Dirty Side Down

Personnel: John Bell (vocals, guitar); John Hermann (vocals, keyboards); Todd Nance (vocals, drums); Jimmy Herring (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone guitar); Domingo Ortiz (percussion).Audio Mixer: John Keane.Widespread Panic have struggled for a long time to bring the excitement of their live shows onto a studio recording. On their earliest records -- Space Wrangler, their self-titled sophomore album, and Ain't Life Grand -- the band didn't worry about it and the albums were mostly solid and engaging. As WP's live reputation began to spread through the jam band scene, however, that began to change; live records began appearing in streams. In the interim, WP seemingly forgot how to record in a studio. On 2006's Earth to America, WP began addressing the issue with some success. When Jimmy Herring joined for 2008's Free Somehow, they were still struggling with it, but formal song structures were beginning to replace framework riffs for long instrumental jams. On Dirty Side Down