11/24/13: Neo-hippie jam band? Check. Road-warrior mantra? Check. Grassroots following? Check. Sound the alarm on a 'new perspective' Widespread Panic? Check.

In case you've never heard of these Southern 'rock'ers (have you been living under one?), the group's roots can be traced all the way back to 1982, when vocalist John Bell and the (late) guitarist Mike Houser first began playing together while attending college in Georgia. The current 'six-headed monster' is a lineup that includes Bell, John "Jo Jo" Hermann, Todd Nance, Domingo Ortiz, Dave Schools and Jimmy Herring. And even with changes from then until now, the group still holds elite status among American jam bands.

Indeed, Widespread Panic has followed in the footsteps of other Southern rock jam bands, and have pulled their influence from Southern rock, blues-rock, progressive rock, funk and hard rock. They also keep good company, in name especially, as the group is most often compared to the Grateful Dead and Phish. Why? These guys play show after show, night after night. It's the reason their fan base exploded back in 1992-93 (during the H.O.R.D.E. tours), and why, as of 2013, they hold the record for number of sold-out performances at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado and Philips Arena in Georgia.

The band took 2012 off – only the second time it's done so in nearly three decades. Several members did solo records during the hiatus, but they came back together with new ways of looking at music. Thus, they've taken a new approach to touring this year, and plan to dig into songwriting when those dates come to a close.