Panic's Epic Lead Guitarist Jimmy Herring

Panic's Epic Lead Guitarist Jimmy Herring

I once had a step sister and friend (may she rest in peace) who was one of those who followed Widespread Panic all over the country. She had never done so for Phish or the Grateful Dead, though she’d probably seen them; no, Panic was her obsession of choice, the hook on which she hung her peripatetic hippie lifestyle.

Such devotion. At the Field Of Heaven Friday night, there wasn’t exactly a huge crowd waiting for this their first ever show in Japan (just a couple dozen pushed together at the front, and gaggle of others scattered about the grounds), but the ones who did show up engaged in a lot more pre-show “let’s-get-it-on” shouting than is usual, and this was even before their scheduled start time of 9:00. Then there’s this fellow who came from Vegas just for these shows. And Phil said there was a group of six Americans who stood behind him at Amadou and Mariam and just talked about Widespread Panic the entire time. Pissed him right off. All of this has sent me on a quest to find an answer to the question: whence such devotion?

I have one guess; Panic came on at the very un-Japanese time of a full 25 minutes late, and such laxity with the space-time continuum certainly brings something to mind that tends to make people enjoy music, if you get my meaning. I mean, I don’t particularly like reggae, but there was this one time this one night under these particular circumstances where it all made perfect sense to me. If you get my meaning. But does that make reggae good music?*

But everyone waited for Panic, and people kept shouting periodically, for the full 25 minutes. I was tempted to shout “up yours!” and make my way over to Coldplay for some biscuits and anthems. I bet Gwyneth Paltrow’s husband shows up on time to everything. But I had to find out, what did my step sister and all these other people see in this band?

When they finally came on, I thought I had found my answer: lead guitarist Jimmy Herring. A tall thin white-bearded lumberjack of a man, he stands rooted in place in front of his Marshall and just exudes mystery. He’s got an amazing razor sharp guitar tone, and a really fluid style, moving effortlessly between modal scales and back into the blues. I found myself wondering why I hadn’t heard of him before. Six-string bassist Dave Schools is quite accomplished, and John Bell on vocals and second guitar is a fine musician, but I didn’t catch anything particularly unique rhythm-wise going on in the back–Todd Nance and Domingo Ortiz do a standup job, but there was nothing like the loose polyrhythmic shuffle the Dead or Allman Brothers used to create. It has to be Jimmy Herring.

But Herring is a recent addition to the Panic; he replaced founding guitarist Michael Houser when he died of pancreatic cancer. So, fine as he is, that just won’t do for a magic bullet. I stopped a couple of the Panic dedicated on the path the day after and put the question to them: why do you love the Panic? (One of them was the guy who shouted “whiskey and cocaine!” during the lull before Panic came on, and got the best reaction of the pre-show revelry). They had come all the way from Colorado, planned a Japan vacation just for this show. His answer? “I don’t know, man, they just make me feel good.”

I felt pretty good too. The rain had stopped completely, after a few hours of miserable drizzle during Sam Moore and Amadou and Mariam. I wouldn’t have minded necking a few beers down to get in the proper state of mind the right and proper sanctioned-by-law-and-society way and sinking into their full two hours, but at a festival as jam-packed with talent as Fuji, that’s a privilege reserved for the true blue. I had to bolt after four numbers because of the late start. But Mr. Whiskey and Cocaine said it was a fine example of a Panic show, better than he had expected considering the circumstances, being all the way in Japan and at a mainstream festival like Fuji.

I hope I’ve done right by Panic fans here, and by my step sister. We always had good fun utterly baffling each other, trying to bridge the chasm between our respective fringes. You’ll never find out why they are beloved from the likes of me anyway. Hit the road and catch a couple dozen shows in a row though and I imagine some sort of clarity will positively smack right into you.

-Kern

Photo by Julen. See them all here

*Stupid question, I know. Consider it a rhetorical device.

**I was having a friendly conversation with an American woman. When I told her I was heading over to see Coldplay, she looked at me with disgust and said “I bet you like Dave Matthews Band too.” Carter Beauford, now there’s a unique drummer if ever there was one.