Jimmy Herring
Encyclopedia
Jimmy Herring is an American guitarist who is currently the lead guitarist in the band Widespread Panic
. Herring is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit
and Jazz is Dead
. He has also played with the Allman Brothers Band
, Project Z
, Derek Trucks Band, and had a long and successful tenure with Phil Lesh and Friends
as well as The Dead
.
, North Carolina
, the son of a high school English teacher, and a North Carolina Superior Court judge
. The youngest of three brothers, Herring attended Terry Sanford Senior High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Although he played saxophone
in the high school band, he quickly became known for his prodigious talent on guitar, which he had begun playing at age 13. Herring had a Telecaster guitar
with a Stratocaster
neck, in the same style as one of his biggest influences at the time, Steve Morse
of the Dixie Dregs
. He played with various groups through high school and junior high. One of his first performances was in Horace Sisk Junior High School. He played in the talent show in the 8th grade. The band played "Walking The Dog", and "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles
. The first concert he went to was Alice Cooper
. In high school he played with various fellow musicians, including bass players Corky Jones and Mike Logiovino, drummers Tom Pollock, John Sutton, and Bill Wiggs, guitarist Adam Ancherico, and keyboard players Steve Page and John Stonebraker. After high school he also formed the band Paradox with drummer John Sutton and bassist Mike Logiovino, which played local bars including the Cellar and Baby Blues. Paradox was a cover band that played mostly jazz fusion
instrumentals, including songs by the Dixie Dregs
, Al Di Meola
and Chuck Mangione
, and included a 3-piece horn section for which Herring did the arrangements.
After graduating high school, in 1980, Herring attended a summer session at the Berklee College of Music
. In addition, Herring is a graduate of The Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) in Hollywood, California. He is well-known not only for his improvisational skills, but also for his combination of excellent speed playing and slower, more soulful leads. He has been a major influence to a myriad of guitarists on the American jam band scene, known for his fluent improvisational talent and ability to play complex and long solos without repeating phrases.
Herring was the original lead guitar
ist of the seminal jam band
group Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit
. Formed in Atlanta in 1989, its alumni include Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge
and former Leftover Salmon
drummer Jeff Sipe
.
Subsequently invited to participate on the H.O.R.D.E.
tour with Aquarium Rescue Unit in 1992 and 1993, Herring was offered the lead guitar spot in The Allman Brothers Band
after Dickey Betts
was arrested after a show in Saratoga Springs, New York on July 30, 1993. Herring filled the open slot for one night but declined to take the position as a full-time gig.
Aquarium Rescue Unit would lose Bruce Hampton
in 1994, who cited time pressures as his reason for leaving the band. Herring and other members would continue to tour as late as early 1997 until drummer Jeff Sipe departed for Leftover Salmon.
1998 and 1999 found Herring, with bassist Alphonso Johnson
, Dixie Dregs
(and former Widespread Panic) keyboardist T Lavitz
and jazz drummer Billy Cobham
touring as Jazz Is Dead. Jazz Is Dead released three albums; the material was fusion jazz-rock, largely instrumental-only cover interpretations of classic Grateful Dead
songs. In addition, Herring guested on an album by The Derek Trucks Band
, Out of the Madness
.
The Allman Brothers Band (by then including ex-ARU member Oteil Burbridge on bass) again showed interest in 2000 and Herring played from May - October, 2000 on their summer tour before being offered the guitar spot in a new project put together by Phil Lesh
of the Grateful Dead; Phil Lesh and Friends
. Until Herring joined the band, the lineup had fluctuated in a rotating cast of performers. However, after joining, the bandmates solidified into a lineup which remained largely constant for the next 5 years.
In 2002, Herring joined The Other Ones
, a band which included four former members of the Grateful Dead — Phil Lesh, Bob Weir
, Mickey Hart
, and Bill Kreutzmann
. Herring continued to play with the group, now renamed The Dead
, in 2003 and 2004.
In 2005, he also toured with the jazz
, funk, and occasionally bluegrass
-oriented band The Codetalkers
, which featured Herring on guitar with his previous bandmate Col. Bruce Hampton on vocals, harmonica
, and guitar. This band also allowed Herring to expand a musical friendship with Codetalkers' front man Bobby Lee Rodgers, with whom Herring formed a new band in the spring of 2006 (tentatively dubbed Herring, Rodgers, and Sipe). 2005 also marked the release of the Lincoln Memorial disc from Project Z
, of which Jimmy is a founding member. In January 2005, Herring appeared on the Jam Cruise 3 stage with several acts, including Colonel Les Claypool
's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade.
Herring left Phil Lesh and Friends in November, 2005. On August 3, 2006, Widespread Panic
announced Herring would be taking over the lead guitar spot in the band after the departure of George McConnell
. Also in 2006, Herring and an almost complete original lineup of Aquarium Rescue Unit reunited as Col. Bruce Hampton and The Aquarium Rescue Unit featuring Oteil Burbridge, Jimmy Herring, Col. Bruce Hampton and Jeff Sipe with Bobby Lee Rodgers sitting in.
In 2008, Herring released Lifeboat, his first official solo album, on Abstract Logix. The material consists primarily of instrumental jazz-rock fusion, and features a rotating lineup of long-time Herring collaborators, including Oteil and brother Kofi Burbridge, Jeff Sipe, alto and soprano saxophonist Greg Osby
, and others, including two songs featuring Derek Trucks
. The album was met with generally positive reviews.
On February 7, 2009, Herring, along with Steve Gorman
(The Black Crowes), guitarist Audley Freed
(Jakob Dylan
, ex-Crowes, Blue Floyd) and bassist-singer Nick Govrik, made their live debut of Trigger Hippy
at the Cox Capitol Theater in Macon, Georgia.
Herring also uses a 1969 Stratocaster as well as several other PRS guitars (including a hollowbody) and has played a 1970 Gibson SG given as a gift from Derek Trucks. Although he has long used effects sparingly, his 2005 Codetalkers rig saw him sport an Ernie Ball volume pedal and an H&K Tube Factor. He has expanded his effects pedals when playing Dead related music, and sported a TC Electronics M-One, and a Mutron
with both The Dead and Phil Lesh and Friends.
as amplifiers. During the remainder of the fall 2006 tour Jimmy continued to use his custom shop Strat. At the beginning of fall 07' Jimmy began using Fuchs Audio Technology Overdrive Supreme amplifiers. Into 2009 Herring continued to use Fuchs amps, but now used a Tripledrive Supreme 100 watt head, and occasionally an Overdrive Supreme 100 watt head. He uses a Tone Tubby 4x12 cab and two 2x12 Hard Truckers speaker cabs with alnico tone tubby speakers. He also uses a Fractal Audio Axe-Fx
for effects, mainly reverb and delay sounds. In 2011 Jimmy continues to use Fuchs Audio Technology as his main amplifier. His main guitar is no longer the custom shop strat built by Genes Baker. Currently Jimmy's go to guitar is a white Fender Stratocaster with Lollar humbuckers and a neck with a radius of 20". he also uses a '62 telecaster with Lollar pickups on a few songs.
Aquarium Rescue Unit
Jazz Is Dead
Phil Lesh and Friends
Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...
. Herring is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit
Aquarium Rescue Unit
Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit is an experimental rock group originally founded by Col. Bruce Hampton. The band gained popularity in the Atlanta club scene in the early 1990s and went on to tour with the first H.O.R.D.E. Tour. During the initial years, the band was composed of...
and Jazz is Dead
Jazz Is Dead
Jazz is Dead is an instrumental Grateful Dead cover band that interprets classic Dead songs with jazz influences. Although the group's composition has changed over time, with T Lavitz being the only constant member, the group is notable in featuring veterans of jazz and jazz fusion ensembles[]...
. He has also played with the Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
, Project Z
Project Z
The Project Z was a military project of the Empire of Japan, similar to the Nazi German Amerika Bomber project, to design an intercontinental bomber capable of reaching North America.-The planned aircraft:...
, Derek Trucks Band, and had a long and successful tenure with Phil Lesh and Friends
Phil Lesh and Friends
Phil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.Phil & Friends is not a traditional group in that several different lineups of musicians have played under the name, including groups featuring members of Phish, Little Feat, and the Zen...
as well as The Dead
The Dead (band)
The Dead is an American rock band composed of some of the former members of the Grateful Dead.After the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann formed a band called The Other Ones. They performed concert tours in 1998 , 2000 , and 2002, and released one...
.
Musical career
Jimmy Herring was born on January 22, 1962, in FayettevilleFayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, the son of a high school English teacher, and a North Carolina Superior Court judge
Superior court
In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases...
. The youngest of three brothers, Herring attended Terry Sanford Senior High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Although he played saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
in the high school band, he quickly became known for his prodigious talent on guitar, which he had begun playing at age 13. Herring had a Telecaster guitar
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
with a Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
neck, in the same style as one of his biggest influences at the time, Steve Morse
Steve Morse
Steven J. "Steve" Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his work in the hard rock band Deep Purple since 1994. He began his career to form the unique styled instrumental rock band Dixie Dregs in the 1970. Morse's musical inspiration comes from country, funk, jazz fusion, and...
of the Dixie Dregs
Dixie Dregs
The Dixie Dregs are an American band formed in the 1970s. Their mostly instrumental music fuses jazz, southern rock, bluegrass and classical forms in an often unique style.-Formation and early years:...
. He played with various groups through high school and junior high. One of his first performances was in Horace Sisk Junior High School. He played in the talent show in the 8th grade. The band played "Walking The Dog", and "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. The first concert he went to was Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
. In high school he played with various fellow musicians, including bass players Corky Jones and Mike Logiovino, drummers Tom Pollock, John Sutton, and Bill Wiggs, guitarist Adam Ancherico, and keyboard players Steve Page and John Stonebraker. After high school he also formed the band Paradox with drummer John Sutton and bassist Mike Logiovino, which played local bars including the Cellar and Baby Blues. Paradox was a cover band that played mostly jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
instrumentals, including songs by the Dixie Dregs
Dixie Dregs
The Dixie Dregs are an American band formed in the 1970s. Their mostly instrumental music fuses jazz, southern rock, bluegrass and classical forms in an often unique style.-Formation and early years:...
, Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...
and Chuck Mangione
Chuck Mangione
Charles Frank "Chuck" Mangione is an American flugelhorn player and composer who achieved international success in 1977 with his jazz-pop single, "Feels So Good." Mangione has released more than thirty albums since 1960.-Early life and career:...
, and included a 3-piece horn section for which Herring did the arrangements.
After graduating high school, in 1980, Herring attended a summer session at the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
. In addition, Herring is a graduate of The Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) in Hollywood, California. He is well-known not only for his improvisational skills, but also for his combination of excellent speed playing and slower, more soulful leads. He has been a major influence to a myriad of guitarists on the American jam band scene, known for his fluent improvisational talent and ability to play complex and long solos without repeating phrases.
Herring was the original lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
ist of the seminal jam band
Jam band
-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...
group Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit
Aquarium Rescue Unit
Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit is an experimental rock group originally founded by Col. Bruce Hampton. The band gained popularity in the Atlanta club scene in the early 1990s and went on to tour with the first H.O.R.D.E. Tour. During the initial years, the band was composed of...
. Formed in Atlanta in 1989, its alumni include Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge
Oteil Burbridge
Oteil Burbridge, in Washington, D.C.), is a Grammy Award-nominated American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the current resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band...
and former Leftover Salmon
Leftover Salmon
Leftover Salmon is a jam band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. Their unique blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/Zydeco, which the band calls "Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass", has found favor with the jam band scene...
drummer Jeff Sipe
Jeff Sipe
Jeff Sipe is an American drummer. He is a rock and jazz fusion drummer, however, he is proficient in many other styles which he has demonstrated in his decades of drumming. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit along with Col. Bruce Hampton...
.
Subsequently invited to participate on the H.O.R.D.E.
H.O.R.D.E.
Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere or H.O.R.D.E. Festival was a touring summer rock music festival originated by the musical group Blues Traveler in 1992. In addition to travelling headliners, the festival gave exposure to bands, charities, and organizations from the local area of the...
tour with Aquarium Rescue Unit in 1992 and 1993, Herring was offered the lead guitar spot in The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
after Dickey Betts
Dickey Betts
Forrest Richard "Dickey" Betts is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and also won with the band a best rock performance Grammy Award for his...
was arrested after a show in Saratoga Springs, New York on July 30, 1993. Herring filled the open slot for one night but declined to take the position as a full-time gig.
Aquarium Rescue Unit would lose Bruce Hampton
Bruce Hampton
Bruce Hampton is a surrealist American musician. In the late 1960s he was a founding member of Atlanta, Georgia's avant-garde Hampton Grease Band...
in 1994, who cited time pressures as his reason for leaving the band. Herring and other members would continue to tour as late as early 1997 until drummer Jeff Sipe departed for Leftover Salmon.
1998 and 1999 found Herring, with bassist Alphonso Johnson
Alphonso Johnson
Alphonso Johnson is an American jazz bassist who has been influential since the early 1970s.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Johnson started off as an upright bass player, but switched to the electric bass in his late teens. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, Johnson showed...
, Dixie Dregs
Dixie Dregs
The Dixie Dregs are an American band formed in the 1970s. Their mostly instrumental music fuses jazz, southern rock, bluegrass and classical forms in an often unique style.-Formation and early years:...
(and former Widespread Panic) keyboardist T Lavitz
T Lavitz
Terry "T" Lavitz was an American jazz-rock/fusion keyboardist, composer and producer. He is best known for his work with the Dixie Dregs and Jazz Is Dead.-Biography:Born on April 16, 1956, Lavitz grew up in New Jersey...
and jazz drummer Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
touring as Jazz Is Dead. Jazz Is Dead released three albums; the material was fusion jazz-rock, largely instrumental-only cover interpretations of classic Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
songs. In addition, Herring guested on an album by The Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band has been called a "group of musicians that share a passion for improvisation and musical exploration" by a reviewer at Allmusic....
, Out of the Madness
Out of the Madness
-Personnel:The Derek Trucks Band*Derek Trucks - guitar*Todd Smallie - bass*Bill McKay - organ, keyboards*Yonrico Scott - drums, percussionOther personnel*Warren Haynes - vocals, guitar*Larry McCray - vocals, guitar*Jimmy Herring - guitar...
.
The Allman Brothers Band (by then including ex-ARU member Oteil Burbridge on bass) again showed interest in 2000 and Herring played from May - October, 2000 on their summer tour before being offered the guitar spot in a new project put together by Phil Lesh
Phil Lesh
Phillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
of the Grateful Dead; Phil Lesh and Friends
Phil Lesh and Friends
Phil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.Phil & Friends is not a traditional group in that several different lineups of musicians have played under the name, including groups featuring members of Phish, Little Feat, and the Zen...
. Until Herring joined the band, the lineup had fluctuated in a rotating cast of performers. However, after joining, the bandmates solidified into a lineup which remained largely constant for the next 5 years.
In 2002, Herring joined The Other Ones
The Other Ones
The Other Ones was an American rock band formed in 1998 by former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Mickey Hart, along with part-time Grateful Dead collaborator Bruce Hornsby. In 2000, Bill Kreutzmann, another Grateful Dead alumnus, joined the group, while Phil Lesh dropped out. In...
, a band which included four former members of the Grateful Dead — Phil Lesh, Bob Weir
Bob Weir
Bob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
, Mickey Hart
Mickey Hart
Mickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995...
, and Bill Kreutzmann
Bill Kreutzmann
Bill Kreutzmann is an American drummer who played with the rock band the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career...
. Herring continued to play with the group, now renamed The Dead
The Dead (band)
The Dead is an American rock band composed of some of the former members of the Grateful Dead.After the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann formed a band called The Other Ones. They performed concert tours in 1998 , 2000 , and 2002, and released one...
, in 2003 and 2004.
In 2005, he also toured with the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, funk, and occasionally bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
-oriented band The Codetalkers
The Codetalkers
The Codetalkers were a jazz, rock and roll band from Savannah, Georgia, composed of Bobby Lee Rodgers, , Mark Raudabaugh and Andrew Altman . The band was formed in 1999, upon the meeting of Rodgers and Col. Bruce Hampton at a show at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta...
, which featured Herring on guitar with his previous bandmate Col. Bruce Hampton on vocals, harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, and guitar. This band also allowed Herring to expand a musical friendship with Codetalkers' front man Bobby Lee Rodgers, with whom Herring formed a new band in the spring of 2006 (tentatively dubbed Herring, Rodgers, and Sipe). 2005 also marked the release of the Lincoln Memorial disc from Project Z
Project Z
The Project Z was a military project of the Empire of Japan, similar to the Nazi German Amerika Bomber project, to design an intercontinental bomber capable of reaching North America.-The planned aircraft:...
, of which Jimmy is a founding member. In January 2005, Herring appeared on the Jam Cruise 3 stage with several acts, including Colonel Les Claypool
Les Claypool
Leslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...
's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade.
Herring left Phil Lesh and Friends in November, 2005. On August 3, 2006, Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...
announced Herring would be taking over the lead guitar spot in the band after the departure of George McConnell
George McConnell
George McConnell is an American guitarist from Vicksburg, Mississippi who played for Widespread Panic, Kudzu Kings, and Beanland. He attended the University of Mississippi where he was in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity....
. Also in 2006, Herring and an almost complete original lineup of Aquarium Rescue Unit reunited as Col. Bruce Hampton and The Aquarium Rescue Unit featuring Oteil Burbridge, Jimmy Herring, Col. Bruce Hampton and Jeff Sipe with Bobby Lee Rodgers sitting in.
In 2008, Herring released Lifeboat, his first official solo album, on Abstract Logix. The material consists primarily of instrumental jazz-rock fusion, and features a rotating lineup of long-time Herring collaborators, including Oteil and brother Kofi Burbridge, Jeff Sipe, alto and soprano saxophonist Greg Osby
Greg Osby
Greg Osby is an American jazz saxophonist who plays mainly in the free jazz, free funk and M-Base idioms.-Biography:Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Osby studied at Howard University, where he majored in Jazz Studies, and then at the Berklee College of Music, with Andy McGhee...
, and others, including two songs featuring Derek Trucks
Derek Trucks
Derek Trucks is a Grammy Award-winning, American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He founded The Derek Trucks Band and worked as a session musician when he was still in his early teens. Throughout those teenage years, he toured with The Allman Brothers Band primarily as a slide...
. The album was met with generally positive reviews.
On February 7, 2009, Herring, along with Steve Gorman
Steve Gorman
Steve Gorman is a musician best known as the drummer of the American hard rock band The Black Crowes. He also spent some time as the drummer for British rock band Stereophonics.- Early career :...
(The Black Crowes), guitarist Audley Freed
Audley Freed
thumb|250px|Audley Freed playing with [[New Earth Mud]] on June 28, 2004 at [[Irving Plaza]], [[New York]]Audley Freed is a guitarist. He started his professional career on the Southeastern club and fraternity circuit. He then formed the band Cry of Love, which was signed to Columbia Records and...
(Jakob Dylan
Jakob Dylan
Jakob Luke Dylan is the lead singer and songwriter of the rock band The Wallflowers and is a son of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and Sara Dylan. He has also recorded two solo albums.-Personal life:...
, ex-Crowes, Blue Floyd) and bassist-singer Nick Govrik, made their live debut of Trigger Hippy
Trigger Hippy
Trigger Hippy is an American Rock and Roll supergroup composed of Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman, ex-Black Crowes guitarist Audley Freed, singer Joan Osborne, singer/songwriter Jackie Greene and bassist Nick Govrik. Formerly of the group is Widespread Panic guitarist Jimmy Herring.-History:The...
at the Cox Capitol Theater in Macon, Georgia.
Equipment
Jimmy's primary guitar is a modified American Standard Fender Stratocaster. It is equipped with two Lollar Imperial humbuckers. The fingerboard radius has been flattened out to 20" and has Dunlop 6000 fret wire, which are the tallest and widest guitar frets manufactured today.Herring also uses a 1969 Stratocaster as well as several other PRS guitars (including a hollowbody) and has played a 1970 Gibson SG given as a gift from Derek Trucks. Although he has long used effects sparingly, his 2005 Codetalkers rig saw him sport an Ernie Ball volume pedal and an H&K Tube Factor. He has expanded his effects pedals when playing Dead related music, and sported a TC Electronics M-One, and a Mutron
Mutron
Musitronics, often shortened to Mu-tron, was a manufacturer of electronic musical effects active in the 1970s. Their product line focused on filtering and processing effects derived from synthesizer components...
with both The Dead and Phil Lesh and Friends.
With Widespread Panic
At the beginning of Jimmy's tenure with Widespread Panic he was using his favorite guitar, a custom shop Stratocaster built by Gene Baker, equipped with two Seymour Duncan 59' reissue humbuckers, with a 1973 Marshall superlead 100 watt amp accompanied by a 4x12 Marshall stereo and a 67' blackface Fender Super ReverbFender Super Reverb
The Fender Super Reverb was a guitar amplifier made by Fender. It was introduced in 1963 and was discontinued in 1982. This was essentially a Fender Super amplifier with built-in reverb and vibrato. The original Super Reverb amplifiers were all tube design and featured spring reverb. There were...
as amplifiers. During the remainder of the fall 2006 tour Jimmy continued to use his custom shop Strat. At the beginning of fall 07' Jimmy began using Fuchs Audio Technology Overdrive Supreme amplifiers. Into 2009 Herring continued to use Fuchs amps, but now used a Tripledrive Supreme 100 watt head, and occasionally an Overdrive Supreme 100 watt head. He uses a Tone Tubby 4x12 cab and two 2x12 Hard Truckers speaker cabs with alnico tone tubby speakers. He also uses a Fractal Audio Axe-Fx
Fractal Audio Axe-FX
Fractal Audio Axe-Fx is an all in one electric guitar preamplifier/effects processor made by Fractal Audio Systems LLC., in Plaistow, New Hampshire. The processor is a two-space rack unit. The first version, called simply Axe-Fx, was introduced in 2006. Axe-Fx Ultra was introduced in 2008...
for effects, mainly reverb and delay sounds. In 2011 Jimmy continues to use Fuchs Audio Technology as his main amplifier. His main guitar is no longer the custom shop strat built by Genes Baker. Currently Jimmy's go to guitar is a white Fender Stratocaster with Lollar humbuckers and a neck with a radius of 20". he also uses a '62 telecaster with Lollar pickups on a few songs.
Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit
- Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit (1992)
- Mirrors of Embarrassment (1993)
Aquarium Rescue UnitAquarium Rescue UnitCol. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit is an experimental rock group originally founded by Col. Bruce Hampton. The band gained popularity in the Atlanta club scene in the early 1990s and went on to tour with the first H.O.R.D.E. Tour. During the initial years, the band was composed of...
- Eepeee (1994)
- In a Perfect World (1994)
- The Calling (1997)
Jazz Is DeadJazz Is DeadJazz is Dead is an instrumental Grateful Dead cover band that interprets classic Dead songs with jazz influences. Although the group's composition has changed over time, with T Lavitz being the only constant member, the group is notable in featuring veterans of jazz and jazz fusion ensembles[]...
- Blue Light Rain (1998)
- Laughing Water (1999)
- Great Sky River (2001)
Phil Lesh and FriendsPhil Lesh and FriendsPhil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.Phil & Friends is not a traditional group in that several different lineups of musicians have played under the name, including groups featuring members of Phish, Little Feat, and the Zen...
- There and Back Again (2002)
Various artists
- Fusion for Miles (2005)
- Visions of an Inner Mounting Apocalypse (2005)
- The Benefit Concert, Volume 1 (2007)
External links
- Jimmy Herring - Official Website
- Widespread Panic - Official Website
- Col. Bruce Hampton & The Aquarium Rescue Unit - Official Website