lost in it." His drive hooks into the trees.

"Oh, that's beautiful," he says. "This is going to be cool." "Being the ball" is a state of mind most golfers joke about after the catchphrase from the movie "Caddyshack." Bell, though, was serious. He studied "The Rules of Golf," akin to curling up with the Georgia Code, and metaphysical books such as "Golf in The Kingdom" and "The Legend of Bagger Vance."

"There's magic to be had by if you play the ball as it is," he says as he makes an 8.

"I do it because the game opens up and has a more fascinating quality if you play by the rules ... and you've had your natural adventure."

His score irrelevant, Bell is free to absorb everything else on the course. At Druid Hills, Bell notices turtles sunning, a lizard smushed by a golf cart ("poor little dude") and a gingko tree. He talks of the tomatoes, sunflowers and custom rain barrels that he and his wife Laura arranged at their Clarkesville farm.

"This is one of the most pleasant rounds of 110 I've ever had," he says on the final tee.

Make that 111. He was higher than the standard of par by almost 40 shots. Not that it matters to an artist with a self-described "maverick edge."

For 4 1/2 hours he has been nearly anonymous. He has left no trace of his path, carefully repairing all of his divots and ballmarks. But his zen is soon broken.

A few steps off the final green, he is approached by an incredulous club member who has seen about 15 Panic shows.

Brent Dundun, 32, asks Bell to sign a scorecard, and Bell is cool with that. The round ends with a benediction.

The fan: "Rock on man."

John Bell: "Dig it."

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Jambands.com talks with John Bell

John Bell Loses His Illusions
Mike Greenhaus @ jambands.com



John Bell isn’t only one of the most influential musicians to come out of the second-wave jamband movement, he’s also one of the most intelligent. As Widespread Panic’s lead singer and primary lyricist, Bell has written some of the jam-era’s most endearing anthems, held his band together through a series of key personnel changes and helped bring a stately elegance to the festival-circuit in general (while still remaining humble both on and off the stage). While Widespread Panic is always an active force, 2008 will be a particularly busy year for the sextet thanks to the group’s first post-Katrina appearance at JazzFest, fifth headlining slot at Bonnaroo and the release of the new studio album, Free Somehow. Shortly before the album hit stores, Bell sat down with Jambands.com to discuss his favorite lyrical themes, jamming with Jimmy Herring and why throwing a festival is like owning a bus.

MG- Unlike Widespread Panic’s previous albums, you shied away from playing most of the material on Free Somehow before entering the studio. What was the process of reworking these songs for the stage like?

JB- Let’s see. Well, specifically, I think songs like “Tickle the Truth,” that one we played live and it’s fine where it is. I mean as far as like, when you get something like “Up all Night,” and there is a feeling that at the moment it’s cut and dry and as soon as we take the time to sit around together, we’re probably going to extend it a little bit. And that’s basically like “Crazy,” from the last album, which has that essence to it too. It’s full of cool parts, but you want kind of a jumping off place, you know? And some songs hanker for that. So those don’t feel like they need embellishment aside from the way you approach the song as it is, which would just be from the notes you pick for that night or the tempo or words or if something else pops in or you might find something better that’ll be right for that number or just a joke or it might be something like, “Damn I wish I thought of in the studio.”

MG- Before releasing Free Somehow you previewed a few songs online for fans. What led to that decision?

JB- Well, we’re still trying to tweak that process. The delivery system from bands to fans has been constantly evolving. And obviously in a rapid exponential evolution since the digital age and the internet age came into the picture it’s like, “whoa.” Before that, things moved a little slower.

Plus, this album is a big part of our balance and our relationship with Jimmy [Herring] in the band. And it’s been a long time since our last record. It always feels like a long time, you know? You’re always ready to do something. And because the album wasn’t really finished as far as mix down and stuff went and as far as how we were feeling about wanting to share stuff, it was like, “Well OK, let’s share some stuff.” So we released a single “Up All Night” real early and then went through the same rigmarole that we do with the release of every new record.


MG- As a musician, how do you feel the “artist fan delivery method” has changed over the years?

JB- We were starting to do stuff right when everything was changing. We put out Space Wrangler on album and cassette and, at a last minute, our manager said, “You know, I think we should go ahead and do the CD.” Hell, we didn’t have any technology, we were lucky to have electricity. And he was like, “No, this is going to be big.” At that point tapes and albums were still like 90 percent of the sales. But you could watch it in Billboard, like within six or eight months, the ratio of CDs to albums in the bins started changing in the record stores. I forget what held on longer, cassettes or albums, not that it’s important, but you just watch it and go, “Oh my God there’s a phenomenon going on here.” And then people started buying CD players.

MG- You’ve said that having Jimmy in the studio put him on an equal footing with you guys for the first time because he was no longer a student of the music. How did he contribute to the album’s creative process?

JB- I think it was cool because we were open and he was very, very involved. And we were hearing not only Jimmy’s voice, which was new, because we’re used to each other’s voices, but [producer Terry Manning’s] voice too. So here were two new guys, basically, that are hearing each other for the first time. So there was an element of being at the beginning of sixth or seventh grade and having a new kid move into your area. You know your pick up games and he’s new so he’s not going to try to change them just yet, but things take on a new dimension. For the first time, with this new album, Jimmy feels free to be able to contribute with the songwriting. That’s how we’ve always done things. Everybody’s in there writing.

MG- In terms of your own lyrics, do you feel there are any common themes running through Free Somehow?

JB- If I was in English class saying, “Ok now where are the threads here,” I’d notice right off the bat the premise that we’re all working in these shared realms of illusion, where whatever your reality is, you’ve got a reality that’s uniquely your own. Elements are shared so there is some kind of connectivity there. But, bottom line, you’re still in this kind of tug between realizing that it’s all an illusion and dealing with this notion that I really believe is part of the illusion. I believe that I’m working with and around other entities that are experiencing separateness with their own assumed realities.

You have your own personal reality, which I really do believe, is uniquely your own. Even though you and I can both agree to stop at the stoplight at an appropriate time because green means go it is only because we agreed and put enough force into this illusion that that becomes a recognizable reality for us both, even though we’ve never met. But while we are having our own illusions with our own personalities, there is the notion within that belief that we’re having a collectively conceived and created existence. And I just use movie as an analogy. So, I mean, that’s what I’m toying with in my own life, and hopefully not too seriously, because I’m still pretending this whole thing. But there again other things that pop up as kind of corollary considerations come up lyrically and out-of-body experiences and reincarnation pop up a little bit too.

I heard something somewhere, which really blew me away…if you have certain considerations or certain ways of thinking, whether it’s religion or theories or practices, mediations or yoga, something like that, that’s all illusion too. But then I heard, the notion was put forth, that “Hey, there are some illusions that if you incorporate them as part of your daily consideration, some of those illusions are actually windows where you can begin to let go and get closer to the ultimate reality.”

MG- Given that we are all living in a reality it is uniquely our own, do you feel your lyrics can take on truly universal meanings?

JB- When I’m tapping my subconscious for lyrics, or if I’m tapping my subconscious to try to interpret what someone else has started lyrically---because when we get together sometimes we co-write certain things lyrical---another interesting thing, which is a little bit of a departure, is a song like “Walk on the Flood.” And hopefully it’s left in enough of a metaphorical state that it can kind of tap into that window of where other people can find their own experience within that, you know what I mean?

MG- When we talked while you were in the studio last fall, you mentioned that you try to write songs that work on several different levels, some literal, some metaphorical. Do you feel this is still the case?

JB- Getting away from specifics and stuff, for me, my intention is really trying to get away from the intention of giving my lyrics meaning. It’s weird, trying to put together a meaningful song, that you know has meaning but is going to mean something to as many people as possible. Their level of observation or experience or awareness or something like that can very different. We don’t want to create a country club where you know nobody’s allowed, or that anybody’s dictating what the reality is.

But that being said, what I thought was really interesting is that in my songs there’s still a whole lot of hope involved. That’s another thread that I think that is involved no matter where we go. As far as exploring any of the dreamy or nightmarish places that pop up in your considerations, that there’s always a sense of hope. And in my belief system there is hope.

I think one of the big things, if you’re getting into a place of a making a statement or voicing a bald-face opinion, is to remember your responsibility and acknowledge your own responsibility of making that consideration a reality. I think that’s pretty important with anything.

MG- Knowing that it is all an illusion, how do you put enough stock into your thoughts to create such universally meaningful lyrics?

JB- I listen for what feels and sounds right, a lot of songs begin with just blurting stuff out trying to kind of tap the subconscious and see what comes up. But then when I take it from a different angle or point of view and start seeing what has been bubbling up, then I take on the responsibility of seeing exactly what’s coming together and then trying craft it as a song. I do look back and there are times where, you know… well, actually, even with this booklet, we actually printed the songs in this booklet and I think it’s the first time we’ve ever done it in what, 22 years we’ve been together or whatever, but there’s a disclaimer that says all lyrics are subject to change. Because I am going to depart from them on stage, for better or worse, it is part of the adventure. But there are times where I look back and say, “Gosh if I could sit with these songs for ten years and I’d keep massaging them, stuff will keep coming out and I’ll go, “Oh, I should have picked that or this would have been more descriptive.” But at the time, I’ve tried to get out of the way and let the lyrics be very representative of open interpretation while still being, hopefully, tapping into something where there is a cohesive song there. Mostly it’s subconscious, you know? If I get into feelings and thoughts while they do emerge, they could cloud it.

MG- Having said all that, do you find it strange when someone interprets one of your lyrics in a complete different way than intended? I mean you’ve been quoted on countless people’s High School yearbook pages.

JB- But the subconscious, the shit that I’ve been hiding, that’s usually what’s the most interesting. If I get into opinion world or emotional world, then it’s kind of like that could lend itself to being a little too preachy or controlling, and I think that would be a warning sign that the song could stagnate, it would be more of a celebration of self importance or something. But I do feel the emotions and what I do feel is like on the intellectual and emotional level.

When I’m writing it’s like intellectually I go, “Oh! Ooo!” I recognize that I am not controlling this right now that I am reporting. And emotionally then I get that “Ooo! Ooo!” Feeling like “Alright alright! It’s like, Ooo! We’re here!” You’re just really happy to have found that place because you don’t always get there. You know you’re feeling the flow, and that in itself evokes an emotion of blues-man giddiness.

MG- I think many people are also curious why Widespread Panic has never organized its own festival.

JB- Well, one very really hip thing that started out in a wonderful way was H.O.R.D.E. It was a very innocent time. It was the beginning for a lot of bands like Blues Traveler and Phish. There were five bands at that time and we shared those gigs, so that festival-sense did occur. Then there was also another thing, and I wouldn’t call it a festival, but it was a multi-band situation that we were putting together, basically just like you do any gig. You have your gig and you have an opening act, and this situation it was summer time and we were adding a lot of other acts. I think in their innocence, and I got to be cool here, I think there were some folks that decided at the last minute, unfortunately, that they should go off and do their own thing, create their own kind of festival.

It’s kind of freaky because you gotta remember that you’re dealing with all the same promoters, same agents, and the same venues around the country. And everybody pretty much knows what everyone’s doing. There’s traffic out there, there are a lot of bands coming through and their promoters that are coordinating what is possible and making sure that each night is lucrative for themselves and for the bands as possible. So we did have something in the bag, and free will took its place. And that turned out to be less than a festival. It turned out to be a summer with a couple really great acts on the bill, with G Love & Special Sauce and Sister 7.

Of course we’ve done other things as they’ve popped up like Bonnaroo, aside from the already established festivals like Memphis and New Orleans, and some of the jazz fests out in Colorado. Bonnaroo really has been a wonderful example of doin’ it in a big way but not contaminating it too much with a lot of the crap that could bring a festival down. It’s stayed really hip, keeping the line-ups varied from year to year, so I don’t know. If you do your own festival, it’d be kind of the like difference between do you want to own bus or do you want to lease? If you buy a bus, you got all the headache that comes off it, which includes insurance, liability and taking care of the whole shoot and match repairs. But if you lease, you got a brand new bus and if the bus messes up, then you get another one.

MG- And it comes with its own driver! One final question, I know you are a huge Star Trek fan. Do you prefer Next Generation or the original?

JB- Well, you know, I loved the original, but with Next Generation you jump ahead 20 years with the cinematography, the acting and everything, so it’s hard to say. I used to go get the Star Trek magazines at Borders and stuff, but I was under the impression that they were finished with this particular ensemble. But William Shatner really kicked ass in the original. What a character.

Hannah’s Buddies Charity: Open Letter from John Bell

JOHN BELL
Hello Good People,

The time has come around again for 2008’s version of the Hannah’s Buddies Charity Classic. As you may already know we’ve morphed into a two day event this year (Feb. 8th and 9th) in Orlando. The golf tournament will take place at a reasonable time on Friday at the Grand Cypress resort; Dinner, silent auction, and music will magically (we are in Disney territory) take place on Saturday evening at the House of Blues featuring Michael Nichol, Myself and The Dynamites.

I want to thank everyone that has already signed up for the event, bought tickets for the show and donated items for the auction -- some of those items can be pre-viewed online through the Widespread Panic website before the event in the coming days. In past years, we have been overwhelmed by last minute (but obviously heartfelt) generosity. I ask folks who want to contribute to the silent auction to get in touch with us in a timely fashion, so we have a chance to register and display the items properly. We’ve had offers of vacation packages, signed sports and rock-and-roll memorabilia, and artwork of all kinds, along with things we never knew existed on this planet! If you have any questions about your donation please contact Mr. Duncan Elliott at fightsma@verizon.net; If you want to send a picture to be included in the online auction pre-view you can send the photo to matt@widespreadpanic.com. Please include a suggested starting bid along with any other information you might want to include (descriptions, back stories, dirty jokes, etc.).

Thank you so much for your support over the years – let’s go out there and stir up some more fun, awareness, and funding for research in the name of all the little Earth Angels!

Your Friend, John Bell

Hannah's Buddies
official website:: www.fightsma.com

Hannah's Buddies 2008!
We are pleased to announce that registration is open for the 2008 Hannah's Buddies Charity Classic and tickets for the JB and Friends concert at House of Blues are available. Please go to www.hannahsbuddies.com for more information.

Here's a list of this year's Hannah's Buddies Silent Auction items! Stay tuned for more items to be added.

Performers this year:
John Bell
Michael Nichol
The Dynamites feat. Charles Walker

John Bell Interview from Daily Times-Call

Enduring Panic
John Bell talks about Widespread Panic’s upcoming album, touring and the band’s longevity

By The Ear
The Daily Times-Call


LOVELAND — Long a Colorado favorite, Widespread Panic plays two sold-out shows at the Budweiser Events Center this weekend. This is the first ever back-to-back sellout for a rock band at the venue. The band’s annual three-day pilgrimage to Red Rocks attracts fans from all over the country.

Often compared to the Grateful Dead and Phish because of the three-hour shows and extended jams, Widespread Panic has crafted its own place in rock ’n’ roll. Its music resonates with Southern rock and country-western influences, but with its own stamp.

Among the many challenges this Athens, Ga., -based band has overcome was the death of founding member and lead guitarist Michael Houser in 2002 of pancreatic cancer. Following Houser’s wishes, the band never missed a show. Now, it is fresh out of the studio with its yet-unnamed 11th CD, due for release later this year, and ready to get back on the road.

The Ear chatted with the band’s frontman, vocalist/guitarist John Bell, on the eve of Widespread Panic’s fall tour.

THE EAR: Things are going well for Widespread Panic right now. Your shows are selling out from coast to coast, multiple Red Rocks shows sell out in 10 minutes, and the band has an excellent catalog of CDs. Did you ever think the band would have this level of success?

BELL: When we started out about 21 or 22 years ago, you just kind of hope while you’re having fun. And if things grow, that’s great, and if not, at least you had the experience. Right now, we’re still in the middle of it, inside looking out.

If you apply the word “successful” to us, we would define it as still being creatively viable while having fun. We’re very grateful that all that stuff is still happening.

THE EAR: Widespread Panic is about to start its fall tour. Are you looking forward to going back out on the road?

BELL: Yeah, a little bit. I get more excited when I’m out there in the thick of it. Right now, there’s that leaving-home thing that’s kind of a drag.

THE EAR: Did you take a vacation or did you work after the summer tour?

BELL: Mostly, I spent the time off doing the things you need to do to get caught up on the home front. We took a little time for ourselves. My wife and I and some of the guys from the crew and their wives piled into the car and went to the beach for a while. It was fun.

THE EAR: Widespread Panic tours are often 16 weeks or more. Is it hard to be away from home so much?

BELL: It kind of tugs at you a little bit, but it’s been part of the package for a long time now.

THE EAR: How do you account for having such a loyal fan base?

BELL: You’ll have to ask them about that (laughing). I can only say that we are real lucky to still be doing what we are doing. We’re lucky the folks keep coming out, we’re lucky to have the venues to play in, and lucky the system is in place for this thing we do to keep happening.

THE EAR: How is the new CD coming? Are you enjoying working in the studio with Jimmy Herring (The Allman Brothers, The Dead)?

BELL: We finished it! It was great working with Jimmy; he had a lot of great ideas. He fell into our unusual songwriting process very easily.

THE EAR: How does the songwriting for Widespread Panic come about? Is it collaboration, or do the individual members bring songs to the band?

BELL: This time, it was pretty hip. We had a session with Terry Manning (famed producer for Led Zeppelin, Al Green and ZZ Top) in the Bahamas for about a week, and everybody brought their ideas together. We put them in a big pile and started chipping away from there. We zeroed in on what felt good to everybody and went where inspiration led us. You are trying to get to that place where the music is at a magical level, where the music is playing itself. That’s when I’m the happiest.

And that magic is never a given; you can’t make it happen. If you try to make it happen, that can put the kibosh on it real quick.

THE EAR: Who are your musical influences? What are your favorite albums or CDs?

BELL: At home, I listen to the whole Van Morrison catalog. I always have my ear peeled for new Van Morrison stuff that comes out. He’s so prolific; he puts out a new album every six months so. I feel lucky to get to be a fan and not be picking his songs apart for song structure, a pitfall that comes with being a musician.

I’ve never seen Van Morrison live, but at the end of our last tour, we missed him by one day when he played Atlanta. If it had been a day earlier, I’d have been there.

THE EAR: Can I ask you about Michael Houser’s passing away? The band didn’t cancel any shows or take a break for more than a year. How did you have the strength to do that?

BELL: Oh, you know, maybe a little feeling of responsibility. There’s a whole machine going with a lot of people who are employed and benefit from the business side of Widespread Panic. Also, playing music for our own heads and hearts was very therapeutic. And there was probably a little dash of denial in there. It helped us from getting too wigged out about his death. It was what it was, and now it’s part of the whole story.

THE EAR: Did you enjoy the hiatus (the band took its first-ever extended break in 2004-05)? Will you be doing that again? Do you think it adds the longevity of the band to take that much time off?

BELL: Yeah, I enjoyed it while I was doing it. It was the first time we had taken an extended break, and I had to reset my gears. My autopilot system had been dismantled after taking 14 months off.

We’d do it again. It was a gas to be able to just sit there writing songs and doing other things. It helps you appreciate the rock ’n’ roll experience that much more. And it allows you to do other things that will, hopefully, complement the way you apply yourself and make you more rounded.

THE EAR: I know you are into Major League Baseball and playing golf. Does that help keep you relaxed when you are on tour?

BELL: Yeah, it was like I was saying about other things that add to the experience, that add a little spice. With both of those games, you’re out in nature, and in both games, you don’t know what’s going to happen from the first pitch or the first golf ball you hit. The turn of events (isn’t) choreographed, and that’s kind of the same with us. I like seeing that parallel in a non-musical experience.