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!