Panic! At the Disco Pick Up The Cab's Guitarist, Brobecks' Bassist

Panic! At the Disco's Spencer Smith has revealed the two musicians that will join him and Brendon Urie — and replace departed guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker, who left the group to form the Young Veins. According to MTV, the guitarist vacancy will be filled by Ian Crawford, who spent time with the Cab, another act on Panic!'s Decaydance label. The Brobecks' mastermind Dallon Weekes, who has a pretty decent following of his own, will join Panic! as bassist. Weekes has already made Panic! his top friend on MySpace.

"They're friends, so the decision was easy. Plus, we're really excited to play with them as musicians," Smith told MTV. "Ian is probably the most talented guitar player that me and Brendon have ever played with, and Dallon is a really nice guy and a really great bassist. It's new. Like I said, we're really excited." The band is reportedly already hard at work on their follow-up to Pretty. Odd., and will hit the road this summer for opening slots for Blink-182 and No Doubt.

As Rock Daily reported earlier this week, both Panic! and the Young Veins unveiled new songs the same day on MySpace, sparking a turf war between Team Ross and Team Urie. Still, Smith said the band's split was amicable and that Panic! remain friends with Ross and Walker.

Smith also compared the situation to that of Blink-182 splintering into +44 and Angels and Airwaves, and encouraged fans to support both bands. "Brendon and I are still friends with Ryan and Jon, we really like their new band, they really like our band, and we hope fans like both of them. There's thousands of songs on my iPod, there's room for both our bands on it," Smith said.

Related Stories:
• Panic! At the Disco, The Young Veins Debut New Tracks
• Ex-Panic! At the Disco Members Will Embrace Beach Boys, Kinks
• Panic At the Disco's Urie and Smith Tell Fans Band Is "Alive and Well"

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

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