As Widespread Panic continues its hiatus from touring amid guitarist Jimmy Herring‘s treatment for tonsil cancer, the band is shifting focus to aiding those affected by Hurricane Helene in Asheville, NC and its surrounding areas last month. On Tuesday, the band announced that it will be selling the unused posters for its previously canceled Asheville shows in July 2024 and donating the proceeds to the city’s Manna Food Bank.
The posters, designed by Marq Spusta, were created for a run of Widespread Panic shows at Asheville, NC’s Harrah’s Cherokee Center originally scheduled for July 25th–27th, 2024. Those Asheville shows were the first of several planned Widespread Panic concerts to be canceled in the ensuing weeks as the band cleared its schedule of all upcoming performances in light of Herring’s diagnosis. The new campaign will put the unused prints—a run of 300 all signed and numbered by the artist—to use to help the very community for which they were originally intended. For information on how to purchase Widespread Panic Asheville 2024 posters benefitting Manna Food Bank’s Hurricane Helene relief efforts, head here.
Prior to this Hurricane Helene relief campaign, Widespread Panic made a post directing fans to various non-profit organizations helping those affected by the storm. Panic keyboardist JoJo Hermann also participated in a Hurricane Helene relief concert in Aiken, SC the week after the storm. For a running list of Hurricane Helene relief efforts being conducted by the live music community, click here.
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While Widespread Panic has remained quiet on Herring’s health status since clearing its upcoming tour schedule, the band has shifted its focus to promoting the coming release of Hailbound Queen, its second studio release of 2024.
Related: Widespread Panic Announces Second New Studio Release In 9 Years, ‘Hailbound Queen’
Coming on the heels of Snake Oil King, which marked the first new Widespread Panic studio album since 2015’s Street Dogs, Hailbound Queen is set to arrive on November 8th on both vinyl and digital. The collection includes songs that the band has already incorporated into live sets including “Halloween Face” and Bloodkin‘s “Trashy”, the latter of which arrived in early September alongside an official music video. It also features “Blue Carousel”—a song that JoJo Hermann brought to fruition 20 years after late guitarist Michael Houser left it unfinished—and two songs debuted on the same night at Red Rocks Amphitheatre last year, original composition “King Baby” and “Keep Me In Your Heart” by Warren Zevon. Pre-save the album on streaming platforms here.
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