"There was probably no better spirit anywhere." Remembering Michael Houser, founding guitarist of Widespread Panic, on the anniversary of his death.

Mikey Houser died August 10, 2002. Today we pay tribute.

Today is the 24th anniversary of Widespread Panic guitarist Mikey Houser’s passing. Here’s the obituary I wrote for Guitar World.

At the time, Jambands.com did a fantastic roundup of other musicians talking about Houser when he passed, including our old friend Col. Bruce Hampton, who said, “there was probably no better spirit anywhere.”

Also: I shared my 2003 GW feature on the post-Mikey panic here.

Michael Houser, January 6, 1962 - August 10, 2002

Here’s my obituary, exactly was it published in Guitar World, 2002.

Widespread Panic guitarist Michael “Mikey” Houser died at his home in Athens, Georgia, on August 10. The cause was pancreatic cancer. Houser performed with the band until July 2 when he returned home to be with his family.

Photo - Thomas G. Smith

Panic was formed by Houser, singer/guitarist John Bell and bassist Dave Schools in the early 80s while all three were students at the University of Georgia. They released their first album in 1988 and built a grassroots following with incessant touring throughout the Southeast. Panic was at the forefront of a new generation of jam bands, appearing with Phish and Blues Traveler on the initial HORDE tours in 1992 and ‘93 and eventually becoming one of the country’s most successful performing outfits.

Widespread has always had an earthier, more Southern tinged approach than most of their peers, thanks in large part to Houser’s biting, blues-inflected lead playing. The guitarist jokingly bragged that in high school he was famous as “the guy who could play the entire ‘Freebird’ solo” and his hard-edged, Skynyrd-influenced lead playing helped give Panic a direct, approachable sound.

Speaking to Guitar World last year, Houser described the magical feeling of a great jam. “On the good nights, we can all find our way around each other with our eyes shut,” he said. “When it’s like that, you’re not even aware of time passing. You just walk on stage and feel great and the next thing you know you’re walking off.”

Widespread Panic will continue on, though they have not announced a replacement for Houser.

Brothers and Sisters: the Allman Brothers Band and The Album That Defined The 70s was my third straight book to debut in the New York Times Non-Fiction Hardcover Bestsellers List, following Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan and One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band. My first book was Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues and Becoming a Star in Beijing, about my experiences raising a family in Beijing and touring China with a popular original blues band. It was optioned for a movie by Ivan Reitman’s Montecito Productions. I am also a guitarist and singer who fronts two bands, Big in China and Friends of the Brothers, the premier celebration of the Allman Brothers Band.