Aunt Avis Comes To Visit

by Michael R. Shipp
An Honest Tune Magazine
September 1, 1997

It was early April when my good friend Billy Bob Thornton called me and said he had agreed to direct the Aunt Avis Video for Widespread Panic. He thought the perfect location would be my barn and studio area where we also had some great times while doing a little gem called Sling Blade a while back. Billy Bob and I also knew from the beginning of this project that the setting would be no less than perfect for some mighty fine jamming after the dust settled from a day on the set of Aunt Avis. Boy, were we correct.

I met Billy Bob in 1976. We were young, imaginative and driven by our music and desire to make it in the music business. He lived with me when he didn't have anything and all I had was rent. We went through a lot of great times as well as the old what you would call "paying our dues" process that you have to go through so you can hang out all night at bars listening to gravel throated women, guys who get tougher with each passing Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, club owners who would conveniently spend your money before your performance was over so they could support various habits, and surely everybody loves living on Hostess cakes and sleeping with your nose smashed against the passenger window of a frozen Chevy van loaded with sound equipment. But looking back, about all I would change would be perhaps playing Waiting on the Bus or One Way Out a couple of more times each night.

Just like his masterful acting and directing skills have proven out, Billy Bob always had a way of pushing my guitar playing to another level on stage with this incredible yet invisible vibe that he sent my way. No matter what phase of music we would currently be into, we never strayed far from the blues. Billy is still a very tasteful drummer and we may eventually continue our search for that elusive barre chord that both of us feel is out there that has never been discovered. We never got over that hump to put us over the top in our pursuit of music, we got close and had a real good time. Years later, Billy discovered that extra drive in him that pushed him to Hollywood to pursue acting. I think he may have gotten over that hump 'cause there's an Oscar where the hump used to be.

Needless to say, I didn't have to think for very long before telling Billy Bob that the Aunt Avis thing sounded like a great idea and I'd be prepared for the band and the production crew when they arrived at my place in Benton, Arkansas. Though we were in the process of a rather massive kitchen remodeling project, I volunteered my little Southern Plantation like homestead to be commandeered as the command control center for the band and the production staff of Billy Bob's. Of course it didn't exactly bother us to have Ms. Laura Dern hanging out 'round the house with us. The tabloid press was after BBT during this period of time and I did have to get a little nasty with those guys but they seemed to get the picture if you know what I mean. Some neighbors thought we were crazy for turning our house over to a bunch of prima donna rock stars they hadn't heard of, whoever this Widespread Panic may be. However, I knew that if Billy said it was OK, then OK it was.

I am proud to tell you that of all the "stars" I have met in the entertainment business, there is not one single ounce of inflated egos among the members of WSP. These guys are as nice a guys as I have ever met, in or out of music. My beautiful wife Kim and I really enjoyed the few days they spent in our house with us and it was a pleasure getting to know them. Kim still tells about JB (WSP Singer/guitarist) enjoying the time he spent kicking back on our couch by the fire place and watching cartoons all afternoon. Not the average rock star story, huh. These WSP boys were tired but just like me and Billy Bob, they were just waiting for the work to get over on the Aunt Avis set in my barn so dark could get here and the jamming could begin.

Each night, the jamming would begin. In my little studio, we'd pack several dozen people in it, heat it up to about 120 degrees and turn every amp we could plug into up to burn and a half. Todd and Dave (drummer & bass player for WSP) seemed to enjoy my little treasure chest of vintage Marshals, Hi Watts, Ampegs, Gibsons and more. On the final night, we had a massive little jam session that lasted quite a while and I do believe we were all feeling pretty good. With our little room filled with even the neighbor's dogs, there wasn't much space left, so we heated up quickly. Billy Bob jumped behind the drum kit that had just been returned to the studio after Todd used it out behind the barn during the video shoot. As I strapped on my old gold top plugged into my obscene sounding old 60's Marshall rig, we decided we would start this jam off by treating JB, Todd, Dave, JoJo, Sunny, and Mikey to our three piece boogie knowing that they would not be able to sit there long without jumping in.

As we blew through some red hot versions of Hootchie Kootchie Man, Boom Boom, some dusty old blues and some rusty old ZZ Top, we even brought out some old original tunes of mine and Billy's that we hadn't played for about 200 years. Before long, Dave had slowly worked his way onto the Thunderbird Bass and Todd eased his way behind the tubs and suddenly I found myself very comfortable with one of the most tasteful and talented rhythm sections in all of music. I think they enjoyed a night of playing vintage blues and they felt right at home with this three piece thing; however, nobody was truly prepared for what was still to come this night of jamming.

We were very honored to have as our guest Mr. Phil Walden (Capricorn Records CEO, discovered Otis Redding, Allman Bros.) who is one cool individual and is also a walking legend of Rock and Roll history. By now, my wife Kim and Laura Dern bounced in looking very stunning to us fellas. Billy took over the vocals and yes, he is also good at that. JB and Billy Bob shared an ad lib blues tune that was killer. Next, Billy started Todd into that Honky Tonk Women groove and we played it for at least 45 minutes, verse after verse. As a student who really digs that open G tuning thing perfected by Keith Richards, I thought I was really becoming Keef there for a minute or so. JB and Billy went back and forth with tunes for us and we kept up with them. JoJo set up a little keyboard situation and kinda gave the evening a different sound. People were dragging out my tambourines, cowbells, moroccas and any kind of percussion stuff laying around the studio. As the night grew longer, Sunny found his favorite percussion pieces of the night and finally, I talked Mikey (Lead Guitarist WSP)into plugging into my other old Marshall rig. We ventured into some Radar Love and other stuff not heard from in a while, and one thing WSP found out fast was that me and Billy Bob would hang around and jam with the best of them.

JB was amazing this evening. The guy's voice is incredible and he knows every tune I could throw at him. My next thrill was that we talked Mr. Vic Chesnut (appeared in Sling Blade, wheel chair, Doyle shoved into door, real life wheel chair victim and brilliant musician ) into coming up and participating with us. I gave him one of my old strats, hooked him up to an old Ampeg V4 and stuck a mic in front of him. I think the volume was a little more than Vic was used to but he finally zoned in to it and started throwing down with us for a few tunes. I already knew that Aunt Avis was penned by Vic. Performing with him this night truly helped me realize where the lyrics to Avis came from deep inside Vic's powerful mind.

By now JB had grabbed my old 1964 "just like Duane's" cherry SG. I forgot to tell JB that I keep it tuned to open G so I got kind of a kick out of watching him and his slide bar disagree on the sounds it was giving him as we all played on. Billy and I were really laughing about this little matter when we told JB he was in an alternate tuning in case he was wandering where he was getting those strange sounds. Much to his credit, the guy started playing slide in open G and I will tell you there are not many singers who have a clue about these kind of matters. It was a great pleasure to perform a lengthy alternate version of Aunt Avis with Vic and JB at the front line as I sit in with the rest of the cast of Widespread Panic, adding my blues licks to their talented sound. The sweat was real and the sound was spontaneous, righteous and plain old spooky.

The next groove Todd, Dave and myself broke into was the old Feelin Alright which was always an old fave standby of Billy Bob's. He always loved singing this rocker and he is very good at it. With JB and Billy swapping lyrics once again, I could tell that this was going to be another long jammer. Before long Kim and Laura suddenly jumped up among us dancing and singing backup. Everyone in the packed room was participating somehow as we kept playing. You would not believe the power of playing guitar on a very loud evening and looking in front of you to see Billy Bob Thornton singing at one mic, JB singing on another, my wife Kim, Laura Dern and Phil Walden together as a trio singing backup. JoJo and I took turns with solos and once again Mikey laid down his haunting work, as he and I made a nice attempt at some guitar harmonies, ad lib style. Feelin' Alright continued. Everybody was up in what was now the biggest rompin stompin barnraisin I have ever witnessed, packing the floor with that sweaty roadhouse feeling that only comes around every now and then, but is always great while it last.

Though everyone was tired and it must have been past 3 a.m. in Benton, Arkansas, you could tell that there were those among us who would have continued on with the slightest little push. The band was scheduled to be back on the east coast the following evening and Billy and Laura were leaving for LA this day so we all knew it was time to say so long to Aunt Avis. It was a pleasure getting to know WSP. These guys are talented and I hope I get to work with them musically at some point in time.

My little studio is quiet now. The guitars are begging for some attention. Past times haunt this little room that was a very happening place during the filming of Sling Blade. We had great visits, jams and rehearsals with Dwight Yoakam, Pete Anderson, Robert Duvall, John Ritter and the rest of the great people who made up the Sling Blade family. But these nights we spent in the studio during the Aunt Avis project were real, they were sincere and no one among us was a star yet everyone shined. Those of you who embrace Widespread Panic should hold on to these guys. They are true brothers in rock and roll. True to their music and true to the fans who put them on this great ride they are on. Thunderbolt Boogie, its what we like, its what we do around the barn when Aunt Avis comes.

Article copyright An Honest Tune, Inc and Michael R. Shipp, 1997.

If you're interested in getting a hard copy of this article, visit the Honest Tune website. The editor is Daniel Gold and the issue this article appears in is AHT Volume 1, Number 3.