"It must be jam because jelly don't spread like that"
Both High Sierra and Widespread Panic have experienced big changes since the band last appeared at the festival in Bear Valley back in 1999. That was to be the last High Sierra in Bear Valley before our permanent move to Quincy. Three years after that Widespread faced its biggest challenge with the loss of co-founder and lead guitarist Michael Houser to pancreatic cancer. Great bands overcome tragedy by bonding together and using it to grow. And that's just what Widespread Panic has done. What started as a few friends picking guitars at the University of Georgia and turned into a southern rock meets funk and progressive jam rock force to be reckoned has evolved into a six-man musical powerhouse and one of the elite American jambands on the scene today - they hold the record for most sellouts at Red Rocks (the Madison Square Garden of outdoor venues) in Colorado with 32. Widespread Panic ascended to new creative heights with the 2006 addition of current lead guitarist Jimmy Herring (who had done stints with The Allman Brothers, Phil & Friends, The Dead and others). The band will headline and perform two sets on Friday night, July 2nd.