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All Music Guide:
A jam band coming out of the Midwest in the mid-'90s, Umphrey's McGee edged toward the Frank Zappa side of the improv rock scale, as opposed to the Grateful Dead/Allman Brothers Band direction espoused by many of their contemporaries, like the Big Wu. The members of Umphrey's McGee met at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. The original four bandmembers (keyboardist Joel Cummins, guitarist Brendan Bayliss, bassist Ryan Stasik, and drummer Mike Mirro) had been playing in various campus bands when they got together in December 1997, naming themselves after a cousin of Bayliss'. With the national jam band infrastructure already in place, the band quickly began disseminating their live shows and soon released their first album, Greatest Hits, Vol. 3. The fourth-generation jam band often included songs by Phish and moe. in their live sets, along with the usual selection of wacky covers.
The quartet won a large following in the South Bend area. As bandmembers graduated, the group instated a more and more rigorous rehearsal schedule. Half of the band had degrees in music, so emphasis was placed on constant precision. The band religiously studied tapes of their performances in order to improve them. While their record sales never reached high levels, they used live recordings to pave the way for gigs in parts of the country they'd never been to before. A story circulates of the band selling out shows in Colorado before their first trip there due to the distribution of live CDs. In 1999, the band released a live recording, titled Songs for Older Women, their first recording to feature percussionist Andy Farag. In 2000, the band became a sextet with the addition of guitarist Jake Cinninger, a former member of a fellow South Bend group Ali Babba's Tahini, which had broken up, and they made the move to the bustling metropolis of Chicago. From their new home base, the band went on two-week jaunts throughout the Midwest, occasionally hitting other markets and sharing the stage with a variety of musicians, including Dr. Didg (aka Graham Wiggins), the Chicago-based blues harmonica player Sugar Blue, Béla Fleck, Topaz, and many others.
On New Year's Eve 2000, Umphrey's McGee released their third album, another live disc, titled One Fat Sucka. Local Band Does O.K., their first studio album, came out in 2002. In 2003, they released their first DVD, Live from the Lake Coast, which had been filmed in July 2002. It marked the last appearance on an Umphrey's McGee recording by Mirro, who had left to go to medical school and was replaced on New Year's Eve 2002 by Kris Myers, who had a Master's degree in jazz drumming. Local Band Does OKlahoma, their next live album, was also released in 2003. A second studio album, Anchor Drops, appeared in 2004 on fellow jam band the String Cheese Incident's SCI Fidelity label, and a second DVD, Wrapped Around Chicago: New Years at the Riv, was issued in 2005. In 2006, Umphrey's McGee released their third studio album, Safety in Numbers. The studio effort Bottom Half and the concert album Live at the Murat both appeared in 2007. Mantis was released early in 2009, followed by by the Manny Sanchez and Kevin Browning produced Death by Stereo in 2011.
Wikipedia:
Umphrey's McGee or UM is an American progressive rock jam band originally from South Bend, Indiana whose music is often referred to as "progressive improvisation", or "improg" (as per a progressive sampler released by the band in 2009). Although the band is part of the jam band scene, like Phish and the Grateful Dead (with ever-changing setlists, improvisation, two sets per night, open taping policy, etc.), they are much more influenced musically by progressive rock bands such as King Crimson, Yes, Pink Floyd, Dream Theater, Frank Zappa, and early Genesis, as well as heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden. The band also identifies The Police, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin as primary influences. UM experiments with many genres including progressive rock, funk, jazz, blues, metal, electronic, bluegrass, and everything in between.
History
Early Years (1997-2000)
Formed at the University of Notre Dame in December 1997 by guitarist/vocalist Brendan Bayliss, bassist Ryan Stasik, keyboardist Joel Cummins, and drummer Mike Mirro, Umphrey's McGee combined members of Tashi Station and Stomper Bob, two Notre Dame rock bands. Early concerts consisted of both originals and cover songs, including Guns N' Roses' "Patience" and Vince Guaraldi's Peanuts theme "Linus and Lucy" as well as songs by Phish, moe., and The Grateful Dead.
In mid-1998, after only 8 months together, the band released their debut album, Greatest Hits Vol. III. The decision to release a studio disc allowed them to more readily book live performances. Though long out of print, this debut album contains songs that remain staples of Umphrey's live sets, such as "Divisions", "Phil's Farm", "FF", and "All in Time".
Shortly after the release of the album, the band added a fifth member, percussionist Andy Farag. Farag's father became the band's agent, and a second pressing of Greatest Hits Vol. III featured Farag in the album's inner sleeve and credits. By the end of the year, Umphrey's McGee, along with peers Ali Baba's Tahini, were one of the most popular bands in the South Bend/Notre Dame area. They began performing outside of the area at colleges and house parties, allowing listeners to tape and trade their music freely. In 1998, the band released their first live album, Songs for Older Women.
Guitarist Jake Cinninger was added to the band in September 2000. Cinninger brought a heaviness to the Umphrey's sound, as well as a large repertoire of original music, much of which comprised the bulk of the catalog from his previous band, Ali Baba's Tahini. The band also adopted several songs written by Ali Baba's Tahini frontman Karl Engelmann (who now fronts Asheville-based rock band Mother Vinegar). Shortly after Cinninger's arrival, the band released another live album, One Fat Sucka, which contained live performances recorded in the summer and fall of 2000.
Full Line-up with Mike Mirro Era (2001-2002)
In 2001, the band began practicing intense improvisational exercises. One of their first productive sessions took place in a hotel in the "Jimmy Stewart Ballroom", prompting the band to call their onstage improvisational excursions "Jimmy Stewart". This form of improvisation differs in approach from the methods utilized by many of their jam band peers.
Jake Cinninger and Joel Cummins released solo albums in 2001 and 2002, respectively. At least two songs from each of those albums have made their way into Umphrey's concert repertoire.
June 2002 saw the release of the band's first proper recording, Local Band Does OK. That summer, the first annual Bonnaroo Music Festival took place in rural Manchester, Tennessee, and featured over 30 bands performing in front of nearly 100,000 people. Umphrey's played to their largest audience to date. The band sold more CDs than any other artist on a bill that included Widespread Panic, Trey Anastasio, and Norah Jones.
The band almost ended in late 2002 when drummer Mike Mirro announced he was leaving the band to attend medical school. After hundreds of tapes were reviewed by percussionist Andy Farag, the band settled on the first one they received, which was from Kick the Cat drummer Kris Myers.
Current Line-up (2003-Present)
In 2004, the band released Anchor Drops, recorded in several different studios throughout the Chicago area. Shortly before the release of the album, the band scored a distribution deal for both Anchor Drops and Local Band Does OK, and for the first time, Umphrey's McGee music was available in stores all over the country. The album received rave reviews from several high-profile magazines. Once again, Umphrey's headed to Bonnaroo, playing a coveted late-night spot. The band performed to over 20,000 people, many of whom had never heard the band before. In July, the band was declared by Rolling Stone Magazine to "have become odds-on favorites in the next-Phish sweepstakes." Also around this time, the UM Live program was started by "Sound Caresser" Kevin Browning. Each night's show would be offered for sale directly after the show. This translated into a partnership with Disc Logic and the band began to offer their shows for sale online as well, a few years later all of the band's shows would be moved to UMLive.net.
Starting in 2005, the band began producing Umphrey's McGee Podcasts, an effort to provide fans with highlights of recent shows. Each podcast is around 75 minutes in length and is released about twice a month, and it has 20,000 listeners.
On April 4, 2006, Umphrey's released their fourth studio effort, Safety In Numbers. They appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live alongside Huey Lewis in support of the new album on May 18, 2006. The band was featured at many of the major U.S. festivals throughout the summer, playing 129 shows before a three-night stand in Chicago for New Year's Eve. The Bottom Half, an album of leftover tracks from the Safety in Numbers sessions, was released a year later on April 3, 2007. Near the end of 2006, Umphrey's began a program to provide complimentary tickets to audience tapers in exchange for them distributing the recordings digitally online.
A live double-album titled Live at the Murat was released on October 16, 2007. The album was recorded over 2 nights at the Egyptian Room in the Murat Centre in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 6–7, 2007. It received a 4-star review from Rolling Stone magazine. The album also won a Jammy for best live album.
Mantis was released on January 20, 2009. The album concentrated more on the progressive style that was associated with their Anchor Drops album.
The band's latest album, entitled Death By Stereo, was released September 13, 2011. The album features a mix of new songs as well as old songs that the band has used in their live rotation for years, such as "Hajimemashite" and "The Floor".
