Widespread Panic will release their seventh studio album, Don't Tell the Band, on June 19th. The album is the Athens, Georgia jam band's first since 1999's Til' the Medicine Takes, and the first since their break with longtime label, Capricorn Records.

The band recorded the album with longtime producer John Keane at Keane's Athens studio, with Doug Trantow (Limp Bizkit , Sugar Ray) engineering. In addition to the eleven original tracks, the band also reworked fireHOSE's "Sometimes" for the album.

"This is probably one of the most well-rounded albums we've made, with everybody having equal input in the songwriting," says singer/guitarist John Bell.

The first pressing of the album will include a bonus disc that features thirty minutes of a Widespread Panic show from Athens last year. For this one performance, the band, which encourages taping and exchanging of its live performances, requested that fans not bring recording gear, so that the performance could be released as an exclusive edition.

As usual, with the album in the can, the band is quickly getting back to doing its thing, hitting the road starting April 18th for an eighteen-date tour. Among the stops is a two-day stand at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, a favorite stop for the band, where in 1999 they drew a record 63,000 people.

Widespread Panic tour dates:

4/18: Oxford, OH, Millet Hall
4/20: Knoxville, TN, Chilhowee Park
4/21: Raleigh, NC, Alltel Pavilion
4/22: Macon, GA, Macon Centreplex
4/24: Savannah, GA, Savannah Civic Center
4/25: Mississippi State, MS, Humphrey Coliseum
4/27: Huntsville, AL, Von Braun Civic Center
4/28: Murfreesboro, TN, Murphy Center
4/29: Charlotte, NC, Center Cityfest
5/1: Montgomery, AL, Garrett Coliseum
5/3-4: New Orleans, LA, Jazz and Heritage Festival
5/26-27: Las Vegas, NV, Sam Boyd Stadium
6/22-24: Morrison, CO, Red Rocks Amphitheater
7/3: Milwaukee, WI, Marcus Amphitheater

ANDREW DANSBY
(April 4, 2001)