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Jimmy Herring (image via JimmyHerring.net)

Happy birthday to past interview subject Jimmy Herring. He is best known as the guitarist for Georgia-based band Widespread Panic, but first rose to prominence as a member of Col. Bruce Hampton’s Aquarium Rescue Unit.

Herring is an endlessly creative musician. “What I like more than anything is basically to have no genre at all. Where elements of different styles of music come together to form something pure that has no definitive category,” he stated in my 2014 interview. Jimmy’s desire to create music that exists beyond category keeps him pushing ahead. “Ultimately, a musician is seeking their one true voice,” Hering said. That can be a lifelong search.”

Let’s get to some jams. I decided to focus on some non-Widespread Panic tunes to show off Jimmy’s versatility:

Here’s the Jimmy Herring Band doing “Aberdeen.”

Here’s Jimmy and Derek Trucks ripping it up:

Here’s Jimmy playing the classic “Basically Frightened” with Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit:

Here’s Jimmy sitting in with the Allman Brothers Band:

Here’s Jimmy sitting in with the Allman Brothers Band and taking “Mountain Jam” to Mars. Following this show, Gregg Allman was talking to the band about this jam, “OK, who’s the fucking Phish fan? That was too much.” Is this jam over the top? Yes, but Jimmy and Derek Trucks take the song to glorious heights.