Not long after I moved to Birmingham in 1999 to work for MMI Music, I decided to go
out one Sunday and explore. I drove around for a couple hours and familiarized
myself with greater Birmingham. Late that afternoon, I was driving down Hwy 31
toward Pelham when the sun started setting. I had some prep work to do for Monday
morning, so I figured it was time to head back home. I turned on Hwy 261, pulled
into a parking lot to turn around and saw a bar called Pub 261. It was closed, but
being that it was close to where I lived I decided to take a look through the front
door...and I saw a wall of draft beer taps! Those of you who know me know that
almost nothing can draw me to a geographic location like a good selection of drafts.
Anyway, I drove back home resigned to the fact that I must go back to Pub 261
soon. So in a few days I decided to check it out. Turns out they had an eclectic
selection of great drafts, and as I sat there I noticed a flyer advertising that a band
called Possum would be playing there the next evening. I hadn't played live in a
couple years, but I was getting the itch and thought that seeing a good live band
might get the juices flowing.
This is where it's a bit foggy, but what I think I remember is that I and Chris Fryar (a
great local drummer who gave lessons at MMI and became the longtime drummer
for Zac Brown) went to Pub 261 the next evening. Possum was a trio with a setlist as
eclectic as the pub's drafts, and I liked them. Ross Gower played acoustic guitar and
was the primary lead vocalist. Jay Johnson was on bass and sang some lead and
backing vocals, as did John Scalici who was the drummer. They played a lot of
songs from Widespread Panic and Phish (newer bands I wasn't really familiar with at
the time), but they did a bunch of older music as well...Stones, Dead, Beatles,
Guess Who, etc...and I found myself really wanting to jam.
After their first set, Chris and I introduced ourselves...I told them I played steel, and
we asked if we could come back the next night and jam with them. They said
yes...and electric Possum was born. Over the next few years, we played regularly all
over Central Alabama and became of the region's most popular jam bands. We
didn't practice, we just showed up and played. It was truly "instant music" and it was
incredibly fun being a part of it! We won awards, and opened shows for several
prominent bands including the North Mississippi All-Stars, Will Hoge, maybe Gov't
Mule (???) and a couple others I can't readily recall.
Ross was the bandleader and the one guy who was there for every gig, except one
night in 2011 when "500 Lbs of Possum" was born. Because some of us traveled for
work or whatever, the rest of Possum was an ever-changing patchwork of musical
explorers. Sometimes there was one drummer, sometimes two. Drummers might be
Scalici, Fryar, the late Matt Kimbrell or Steve Ramos...and I'm sure there were
others. Several guitarists filled out the lineup including me, Mark Kimbrell, the late
Jason Speegle and I'm sure a couple more. Jay was the primary Possum bass
player, but when he moved away for a couple years Caldwell Mackin took his place.
Many times, I wasn't sure who was going to be there for any given gig...but it was
still Possum and I knew it was gonna be fun!
In the mid-2000s, Ross moved to Nashville to go to school, open Nashville Mobile
Recording and win Grammys (Go Ross!!!). I moved to Gulf Shores, and couldn't be
in Birmingham regularly. At that point, when Ross could travel to Birmingham,
Possum went back to its "trio" roots (usually Ross, John & Jay)...except for April of
each year when we would have a Possum Reunion, usually at Oasis in Southside.
We haven't had one of those in probably 10-12 years, but I keep hoping that fortune
may smile in some future April.
I've played in lots of bands over the years, and all of them involved lots of practice
and attempts (though not always successful) to be a tight and well-rehearsed unit.
Except Possum! And I've always been a primary singer in the bands I played with.
Except Possum! But those two aspects were what made Possum one of my very
favorite musical experiences. We just showed up and played...we may not have
known exactly who would be there or what songs we might play, but it didn't matter.
And not having to worry about having a mic in my face, I could focus on my
instruments and listen more thoroughly to my musical surroundings. Were we the
tightest band in the universe? No...we were a jam band. But did our "instant music"
allow us to attract a loyal following who chanted "Possum Awesome!", danced
ferociously...and inspired us to experience many cosmic, poignant and truly-
connected musical moments? Yes...Yes...a thousand times YES!!!
In a perfect world, every musician would have a Possum in their life!