Photo by John Schulze

The University Sustainability Office at North Carolina State University is hosting a contest that will allow one lucky winner to interview Widespread Panic’s John Bell in person on Saturday, September 24 and then attend the group’s show at Raleigh Amphitheater that evening. In order to enter, one needs to submit a question for Bell to the NC State University Sustainability Office Facebook page regarding “an issue of sustainability (society, economy, environment) – which is a pretty broad term and we encourage you to explore the depths of it with your question.” The person who is selected will get to ask JB that question directly and also will win a pair of tickets to the show that evening (with the complete rules below).

In other Panic news, the Boston Herald has posted an interview with the group’s Dave Schools. In the article he talks about the group’s decision to take a break following its Panic En La Playa event. Schools explains, “I’m calling it a sabbatical, sort of a research -vacation. We are gonna take a bit of a break. I’m freshly married. We have guys who have kids who are about to go to college, and no one wants to witness their kid growing up through Skype, though I guess it’s the modern way. People want to feel they’re not living a double life all the time. When you’ve been on the road for 25 years, you go, ‘Where am I?’”

As for the likelihood that the band will return, Schools pegs the odds as “Greater than 50 percent. You want the next time you get together to create some new music to be real-ly fresh and not seem like something that’s expected of you. That’s not the most conducive way to create new music. Everyone can go off and spin around with their own ideas, and then a year or so later, show up with a bunch of great stuff.”

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NC State University Sustainability Office
CONTEST STEPS TO SUBMIT QUESTION:

1) Must “like” the NC State University Sustainability Office Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/ncstatesustainability
2) Must write a question on the wall of the “Ask JB a Question” Facebook event
3) Question must relate to an issue of sustainability (society, economy, environment) – which is a pretty broad term and we encourage you to explore the depths of it with your question.
4) All entries must be received 12:00 p.m. Wednesday, September 21.
5) Winner must email [email protected] with contact information by 9:00 a.m. Friday, September 22.