David Schools

Band: Widespread Panic

As college friends in 1985 getting together for weekly jam sessions at the Uptown Lounge in Athens, GA, Widespread Panic, with Southern-styled, unbridled improvisation, went on to become one of the most popular mid ‘90s jam bands in the world. In celebration of their 2003 live album Light Fuse, Get Away, Widespread put on a free concert in downtown Athens: over 100,000 people turned up, making it the largest CD release party in history, shattering the record previously held by Metallica.

Bassist David Schools is the rhythmic anchor that posts the musical tangents WSP is famous for. “Chilly Water” is characteristic of Schools’ constant boiling bass lines, fingers never hitting the same note twice in a measure. The live setting is where Schools shines, giving a hearty down home back slap to tracks like “Ain’t Life Grand” and the percolating “Tall Boy.”