COURTESY: SAM HOLT
The musically gifted are often not given due credit while they are on stage, preforming with all their heart and soul for listeners, taking us to different times and places with their music, manipulating our mood with tunes, changing our hearts with lyrics. Tonight at 8 p.m., Proud Larry’s will again act as a haven for good music as it hosts “Remembering Mikey” to pay tribute to the music and memory of American rock legend Michael Houser.
Houser, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2002, was a musician and founding member of the American rock band Widespread Panic. He was, according to surviving band member Sam Holt, supremely talented.
“He was a down to earth, humble man who was a supremely talented guitarist and songwriter,” Holt said. “He touched many people with his music.”
Holt, currently a member of The Sam Holt Band, was once a guitar tech for Widespread Panic and Houser during his time with the band. After Houser passed, Holt occasionally sat in with Widespread Panic before taking over lead guitar duties in 2006. By 2007, Holt left Widespread Panic to pursue his own band, known as Outformation, but following his relocation to Colorado in 2011 formed The Sam Holt Band. Holt was a dear friend of Houser and credits him in part for his musical pursuits.
Holt announced the “Remembering Mikey” tour as a way for friends and fans to pay tribute to the musician in the way Houser would have wanted – through music.
“This event will attempt to celebrate the music and memory of Michael Houser.,” Holt said. “We will play many songs he wrote as well as some I wrote that were influenced and inspired by him.”
Holt is excited to get the chance to celebrate the life of a man who touched the lives of so many through his music. The event will consist of songs written and performed by the late Houser, in addition to some songs written in memory of or inspired by the guitarist. Some may remember Widespread Panic’s popularity among Southern Rock fans in the early 2000s, leading up to Houser’s retirement and untimely death in 2002. Holt contributed to seven studio albums during his 16-year stretch as a band member. His adolescent nickname, “Panic,” would later become inspiration for his band’s name when Widespread Panic formed in 1986. The lasting legacy he created with the band continues on through his tribute tour.
In addition to Holt, Adam Grace, keyboardist for Truth & Salvage Co., Adam Stern, guitarist and pedal steel player for Sam Holt Band, Ross Parker on bass and Jeremy Ward on drums will be preforming at the show to honor Houser. Fans of Houser, patrons of American rock music and general music lovers are all welcome to attend this touching event. For what better way to honor the life of a man who loved music so much than to allow him to live on and continue touching the hearts of others than through music?
“We’ve been getting great responses from the few shows like this we have done,” Holt said. “Personally, it makes me happy to play this show. There are people who saw him play as well as those who did not attending the shows.”
