Widespread Panic Coming to Ventura : Six-member band incites dancing with a mix of rhythm and blues and Southern rock.

Deadheads can generally dance better, longer and with greater frequency than anyone who would hang around with “Night of the Living Dead” director George Romero. In addition to the Grateful Dead themselves, there’s a lot of bands that do the Dead thing--Phish, Blues Traveler, the Samples, the Spin Doctors and Widespread Panic.

Now, these bands don’t play Grateful Dead songs, but they do specialize in extended improvisational jams that are often endless, mindless and senseless, or just perfect for a night of getting the whirlies on the dance floor. Widespread Panic will probably incite a bout of widespread dancing Saturday night at the venerable Ventura Theatre when they make their 805-area code debut.

They’ve probably been everywhere else. The six band members are experienced road dogs doing over 200 shows a year, rivaling all those old blues dudes for the admiration of the AAA. For the last two years, Widespread Panic has been a part of a H.O.R.D.E. (Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere) tour--sort of a Lollapalooza for hippies--featuring a lot of the above-named bands searching for the Eternal Groovy. The first year, there were eight H.O.R.D.E. dates; this year, 25.

Before they became Widespread, the band dudes were hanging around the University of Georgia. Now they’re driving from sea to shining sea promoting their third album, “Everyday,” on which groovy grooves abound. The band is signed to Phil Walden’s resurrected and stubborn-as-a-goat Capricorn Records.

During a recent phone interview from somewhere in Oregon, singer/songwriter John Bell talked about what’s what, and why.

How’s the current tour going, and does it ever end?

There’s no reason to. We’re diggin’ it, so it makes sense. There’s still a lot of playing to do. It’s great being in a rock ‘n’ roll band, and we’re on the road to rock. We’ve been out for five or six months now. Everything’s pretty unusual; nothing’s for real. We just play our music and stuff just happens around us.

How did you end up in Georgia?

I went to the University of Georgia in 1980. I was just playing my guitar in bars and hanging out. Then a buddy of mine introduced me to a guy in his dormitory who was a musician who turned out to be Mike (Houser, guitarist). We played parties for a couple of years--no pressure, we were just learning to play with each other. Wait, that doesn’t sound right--you know what I mean. Basically, we all met at school. We did have trouble finding a drummer. When we needed one, we’d call the student union, and they’d send a guy from the marching band or something. Most of the ones we had were just good enough to fill in the noise gaps.

What do you think Widespread Panic music sounds like?

I dunno, but I guess it’s rhythm and blues-based and we improvise off each other and rock as much as we can. We’re always trying to hit a new groove and expand because we just can’t play straight parts. We jump around a lot and there’s a lot of improvisation and a lot of adventurizing. In a sense, that’s jazz. So maybe the essence is jazz, but we rock.

No set list when you guys play?

Naw, we already know all the songs.

How long have you known it was the rock ‘n’ roll life for you?

God, who knows, man? I do remember doing this stuff, singing into a cup, just pretending, as a kid. When it comes time, you can always fake some kind of productivity, but the only thing I could get absorbed in was playing guitar and singing. I was an English and advertising major, but it wasn’t real. Too much hype.

What do you say to people who say you guys are just another of those neo-hippie, Deadhead bands?

I’d tell them to dig a little deeper. It’s easy to label things, but we really don’t apply ourselves to that label.

What’s Southern Rock?

That’s just another label and I don’t really care about that stuff. But, geographically, I guess, we’re a Southern band.

So who goes to your shows, Deadheads?

We get a lot of different folks who want more of a show than a performance. We don’t have a lot of flash; we’re more of a show. I know for myself, I like to be surprised. I want to know the players are willing to go out on a limb and aren’t afraid to look stupid. We just do what we do and people come out.

How are you guys doing on the radio?

Radio has been good to us; we’ve just released the third single off our album. Usually, if the first single doesn’t make it, it’s wait till the next album. Radio matters to us because we want to appeal to as many people as we can. Right now, we’re getting played even though some stations think we’re too polished and others think we’re too weird.

I’m not aware of an opening band for this gig. Is there gonna be one?

I don’t know. But truthfully--and I don’t want to piss anyone off--but we’d rather not have an opening band because basically, you’re letting other people screw up your mix after the sound check. The opening band uses the same knobs and the same controls, plus they move your mike stands and your stage gear all around. It usually takes the sound man about 20 minutes to get our sound right after an opening band. Plus, it shortens the time we get to play and we’re up there trying to be good for that guy that buys a ticket.