JoJo Hermann has a foot in two worlds. With Widespread Panic he lays roadhouse piano riffs into southern-style jams for sold-out crowds, coast-to-coast. His side-project Slim Wednesday, however, veers further West, into the world of NOLA-style boogie and crawfish boils, tight venues and funky horn sections. Following the release of Slim Wednesday’s debut LP Reptile Show, Hermann is relaxing at home, cataloguing live videos and preparing for another jaunt on the road with WSP. Below, the keyboardist discusses his work with both acts, as well as his connection to Col. Bruce Hampton and the potential for a new Widespread Panic LP.
How close is Slim Wednesday tied to the sights and sounds of New Orleans? What is it about that city that keeps calling you back?
Well, you know, the music. It really all started with a Professor Longhair record called Crawfish Fiesta and then I got into these other records, which is when I was in high school and somebody just played me his record. I was just hooked from the get go. I was just a kid in Greenwich Village, but I heard these records and that’s what got me into New Orleans. It’s been a long, long journey getting to the music.
A lot of that sound kind of comes from you playing with Bill Elder aka Leo Black. You’ve been playing with him for almost a decade. Tell me a little bit about your musical chemistry with him.
Well, he’s from New Orleans. He’s actually a real New Orleans guy. He just knows the music inside and out. He really turned me on to a lot of Lee Dorsey and a bunch of New Orleans stuff, especially in the funk and stuff like that. He kind of leads a band in Nashville, where we all live right now, called The Dynamites, that was with Charles Walker and The Dynamites. I was just a big big fan of The Dynamites. Then the rest of the guys in the band decided [to join Slim Wednesday]. Mabin, on drums and Greg Bryant.
We just all share a love of New Orleans music. We just learned a bunch of covers and stuff like that. We were a Professor Longhair cover band, originally, years ago. We’d play like one gig a year on Mardi Gras. We just called it the Mardi Gras Band. And then we started playin’ a little bit more. We did a Jam Cruise and I think that really lit a fire in everybody. That made us write a few songs, do a few more dates and put out a record. So we did that.
I think one of the coolest things about Slim Wednesday is, as you just said, it happened very naturally. And a lot of it started with crawfish boils right?
Yeah, we’d wait to play until April because that’s when crawfish season really hits in. We’d start in Mississippi and then head down to Alabama, Louisiana. I mean, we eat a lot of crawfish, I think I’ve probably downed about thirty pounds of crawfish or something like that.
You were talking about your band and how you pulled a lot of guys from The Dynamites. Listening to the new record, you really share the spotlight, and give all these guys the room to stretch their wings and play.
I couldn’t agree more. Bill is just a fantastic singer and he was just bringing in all these songs and I was like, “That’s great, let’s do that,” and then he said, “Well, I have this other one,” and I was like, “Well, that’s great.” And then we’d go on the road and he’s like, “Well, how ‘bout this Dynamite song?” and I was like, “That’s great.” It’s just great, great music. It’s definitely got a band kind of feel, everybody contributing. I’ve definitely never seen myself as a frontman, in any way shape or form, so this is the perfect process and just a great thing.
What’s the biggest difference between your work with Slim Wednesday and Widespread Panic? What creative itches do you get to scratch in this band as opposed to WSP?
Well, it’s so good for my chops and honestly, by playing New Orleans music, I have gotten so much better in the key of D flat and E flat and A flat. With the horns, you play in a lot more of those flat keys. It’s really helped my chops playing flat keys.
How long did it take to put this record together?
We pretty much recorded the whole album in like three days at Diamond Studio in Atlanta. Spencer Garn of Diamond Street Studios in Atlanta is just a great engineer. Great job. And that is because Bill and Spencer really got it and worked, I’d say about a month at least, no longer that, doing production kind of stuff. But the band went into track everything in two or three days.
What was the creative energy like in the studio?
We went in during a few days off in the middle of a tour. So the material was really fresh in everybody’s head, we kind of pounded it out; woodshedded I guess is the word. You know, we just laid it down the way we play it live and I think everything was in like one or two takes.
Where did the title come from, Reptile Show ?
We were just driving on the side of the road in our van and there was a little sign in somebody’s yard saying, “Reptile Show.” And then I wrote a song called “Reptile Show,” and then it just became the title.
I’d like to pivot a little bit and talk about Widespread. You guys just passed the twenty-year anniversary of Panic in the Streets. What do you remember most from that day?
I’ll never forget, I think we were right outside the 40 Watt Club. I just remember sitting on the street and the weather holding out—I remember that was a big deal. It was like 100% chance of rain, thunderstorms and everything and it just held on, it didn’t rain or anything. That was kind of serendipitous. And I just remember all the guys and Mikey and all the gang sitting around. It was just a big day for those guys, you know? They were literally a block away from where they played for only like twenty people in 1985 or whatever, and to see them literally standing on that same street, I felt really happy for them and I definitely remember the whole weather thing. I was like how lucky it was that it didn’t thunderstorm the whole day.
When I interviewed Schools about it, he said he never listens back to that show. Have you ever listened back on it?
I have not, no. I think we brought in a lot of new songs that day if I remember correctly, but I just don’t remember. But I think there were like a lot of songs that we debuted at that gig.
I know you guys played “One Arm Steve” for the first time at that show, which is an interesting song for you…
Yes, we debuted “One Arm Steve” and I think maybe “All Time Low” and a couple others. “One Arm Steve” was the doorman at the Georgia Theater, which is right down the street and it was my first gig. So the “picture on the wall,” the poster, didn’t have me in it and when I went to get in the gig, Steve wouldn’t let me in the door and he threw me out of the gig. You know, we didn’t have cell phones or nothing; I had no way to get in. So that’s what that song’s about. So yes, it all tied together and was a good place to debut that song.
I’d also like to ask about WSP’s new touring format: less days on the road, more multiple night runs. Are you happy with the way things are right now? Do you think it’s a really good format for you guys?
Yeah you know, when I look at the calendar now, I just kind of see one big square, so everything just kind of fits into that. I look at the schedule now and we just did Wanee, which is such a great festival; it’s just everything a festival should be. And then we got Lockn’ coming up, which— same thing, I just love that festival and we started a new one called Trondossa. The schedule just gets me so excited, I’m just psyched for every gig. It’s just great.
Can you talk a bit about how Trondossa came about?
I think one of the guys just kind of suggested the name on an email and everybody was just like, “That’s great.” There’s something about the word. It just makes you feel good to say it. For me, it just conjures up that there’s more out there than meets the senses and that’s what Col. Bruce tapped into. I don’t think anybody ever made a stronger case that I know. But there’s just more out there than we see or can touch. There’s something beyond our senses. I’ve never met anyone who’s tapped into that more than Bruce.
Can you share your thoughts on his legacy or a memorable personal moment with him?
Well, there’s so many, of course he guessed my birthday. About a million people could probably tell that story. Oh, there’s so many. I remember his recordings with CeDell Davis, I think that stands out more than anything. We came to Fat Possum Records in Mississippi and did a record with CeDell Davis and I think Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Sipe came over for that. Seeing Bruce and CeDell together, yeah that definitely took me to another world.
The thing about Bruce is especially, down here in Georgia and stuff is there’s just a big hole, things just aren’t the same, for me. Everything’s just different. And we’ll just have to see how it plays out. Things are definitely different; the world will never be the same. It’s a huge loss. I just loved the guy so much, it’s hard to answer that— what the future holds, I don’t know.
He’s like John Perry Barlow. He’s on a higher plane now.
Well yeah, it’s a universal kind of thing. He’s connected and we’re all connected to each other, we’re connected to the music and I think Bruce is just a huge part of that connection. There’s just more out there than we know or can see.
The last thing I wanted to talk to you about is I saw some pictures of you guys in the studio with John Keane, which kind of points to a new Widespread release. Is there anything you can say about upcoming studio work from you guys?
Well, if there’re pictures of us with John Keane then we were definitely with John Keane. [Laughter.] Yeah, we went in but there are no plans for a release or anything that I know of. But we’re writing and then, just last weekend ideas were flung like, “Hey I got this song” or “I got this idea.” You know, just free-flowing ideas and it’s been really great, but ideas are definitely flowing around, I can tell you that.
