Music in a time machine

The archivist for Widespread Panic has a blog. And then I'm sitting at work listening to an early version of the band play Not Fade Away in 1985 and reading the story of the band's formation:

Once we had to take our game outside, we obviously encountered the random person wanting into our circle. That’s how we met JB and Mikey. Nope, they didn’t come by and join in, but their friend Neal did. And when Neal found out that Dave and I had seen his friend JB perform solo the weekend before, he was all about making that connection. Especially when he found out Dave played the bass.

Well we met JB and Mikey soon after that chance meeting with Neal. Where I have no clue, but before long the house on King Avenue was the place to hang out….and those three guys started finding their way… which was obviously a natural progression to what JB and Mikey had been doing separately and together prior to Dave showing up.

I remember that time being just about having fun watching my friends make music in a living room in Athens. And catching JB solo or JB & Mikey together in some sort of semi-official way… basically wherever JB could talk the manager into letting him do his thing. I know they took it seriously but I still had no clue where any of it was headed. And I don’t think they really did either at the time.