George McConnell played guitar in Widespread Panic from 2002-2006. A former bandmate of Panic keyboardist JoJo Hermann, he faced the very difficult challenge of replacing the band’s co-founder, Michael Houser. The exact circumstances of his split remain foggy but what is know is that McConnell left the band mid-tour and was replaced by Jimmy Herring a few months later.

Since parting ways with the band McConnell has focused on his solo career and rarely spoken publicly about his exit from the group. In a revealing interview with Central Plains Jamband Society, McConnell opens up about his split from Widespread.

“I will be honest with you – and this is not out of spite or anything, because even before I was in the band, I knew ‘Space Wrangler’ because we were in bar bands together and so I saw them a lot during that period,” McConnell says. “Beanland opened up for Widespread Panic a lot of times, and then after that I was just doing my own thing and I didn’t know any of their songs and had never even heard them before. And like I said, this is not out of ill will towards them, but I just haven’t listened to any of their music since I was let go. I’ve just been doing my own thing, and I will say this about John Bell… he is a man very deserving of your respect. He is a gentleman and just a super-cool cat. I wish all those guys the best – and if I am not mistaken, I believe that they wanted Jimmy Herring from the start but he had prior commitments at the time with The Dead and The Allman Brothers.”

The entire interview is available online. Please click here to read the extended discussion.