AT: As the audience numbers rise and the venues get bigger the scene surrounding the music is growing. How do you balance out the success with some of the negative media attention that’s come out about the scene surrounding the band? Specifically, the shows in Mississippi [which resulted in a number of arrests outside the venue, in particular for drug possession]?

JB: I think it was an unfortunate event and one of those “couple of bad apples” kind of things. And then you get some people deciding that “Hey, I don’t want my kid there,” and “I don’t want to believe that my kid is capable of doing this. So I’m going to blame another entity.” Which is wonderful- that’s why we have insurance in the world. Because people aren’t taking responsibility for their own gig. (Laughs)

And then you’re getting people that are like, “Hey, it’s not my kid. I want to blame somebody else.” Cause if they don’t blame someone else, they’re going to blame the parents. I don’t know who wrote the article, but that’s they way the thing felt to me. And to blame us, I thought that was pretty silly. I’ve got family in Mississippi and they all knew better too. That? my reflection on the incident. Bring me back to the question again.

AT: Well, I read an interview with Todd (Nance) recently and he said there’s a fine line between the scene being a close extended family and exploding into massive commercial entity. He mentioned bands like Blues Traveler and the Spin Doctors, who seemingly blew up virtually over night. How do you balance that desire to be successful, without wanting the scene to get too big?

JB: Well, that’s it. That is what ends up happening. You start getting folks that aren’t familiar with the band in a long-term respect. And they’re not familiar with the original fan base and the vibe that’s cooking there. They might come with a free-for-all attitude, without assuming some of the responsibilities that comes with that kind of thing. That is one of the growing pains, but we step up our efforts, as far as communicating with the audience. We start communicating with them immediately, as soon as they hit the parking lots. We provide them with trash bags and let them know that certain practices are just not kosher. And a lot of the kids that have been there over the years are the ones that created this code because it made their environment friendlier and homelier. They’re there to educate newcomers and they do it on their own. We’re not out there giving everyone a list of rules- you just have to understand the unspoken rules through experience.

And it makes for a nicer time for everybody. You get a lot of newcomers from a different city, where no one’s familiar with the band. They just heard it on the radio or in a friend’s car and decide to come out. Then, it’s a little different situation. For the most part, it works out great.

AT: It seems like people are pretty good at policing their own and cleaning up after themselves.

JB: If you go into a parking lot and you notice that people are picking up after themselves and there’s no trash on the ground, that leaves a huge impact and it rubs off. I think folks tend to act in accordance with their surroundings. And picking up your trash is a good place to start. It’s a sign of respect.

AT: Another new aspect of the band is the relationship with Sanctuary Records. Talk to me about that and how it’s going.

JB: They’re great. Everybody I’ve met is top notch and knows what they’re doing. And they work really hard. They’ve been lining us up with duties in the realm of promoting the new record. Stuff that makes us work really hard. I think it’s really good. The greatest tell-tale sign that they’re a great record company is that both of us, Widespread Panic and Sanctuary, are working as hard as we can to try and get the music out there, as different companies and entities that have just met. We’re working to impress each other that we’re doing the best we can. And that’s really neat. There’s no “Hey, you stink and we would be able do our jobs if you were better.” That kind of thing. When you cut through that crap, then you’re really into what a record company relationship should be. Two entities working together and really making something out of it. Or at least giving the music a chance.

AT: What about your ability to release live shows through your relationship with Sanctuary and your own record label? What’s your opinion on that and do you think it’s a possibility?

JB: Well, I don’t want to speak for Sanctuary, but obviously their feeling is pretty good with it because we’re going to do something live with the release of the Hanson movie. Traditionally, even though traditions get squashed in the music industry every day, live music, with rare exceptions, has not been the way record companies have made their money. They frown on that, because that would be more about the music than the cash. (Laughs)

Our recording process is unique in the sense that we can record every show. So, what we do get is what happens, without the self-awareness, because I don’t even think about those tapes going. In these modern times, the recording equipment is so much better and precise when you’re working with the digital format. You’re able to afford to record all these shows and manipulate it a lot more easily as far as getting the proper tones in place in the mix.

And you’ve got guys like the Oade Brothers, who we had down at the Athens show. They’ve been doing the live taping thing for so long that they really have a science to it. They’ve really the forerunners, as far as I know, of really thinking out microphone placement, configurations and the actual equipment used. And that’s just as important as your direct, signal to track. As far as I’m concerned with the live recordings, it’s really important for us to keep pursuing that. For one, it gives us a good balance between studio and live shows. And it’s reflective of something that we really do.

Basically, anybody can go out and make an album. Or have it made for them. Because you can do anything you want in a studio these days. With the live thing, it gives us a good balance in presenting ourselves, as we are, to folks. And it’s a challenge to try to make a great live recording. That challenge is right there- all the sudden, you’re getting your hands dirty in the whole other realm. Trying to produce the best recording that you can. So, we’ll see what happens.

AT: Since you mentioned it, talk to me a little about the movie the Hanson brothers filmed last summer with you guys. Have you seen it and what do you think?

JB: Just seen some roughs. But the biggest, most important thing I know is that they were there with us all summer. Really fun guys and their families came out. Everybody was really nice and we became friends. And when the cameras become a day-to-day, minute-to-minute reality, all the sudden you can start to be yourself in front of the cameras, and then they get to capture what’s actually going on.

It’s the same thing with our live recordings. When we tried to do a live recording a long time ago, just knowing that the sound truck was out there and that there was a certain budget for the two days that they’re there, you become a little too self-aware. And that reflects on what goes to tape which is fairly well-executed both but kind of stiff. And that’s not what Widespread Panic has ever been about. We’ve always tried to be loose and take it as it comes. If dissonance is in there, we’re doing it for a reason. (Laughs)

That’s the big thing that these guys were able to capture. At least on my part. I was pretty self-aware during a lot of it. I remember in the middle shots having to just say that to admit it to be natural. It was like, “Oh well, damn camera again.” (Laughs) For me, the experience was as natural as it could have been, considering there were moving cameras and stuff happening all the time.

And we were meeting new people too, like meeting Taj Mahal for the first time. I had met Taj before, but not in a musical instance. And Jorma. Folks that we had played songs of theirs and listened to their records. Folks that have been big influences on us, musically. All the sudden, we were getting together with these people in a performance situation. I’ll tell you, there’s some double self awareness.

AT: How was it meeting Jorma? You guys play “Genesis” and “Bowlegged Women” pretty regularly and you had him join you in San Francisco.

JB: Man, Jorma was great. He’s either as nice as he was or he knew exactly how to act to come off that way. (Laughs) We were talking about “Genesis” and he and I played it together in the back room at the Warfield. I had flip-flopped some verses, because we’ve been playing it so long, so I just call them as I remember them. He was totally cool with that. He had no problems, he was just like, “That’s the way you do it. Just let it go.”

He asked me about some of my lyrics in “Bowlegged Women” and I told him that I had picked it up phonetically and that’s what I had come up with. And he was like, “That’s good.” I really can’t say enough. I could have expected anything and the fella I met just seemed like a gentle, caring person. But he’s got that fire too, that he channels through his music. And it’s a good thing for that music.

AT: Moving to a different topic, another change that’s come up over the past year is the change in light and sound crews. What’s been the biggest difference that you’ve noticed so far as you’ve seen it?

JB: Let me start out by saying that the only thing we hear is the monitor mix really, especially with in-ear monitors. And we don’t see the lights.

So, to me, the biggest difference is that there were a lot of folks that I met and became friends with over five to ten years, and all of the sudden, they were gone. And a new batch of folks came in. I like everybody just as well, but they’re new friends. So that’s the biggest difference. Getting to know a large group of people- larger than the band itself. Two or three times as large as the band. So, we’re actually in the minority. (Laughs) Now, it’s just a thing about cultivating new friendships. Everything was just a business decision. And sometimes you’ve got to work that way.

AT: Last question and we’ll wrap it up. It’s kind of a broad question though. Talk to me about the state of rock n roll as you see it today. If you listen to the radio or watch MTV, a lot of what’s on there I’m not sure you could even classify it as rock. A lot of what people traditionally think of as rock n roll is not getting the same attention or air play as it used to. Talk to me about what you think of the state of music today and how your sound is different than what’s on the radio or MTV.

JB: Let me see. I think that when you look at the business side of things, which is really what MTV and the radio is all about, there’s a lot of Hollywood presentation and advertising. It’s kind of one big advertisement. Even some of the live performances, to some extent, depending on whose onstage.

Unfortunately, that’s what folks, who are casual music listeners, appeal to. You know, they’re working the radio during drive times and if something catches their ear, they’ll go to the record store. And then when they get to the record store, they’re going to have certain things pushed on them visually. That’s due mostly to business practices of the record companies. You’re going to see these top tens and they’re going to be pushed in your face. And that’ll create a top ten situation for them.

So the casual listener, they pretty much get exposed to what they expose themselves to, which is mostly surface stuff and on the business end of things. Great music does come through that realm as well, but a lot of it is here today, gone tomorrow kind of stuff.

But if they dig, and they’re into music and they really start digging deeper into the bins and into history, then your music lover is in fine shape. There’s plenty of old music and new music that’s out there. So I think rock n roll, in short, is in great shape because I see it happening all the time and being improved upon. And I see new instruments being used with feeling and not just because they’re gadgets. Great things are out there and available. Sometimes you just got to go dig for it. If you want rock n roll, it’s your responsibility to go find what you like. Cause it’s out there. And the people that become inspired are some of the same ones who become musicians down the line and are able to explore it further. There it goes, there’s a cycle and it keeps feeding itself.

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