Big Bad News from Widespread Panic Options

[Kymra]

Although it's not "official" yet - Widespread Panic is now down another guitarist. George McConnell is leaving the band, and is out of the rotation as of tonight. Words cannot even say how bummed I am about this. They are my 2nd favorite band...

I came into the jamband scene kind of late. When I met my husband I was a total city chick still listening to my alternative bands ( which is still my main type of music) . I had a hard time getting into his beloved Grateful Dead at first, but there was also Widespread. I was able to get into them a bit more, but it was still a huge leap in music styles.

For those of you who don't know the history, founding member and guitarist Mike Houser died of Pancreatic Cancer in 2002. The person he picked to replace him was George. Although I was in the minority, I thought George ( GMAC) added an energy to the music and made it way more interesting... but fans could never be happy with him, cause he wasn't Mikey. So little by little he's been pushed out of the band.

I'm gonna miss him, and am not half as excited to go on tour next month.
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