They Really Were Travelin’ Light

It's my buddy “Breen-o's” birthday today. He was one of the first people to introduce me to the Southern delights of Widespread Panic.

To help him celebrate, I sleuthed down this great video. It's a young Widespread Panic, tearing up the 1989 Athens Music Festival with J.J. Cale's Travelin' Light just three years after they first played as a band and one year after the release of Space Wrangler.

What I really love about this is how stripped-down it feels. They really were Travelin' Light. The light show is especially low-budget but still manages to paint a trance-inducing psychedelic canvas on the band — at least on the video. It's a big contrast from the current setup with a tremendous lighting rig and huge LCD panels backing the band.

If you dig this track you can find the complete show on etree.

Many thanks to 8005551212 for posting this video. Sweet screen name.

Bonus Video: Ann Marie Calhoun Plays WSP

Here's another great clip of Ann Marie Calhoun, this time playing Surprise Valley on the violin.

Travelin' Light appears on Widespread Panic's Space Wrangler, their first studio album, originally released in 1988.