Michael Houser (January 6, 1962 – August 10, 2002) was a founding member and lead guitarist of the band Widespread Panic. He appeared on 7 studio albums with Panic during his 16-year tenure with the band from 1986-2002. He is also featured on 4 live albums by Widespread Panic (2 released posthumously), as well as several archive releases, live video concerts and compilations. Michael Mikey Houser was born in Boone, North Carolina, graduated from Hixson High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and became a founding member of Widespread Panic in 1986 while attending the University of Georgia with John Bell. Michaels adolescent nickname was Panic, due to his then frequent panic attacks, and this moniker later became the inspiration for the bands name. Widespread Panics large rhythm section, and John Bells virtuosity as a rhythm guitarist, allowed Michael to pursue an atmospheric lead guitar style that often lingered behind the primary melodies. His predominant use of the Ernie Ball volume pedal caused him to spend most of his performance time balanced on one leg, this would eventually lead to circulation problems causing his left leg to become numb. In 1996, during an acoustic tour known as the Sit and Ski tour, he was reminded of how much more comfortable and accurate his playing was while he was seated. Subsequently Houser returned to playing all shows seated in 1997. His playing style used a volume pedal for sonic effect, rather than just for volume control. Widespread Panic always shared writing credits for all of their songs during the Houser era, but he wrote many of the bands standards, including Porch Song, Airplane, Aint Life Grand, The Waker, Impossible, B of D, and Vacation. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the spring of 2002, he died August 10 of that year, at the age of 40. A solo album of his instrumentals entitled Door Harp was released after his death, and was followed by Sandbox in 2006. He is survived by his wife Barbette and two children, Waker and Eva.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 22:11:19 +0000
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