Since last week’s premiere of JoJo Hermann’s Shut Up and Play series, Widespread Panic cancelled their last remaining shows on 2020’s calendar. The three-day weekend in Napa Valley, CA, unofficially dubbed as “Winespread Panic”, has been pushed back to September of 2021. This coupled with the absence of a Red Rocks Amphitheatre run this forthcoming weekend—traditionally slated for the last weekend in June—left a hollow and heavy feeling among the Goodpeople community this week.
Fortunately, JoJo returned to the digital stage playing piano from Nashville’s Purple Building to continue his Thursday night Shut Up and Play benefit for Nuci’s Space as Curtis George of Panicstream.com and the rest of the dedicated fans treated the stream as they would any other show. Panicstream, a Widespread Panic database which is considered a historical necessity considering the band’s long-tenured career and prolific portfolio of shows, is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year.
As the credits introduced the show, JoJo tinkered away on an instrumental take on “The King of Ragtime” and Scott Joplin’s “Solace”. Moving on with back-to-back covers, JoJo performed a rowdy Ray Charles rendition of “Mess Around” before acing a well-known WSP cover of NRBQ’s “Help Me Somebody.”
Before introducing a song that he “wrote a long time ago,” JoJo looked more comfortable on this week’s livestream as he held a steadfast gaze that caused several viewers to unceremoniously undress. JoJo mentioned that he got advice from friends and family who encouraged him to look directly into the camera as opposed to pretending to build a rapport with the venue’s invisible audience.
After demolishing a condensed take on “Bust It Big”, JoJo locked eyes with the camera to give a background on Nuci’s Space and the work they do. Reminiscing about his life in Mississippi before Georgia, JoJo dedicated the next tune to legendary Mississippian Mose Allison with a cover of Allison’s “I Don’t Worry About a Thing.”
Returning to WSP’s catalogue, JoJo got the feet steppin’ in living rooms across the country with a furious take on “Disco”. In glorious rarity, JoJo sandwiched the lyrics to J.J. Cale’s “The Woman That Got Away” into the middle of the instrumental “Disco”. After dishing out a boogie-woogie cover of “Stagger Lee”, JoJo attributed his version of the traditional tune to Professor Longhair’s version, though he admits the origins of which are as murky as the Mississippi river.
Before introducing “Bayou Lena”, JoJo talked about how many songs are written about “Going down to New Orleans” so they wrote one about “Going UP to New Orleans” based on Lana Lee from John Kennedy Toole’s posthumously published novel, Confederacy of Dunces. With an added surprise, JoJo included a verse of Blood, Sweat, and Tears’ “Spinning Wheel” before reprising “Bayou Lena” and subsequently melding the introduction of “Dark Bar” into the fading notes. The rarely played “Dark Bar” section is traditionally immersed in “Good People”. Keeping the setlist original and unique, JoJo Hermann danced his merry way into “Daisy Mae”, the penultimate track from his debut solo album of 2001, Smiling Assassin.
To wrap up this show, JoJo performed back-to-back covers, one by request and the other for his personal sentimental history. First, JoJo hammered out Billy Joe Shaver’s “Chunk of Coal” before concluding the show with Neil Young’s “Are You Ready for the Country?” JoJo prefaced the final cover with the acknowledgment that Neil Young was the first artist he learned to play on piano. He bought a piano book of Ol’ Neil’s collection and began learning the songs while still in high school in New York City.
Watch the second episode of Hermann’s Shut Up And Play series from Thursday below.
JoJo Hermann — Shut Up and Play Ep. 02 — 6/25/20
[Video: Widespread Panic]
JoJo Hermann’s Shut Up and Play will return to the digital stage on July 2nd for the third episode. See you then Goodpeople, stay well.
Setlist: JoJo Hermann | Shut Up And Play Ep. 2 | Purple Building | East Nashville, TN | 6/25/20
Set: Solace, Mess Around (Ray Charles), Help Me Somebody, Bust It Big, I Don’t Worry About A Thing (Mose Allison), Disco > The Woman That Got Away (JJ Cale) > Disco, Stagger Lee, Bayou Lena > Dark Bar > Daisy Mae, Chunk of Coal (Billy Joe Shaver), Are You Ready For The Country? (Neil Young)