George McConnell is an American singer from

Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat, and the population at the 2010 census was 23,856. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vic ...

. He played for the bands

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guit ...

, Kudzu Kings, and Beanland.

History

George McConnell attended the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

, where he was in the

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...

fraternity. McConnell co-founded Beanland in

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Oxf ...

in 1985 with guitarist Bill McCorry. After some early shuffling, the band's line-up comprised McConnell and McCrory on guitar,

John Hermann John "JoJo" Hermann is an American singer, musician and songwriter, best known for his involvement in the band Widespread Panic. Early life He was born in New York City and attended Collegiate School, where he was a classmate of actor Billy W ...

on keyboards, Ron Lewis on bass, and Harry Peel on drums. The band recorded their self-titled debut album in 1991 and toured extensively around the south and southwest, playing blues-oriented rock as part of the nascent early 1990s

Jamband A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational " jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often c ...

renaissance. McConnell went on to play for several years in the

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

band Kudzu Kings, eventually leaving to devote his time to opening a guitar store in Oxford Square in

. In 2002, following Panic guitarist

Michael Houser Michael Houser (January 6, 1962 – August 10, 2002) was a founding member and lead guitarist of the band Widespread Panic. He appeared on seven studio albums during his 16-year tenure with the band from 1986 till 2002. He is also feature ...

's diagnosis of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

, McConnell and saxophone player Randall Bramblett were asked to accompany Widespread Panic on the band's summer tour. Initially, McConnell sat in for a few songs per show to add support to Houser's playing, however when Houser was unable to complete the tour McConnell filled in as the lead guitarist. McConnell was named as the new lead guitarist in the band following Houser's death in August 2002. McConnell served as Widespread Panic's lead guitarist from 2002 to 2006, recording two studio albums and three live albums with the band. His last show with the band was on July 30, 2006, in St. Louis, Missouri. In 2008, McConnell began performing with a new band: George McConnell & The Nonchalants, releasing songs exclusive to a website that he hosted which were meant to feel nostalgic. In 2012, George McConnell was asked to fill in for guitarist John Neff for a series of year-end shows for the

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alabama ...

. On March 27, 2014, George McConnell was the subject of the

Mississippi Public Broadcasting Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) is the public broadcasting state network serving the U.S. state of Mississippi. It is owned by the Mississippi Authority for Educational Television (MAET), an agency of the state government that holds the lic ...

television show "Oxford Sounds" along with Mississippi heavy metal group

The Cooters The Cooters are an American rock band from Oxford, Mississippi. Based out of the northern hill country town of Oxford (home of Ole Miss), the band has been touring and recording since 1993. The Cooters are well known in the region. While rec ...

. The TV show was broadcast statewide on public television. George McConnell & The Nonchalants played three songs on the show, including "A Thousand Things," "Must Not Mind," and the Beanland classic "Doretha," followed by an interview of McConnell by Cooters frontman Newt Rayburn.

Discography and videography

Beanland

*''Beanland'' (1991, HiCool Records) Produced by

Jim Dickinson James Luther Dickinson (November 15, 1941 – August 15, 2009) was an American record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others, the band Mud Boy and the Neutrons, based in Memphis, Tennessee. Biography Dickinson was born in Lit ...

and engineered by Don Smith *''Eye to Eye'' (1993, HiCool Records) Produced and engineered by Don Smith *''Rising From the Riverbed – DVD'' (2004, Cloudscapes Productions) Produced and directed by Scotty Glahn (includes bonus CD sampler of bands from the era)

Kudzu Kings

*''Kudzu Kings'' (1997) Produced by Jim Gaines and engineered by Jeffrey Reed *''Y2Kow'' (1999) Produced and engineered by Jeffrey Reed

Widespread Panic

*''

Ball A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but can sometimes be ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used f ...

'' (2003) *'' Night of Joy'' (2004) *'' Über Cobra'' (2004) *'' Jackassolantern'' (2004) *''

Live at Myrtle Beach ''Live at Myrtle Beach'' is the seventh live album released by the Athens, GA based band Widespread Panic. The album was recorded during a show in Fall 2003 at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, SC. It was released on February 22, 2005. Track ...

'' (2005) *'' Earth to America'' (2006) *'' Live From The Backyard'' (2003) (DVD) *'' Earth to Atlanta'' (2006) (DVD)

George McConnell

*Singles Only (2009) *Cheers, Sports Fans! (2013)

John Hermann

*''

Smiling Assassin ''Smiling Assassin'' is the debut solo album by Widespread Panic keyboardist John Hermann, released in 2001. Other members of Widespread Panic as well as members of the North Mississippi All Stars and Blue Mountain also perform on the album. T ...

'' (2001) *'' Defector'' (2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell, George Living people American rock guitarists American male guitarists Widespread Panic members People from Oxford, Mississippi Musicians from Vicksburg, Mississippi Guitarists from Mississippi Year of birth missing (living people)