Since most of you out there have absolutely no idea who I am or what I really do I thought I would shed some light and share some stories. I’ll have to admit, being a CPA for 20 years and not considering myself very creative…and having kind of kept to myself over the years (an original lurker, if you will), it is kind of strange penning this sketch – definitely autobiographical, but I’ve tried to cover my spots in time in terms of the band’s timeline. In my archivist/keeper-of-the-vault role, I’ve had the strange experience of being interviewed a couple of times and I found the last one quite telling. The interviewer’s last piece was with The Allman Brothers discussing points along the way of their unbelieveable career….and I thought to myself, you’ve got to be kidding me; what is remotely interesting to readers about me and my path compared to what those guys (and the members of WP as well) could tell? I was quickly reassured that I’ve got some interesting stories to tell about my current role and on-going relationship with WP. I’ve got those around me saying go for it and open up, so I’m buckled up and ready to go. I made a deal though….they’ve got to do the same. We’ll get to that later. Hope you enjoy the ride….I know I have.

Horace

I grew up in the 1970’s in Patterson…..a real small town in Southeast Georgia about halfway between Savannah and Jacksonville.  Yes, the absolute middle of nowhere.  And nowhere it was for the most part….especially when it came to music.  Live or recorded.  All you have to do is read the books about how none of the hip bands dared make tour plans that took them into the Deep South….as they were afraid they might not get out.  Can’t say that I blame them.  But then again the late 70’s weren’t necessarily the best time for rock and roll either.  And with Top 40 playing on the only non-country radio station in my area, the pickings were very slim.  But, for the most part, I found my way…..except for that copy of “Saturday Night Fever” I got for Easter one year.

The very first recording I called my own was an 8 track version of Deep Purple’s “Made inJapan” my Mom bought for me as a 4^th grader…..no doubt a good foundation for 10/31/96 and seeing the bass guitar as a driving force at the core of the music. My first concert was Three Dog Night in the Savannah Civic Center…..we had to leave before the “Joy to the World” encore because Dad had gotten his fill way before then and Mom was suspicious of the man smoking marijuana behind us.  For the next few weeks that’s all I heard …..”There was this young man sitting right behind us…right behind us….and he was…..”  From there it was Elvis in the 8^th grade….again with my Mom.  At the time I was thinking Elvis with Mom and the Senior Citizens Group or study for a geography exam…..I’m glad Elvis won out as he left the building for the final time just a few months later.  Next up was Styx in the 10^th grade in Jacksonville, FL……traveling out of state the first time for music – -  but this time with the girl that used to drive me to school…at least that was different than hanging with the parents.  My Mom taking me to concerts has come full circle as I’ve I’ve made her tapes and taken her to quite a few Panic shows over the years…on the road to Kansas City, Indianapolis, Birmingham and even New York City. It’s been an unbelieveable experience to give back to her what she gave to me….that gift of music.

After I got to college I found out there was much more to enjoy music-wise than what South Georgia radio stations and mall-based record stores had to offer.  Among other things, I discovered the Grateful Dead.  Sometime in 1982, my friend Tom put on 11/29/80 at a most appropriate time and when “The Other One” hit that was it. Where had that been all my life?  And why the hell wasn’t I at that show…that was the fall of my senior year in high school…and a day before my birthday?  And only three hours away?  At the time I didn’t even know there was a bus, much less who Cowboy Neal was and what “never ever land” had to do with anything.  In due time, however, I got to know that bus very well…..and I met a guy named Neal too.

My first GD show came shortly after that….in fact I was so swept away from that “Other One,” I had my parents talked into funding a birthday trip in November 1982 to Montego Bay, Jamaica to see what would have been my first GD show, but I couldn’t find anyone to go with me.  So, I had to settle on Hampton, VA 4/9/83 and Morgantown, WV 4/10/83 as my first GD shows.  We made the rookie mistake of staying in Hampton after that show and almost didn’t make it to Morgantown in time.  And then back to South GA after Morgantown through the WV snow on a Sunday night…non-stop.  Quite an initiation.  As were my next shows….Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD….6/20,21/83.  I won’t go on and on like the lightning storm did that first night, but let’s just say my first outdoor show was one for the ages….and in the process I learned what the magic of music is all about.  And most of that was merely a foundation for what was to come, in terms of both music, adventure and life, as that fall I transferred to the University of Georgia and met Dave…and JB and Mikey…and my wife-to-be Chris.

Part 2 of 6:  Satisfied…With My World

I met Dave only because of music.  And Chris too for that matter. If not for one of us wearing a GD shirt at that Tinsley Ellis & The Heartfixers show at the 40 Watt in Athens then who knows? And if not for Dave’s collection of Grateful Dead tapes and my friend John being assigned the dorm room across the hall, I might not have ever crossed paths with Dave.  We became great friends as together we both tried to figure out the same things that everyone else had to at that age.  We learned a lot of those valuable lessons on the road.  And even on the trail and doing some camping…yep, got a picture to prove it as well. But, one of our most memorable trips came during the summer of 1984 when we did the GD east coast summer tour.  For both of us, this was the first time we really ventured outside of the relative comfortable world of seeing a show or two at a time.  We did around 8,000 miles with our friends Tom and Nicola seeing 12 shows over about 3 ½ weeks in a 2 door Datsun 200SX.  And Dave couldn’t drive stick shift.  Lucky for him he was a decent navigator.  Too bad he didn’t navigate us all the way to the Greek Theatre that summer as we ended up missing that elusive “Dark Star” by one show.

Later in 1984, Dave and I got into a little trouble at UGA….as we were primarily responsible for getting hacky sack banned from being played inside the dorms.  We discovered we could limit the time spent bending over to pick up that damn thing if we just played in the hallways…using the walls as our friends.  Needless to say, scuffmarks aplenty and the inevitable ban.  But that was a good thing in the long run.  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.

Early 1985 was very pivotal for me for many reasons. That new 3 piece band played its first party gig at Neal’s A-frame house in Athens on 2/24/85. I took my friend Chris to that first show on what was our first date…..though we had been great friends since that Tinsley night and had seen some GD shows together as well.  Fast forward to 1988 and we were married…..and then to the present as we’ve been together for almost 25 years and have raised 2 great kids in the process…..and all the while continuing to seek the music that brought us together.

Other special relationships were forged during that time as well as Dave and I met the Oade Brothers….Doug, Jim and Carlos.  On a weekend trip to Patterson that spring, Dave and I met Jim at a convenience store halfway between Patterson and Thomasville to pick up my brand new Sony D5 Cassette Tape Deck – arguably the best of its kind at the time.  That day really changed my life as well….as up until that time I had been a tape collector; now I was a taper.  And within a few years, there was Doug Oade in the back seat of his car with all of his equipment, creating the recording of what would become the 2^nd WP Archive release, Valdosta 1989.

That spring of 1985, Dave and I hit the road again.  From sleeping in the Nassau County Coliseum parking lot in NY because we couldn’t find a hotel that would take our kind…seriously….to 15 of us the next night in a “rentable by the hour” motel room because we couldn’t find a parking lot that would take our kind…..we had a blast.  We briefly stayed in the Stone Haven Inn in Springfield, MA only to realize we were the ONLY ones there…and for good reason as we found out.  After we left, we took a vote to see if maybe we wanted to go back. Not all was fun and games though as a significant portion of our time was spent waiting in line with those Oade brothers to get the primo taping spots.  Aside from the music we experienced once we got in, those times in line actually ended up being some of the best because that’s the part of the journey where those new friendships were really forged…..paying the dues together and experiencing the rewards together.

Dave didn’t make the whole GD tour with me that summer….the old pendulum had begun to swing. He had that whole Panic thing going on and kept saying something about priorities. For some reason it just made sense….so no worries. We did do the last four shows together though and then hit most of the first half of the fall tour…..ending up in Richmond. As usual when traveling through or to Richmond, we stayed at Dave’s house and his Mom and dog Boots were always happy to see all of us…..even Bear.

We used that D5 to record some of those early Pre-official WP gigs…I specifically remember using it to tape the US Aware festival in October of 1985 and it made the transition to the Uptown days as well.  And, of course, that’s about the time I met Gomer.  I recall Dave asking me to bring my deck down for the February 13, 1986 show to plug into the board so later they could get a feel for how they were playing.  Given that the band had really become Widespread Panic just the week before at The Mad Hatter when Todd finally and thankfully filled the drummer spot, I was excited to get myself down there to see all of that again….and finally meet this guy Gomer who was running the sound.  Talk about two different guys….here I am this analytical taper overly-concerned about way too much and here is this guy Gomer, not overly-concerned about anything except dialing in the band’s sound with whatever he had available.  I probably bugged him to death that night…and I know I rolled my eyes several times trying to figure him out.  But that night another great friendship began to take shape….even if I forgot to hit record once the music started….oooppps! Good thing I didn’t have anything to do with that first 45 recording…..

The summer of 1986 found me wanting to stay in Athens but needing a job to do so. Chris and I didn’t want to spend time away from each other nor did I want to move out of the house where we shared a next door garden with (1 Armed) Steve Fleming.  What’s more, that house had just been handed down, in a manner of speaking, to me from Garrie Vereen….and from my buddy Tom before that, so I just didn’t see myself leaving then. Chris had already gotten her job for the summer at Red Lobster and was already a training supervisior….and one of her first trainees happened to be Todd’s future wife, Tammy.  Talk about small worlds.  Well, my jobless dilemma registered with Mikey and he offered a solution.  Domino’s Pizza.  Mikey’s buddy, and Regional Supervisor boss, Jeff Riley…who also penned the tune “C. Brown”….suggested a driver position as I could make some cash and listen to tapes in my car at the same time.  What’s not to like about that? And aside from backing into a ditch on my first solo delivery it worked out well. And we ate well too – I mean come on….Red Lobster and Dominos???