Widespread Panic performed what some might consider the last “big” concert at MTSU’s Murphy Center almost seven years ago.

On April 16, the band will return to the local venue once more, and singer-guitarist John Bell “guarantee(s) the sound and the lights and the band will be full of just as many surprises” as they were nearly a decade ago.

The band from Athens, Ga., whose membership also includes John “JoJo” Hermann, Jimmy Herring, Todd Nance, Domingo S. Ortiz and Dave Schools, is now promoting its new album, Free Somehow. And per Bell, most of the songs on the record haven’t yet been performed live.

Regarding the new songs, the band’s fans will “be bewildered, and they’ll listen to them again and get used to them,” Bell said. “Every time you sit down to put a song together, you’re hoping it’s going to be different from all the other songs. The similarity is the fact that it’s us playing them.”

There are certainly many differences on this album compared to their previous releases. For one, this is the first with guitar player Herring. In 2002 the band lost its co-founder and guitar player, Michael Houser, to pancreatic cancer. Although Bell said the band is “way beyond (mourning) and into a happy memory phase,” it has still been difficult to find someone to take Houser’s place.

“You’re never gonna replace somebody as far as the relationship goes,” Bell said.

After Houser’s death, George McConnell joined the band, but left during the band’s summer 2006 tour. Herring was the logical replacement, Bell said, since the bandmates already knew him and were familiar with his guitar playing. The current guitarist, who has played with the likes of Aquarium Rescue Unit, Project Z, Phil Lesh and Friends, the Other Ones and the Allman Brothers, “was invited to feel comfortable bringing in any input he could, and he had a lot of great ideas” Bell said.

“It’s not like he’s the new pet and we make him sleep on the porch or anything,” Bell said, jokingly. “People haven’t really had a chance to get a feeling for his creative side.”

That noted, Bell said he does believe there’ll be “a lot of positivity out there” for Herring’s creative input. Regardless, Houser’s spirit continues to live on in Widespread Panic.

“(Houser) really loved being in a rock ’n’ roll band and writing songs,” Bell said. “With the way the ?on earth and in heaven’ thing goes, I would think and hope that Mikey’s spirit is now cheering us on to have as much fun or more than we ever did.”

Another difference between Free Somehow and past offerings in that it contains strings, woodwinds and horns. Even though the sound is layered on the record, Bell said he expects the players will keep it simple on the road.

“There may be (extra people performing) at times, if we feel like dressing it up a little,” Bell said. “But we’re a six-piece and we’ll execute the music rock ’n’ roll style.”

The new album also appears to have some serious lyrical undertones to it. Songs such as “Walk on the Flood,” for instance, contain what could be construed as references to Hurricane Katrina and the Virginia Tech shootings. While the song was actually written the same day as the VA Tech tragedy, Bell claimed, “It’s not necessarily about the shootings.

“It’s still a very tender nerve for everyone who was directly involved and their families,” he said, “so I wouldn’t want to give a false impression there. A lot of times (tragedy) opens up doors for songs to come out. (The) song is mostly about going beyond the specifics and the imagery. It’s about the notion that every individual is a co-creator of the reality they are experiencing.”

The song might not directly pertain to Hurricane Katrina, either, but it is evident the event directly affected the band. Panic offered the song “Walk on the Flood” as an advance release mp3 on its Web site, widespreadpanic.com. For each download, there was a $10 donation to the Make It Right, a foundation that rebuilds homes in the Lower Ninth Ward area of New Orleans. Also, to date the Widespread Panic players have raised $300,000 for the Tunes for Tots charity, which purchases instruments for schools.

“We try to do as much as we can without crippling ourselves financially or time-wise, but these happened to be a couple of avenues that presented themselves,” Bell explained. “A lot of the Atlanta area school systems started clamping down on arts programs, so there was an immediate need.”

Together as a band for 22 years, Free Somehow is the group’s 10th studio album, said Bell, who noted that the recording process hasn’t changed much in their long stint as a band.

“The process is pretty much the same,” he said. “The things that have changed the most are that we’ve gotten better at playing our instruments, and playing together.”

On April 15, the day before the band arrives in Murfreesboro, the musicians will release their new album on vinyl, even though many of their fans are too young to own a record player. Bell likened vinyl to books, saying, “I would never want books to fade away into cyberspace.”

“Part of it is the novelty,” Bell said, “and trying to preserve some of the daydreams we had when we were in junior high school and listening to the radio and thinking, ?I wonder what it would be like to make a record.’”

The upcoming Murfreesboro date is just one in the five-week tour Widespread Panic is about to embark upon. It’s a tour duration, Bell said, that’s now about average for the band.

“When we first started out,” he explained, “we were playing over 300 shows a year. Now the tours are usually about six to eight weeks. We don’t need to play that much anymore. Those (first tours) were club gigs and we were just scratching at the door.”

Another thing that’s changed in the last two decades is that all of the members, except one, have married. The respective wives don’t usually come on tour with the band, since most of them have careers, but Bell explained that his wife will usually come to a city where they are playing more than one night.

“When we’re doing just a one-night stand, that’s kind of sad,” Bell said, “and it’s sad to leave somebody in a hotel that night by themselves” while the guys leave for the next city.

“It’s not quite the rock ’n’ roll picture that other people would imagine,” he joked.

As in tours past, there is a ritual Widespread Panic stick to on tour. Specifically, they never play the same set twice, because, as Bell explained, a lot of their fans enjoy coming to more than one show and they wouldn’t have a reason to come if the band didn’t change it up from night to night.

“It’s twofold,” he said, “so we don’t get bored, or get out there feeling like we’re working for a script. And that, in turn, gives it some freshness every night.”

Bell feels that after two decades of being a band, they’ve gotten better.

“If you keep exercising the muscle, it’s going to get stronger,” he explained.