Umphrey’s McGee and Live for Live Music are teaming up in 2015 to bring you exclusive content and unique behind the scenes insight. For all 27 dates of the Umphrey’s McGee 2015 Winter Tour, spanning from January 28th – March 21st, the Live For Live Music team will keep you updated while on the road with the band via a published in-depth tour log featuring entries from band members, exclusive track releases, professional photos, and even a FREE exclusive webcast (TBA). Look for the Live For Live Music / Umphrey’s McGee tour buses that will be making their way around the country, come take photos in front of the Live For Live Music step and repeat (impromptu band appearances anyone?), and follow the hashtag #L4LUM and keep your ear to the ground. We will keep you in the loop as we head coast-to-coast.

Game of Pones: Winter Tour Is Coming…

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Tour comes to a close….

“The last week of a long run always feels a little more special, and by the last set of the last show, you savor every note.  Our winter tour ended with two shows at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland & the Moore Theatre in Seattle.  Both gorgeous rooms in their own right, they provided a fantastic backdrop to the last few concerts.  Thursday’s highlights included a lengthy & energetic take on Bad Friday and an interesting Nothing Too Fancy > Conduit segment.  Friday’s show produced a unique version of Resolution, a scorching Bright Lights & a phenomenal sit in from Brendan’s brother Patrick Bayliss on the Pixies classic Where Is My Mind?  The tour closer in Seattle had a wild Der Bluten Kat & Amble On segment along with the Revivalists horns guesting on the rarely played cover Dance Hall Days.  Once again, we’ve learned that we have the best fans in the world.  It’s been our best winter tour yet & we want to thank all of the fans along with Live 4 Live Music for helping us make our shows the musical events that they’ve become.  See you all down the road sometime this year.” –Joel

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Umphrey’s McGee’s Ryan Stasik Talks Omega Moos, Major Rager, Abbey Road, and More

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Umphrey’s McGee Covers The Pixies With Help From Brendan’s Brother Patrick Bayliss In Portland:

Umphrey’s hits the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, 3/19-20

Copyright Jordan Inglee – Visual Suplex Media & Design – full gallery on Facebook

Photos by Greg Homolka – full gallery on Facebook

Setlist:

3/19/15

Set 1: Gurgle > Cut the Cable, Wappy Sprayberry > Mail Package, Resolution > Final Word, Educated Guess, 40’s Theme

Set 2: Bright Lights, Big City[1], Mantis Ghetts, Mantis > Comma Later, Hurt Bird Bath, Where Is My Mind?[2], Sociable Jimmy > Mantis

Encore: National Loser Anthem, Tonight

[1] “Jimmy Stewart” with lyrics
[2] with Patrick Bayliss on vocals

3/20/15

Set 1: You Got the Wrong Guy > Similar Skin > Miami Virtue > Similar Skin, Words, JaJunk > Walletsworth > Believe the Lie > JaJunk

Set 2: All In Time > Hollywood Nights > Higgins, Bad Friday, Nothing Too Fancy[1] > Conduit, The Weight Around, Mulche’s Odyssey > Willie the Pimp > Mulche’s Odyssey

Encore: YYZ > All In Time

[1] unfinished

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Enter to win the ultimate umVIP package to The Fort! Includes 2 VIP tickets with special access viewing areas, private servers, early entry, entrance to the afterparties and more!

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Umphrey’s in Aspen, 3/12-3/13


Photos by Jake Plimack. More in our Facebook gallery

Setlist:

3/12/15

Set 1: Flamethrower > Hourglass, Smell the Mitten, Intentions Clear > When the World Is Running Down You Make the Best of What’s Still Around, Preamble > Mantis > Higgins, Prowler > Mantis

Set 2: Miami Virtue > Walletsworth, Turn & Dub > Blue Echo > Women Wine and Song, Tribute to the Spinal Shaft > Africa, Go to Hell

Encore: The Fussy Dutchman > Fool in the Rain

3/12/15: Aspen Snowmass Core Day Party

One Set: Cut the Cable, Kabump > Loose Ends, The Linear, Bad Friday, 40’s Theme, Anchor Drops, Nemo, Power of Soul > All In Time

3/13/15

Set 1: There’s No Crying In Mexico > Bright Lights, Big City[1], Much Obliged[2] -> White Man’s Moccasins, Yoga Pants -> Final Word > Utopian Fir[3] > Thin Air

Set 2: Wappy Sprayberry > Andy’s Last Beer, Puppet String > Robot World -> Dear Prudence, Syncopated Strangers[4], No Comment > Puppet String

Encore: Pay the Snucka

[1] with Uptown Funk (Mark Ronson) teases
[2] with Glide (Pleasure) jam
[3] with The Ocean (Led Zeppelin) tease; with Jake on keys
[4] with Close Encounters of the Third Kind theme (John Williams) tease

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Umphrey’s at the Fox Theater in Oakland, 3/7/15

Photos by Dave Vann – Click here for full gallery

Setlist: 

Set One: Lucid State > 40’s Theme, Puppet String > No Diablo, JaJunk, Intentions Clear[1] > Similar Skin[1], Believe the Lie

Set Two: Divisions > The Triple Wide > Upward[2] > Divisions, Push the Pig -> Puppet String, Der Bluten Kat[1] > Glory[1] > Der Bluten Kat[1]

Encore: Ringo[1]

[1] with Joshua Redman on saxophone
[2] with In A Silent Way (Miles Davis) teases

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Umphrey’s McGee to play High Sierra!

Joel announced on stage at the Fox Theater in Oakland that the band will be returning to the Quincy, CA music festival on July 4, just before encoring with saxophonist Joshua Redman. Check out the full initial lineup.

 

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Umphrey’s McGee hosted a Q & A and performed a short set at Sonos Studios in LA in the afternoon on 3/6/15.





Then, it was off to take over the Wiltern with the ever so talented Joshua Redman on sax.






Photos by Brandon Weil. Full gallery on our Facebook page.

Setlist: Umphrey’s at the Wiltern, LA, 3/6/15:

Set 1: October Rain, Bridgeless > Gents > Bridgeless, Booth Love > Rocker Part 2, Professor Wormbog*, Made to Measure* > Bad Friday*
Set 2: Miss Tinkle’s Overture, Hajimemashite -> In The Kitchen, Wife Soup*, 1348* > Educated Guess* > 1348*, Driven to Tears
Encore: Plunger
* with Joshua Redman on saxophone

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L4LM: Hey guys! How is it being off for a bit before the West Coast run kicks off next week?

Ryan Stasik: “I am extremely happy to be home with my wife and daughter in warmer weather. We are currently learning how to play drums together as a family, cooking fun meals, and celebrating engagements and birthday parties with family.”

 

#ameliawest going for the Bozzio vibe. @mwfoxstasik drum day at casa de stasik.

A photo posted by Ryan Stasik (@ryanstasik) on


Kris Myers:
 “I’ve been settling into my place in Van Nuys. This has entailed hanging pictures, repositioning furniture, and setting up my home studio. I got my drum microphones in the mail a few days ago, and just bought recording software known as Pro Tools. It’s a lot of work, but my roomate and I are working through the process positively. Also, when there’s time, and since the weather is so consistent in California, I hit the driving range in the morning or afternoon so I can improve on taking people’s money playing Golf. Just kidding about taking money. I usually don’t play for money, but I play to improve my game so I can compete with the musician golfer circuit :). Some evenings my roomate and I will hit up some jam sessions in the Hollywood area, particularly a place called the Baked Potato on Mondays(jazz/fusion players), OR I’ll go to J.J.’s in North Hollywood, or Federal on Wednesdays. Some world class players playing there, mostly R n B/Pop/Soul players, for example, one night could be Justin Timberlake’s horn section with Lil’ Wayne’s bass player playing, and Tony Royster Jr.(Jay Z) might be there from time to time.”

Brendan Bayliss: “I take my shit seriously. I want my oldest son to take his shit seriously. During this week off from touring, I needed to take care of some shit….but there’s so much shit that needs to be done it’s hard to sift through all the shit and figure out which shit needs the most attention.

In the meantime, there’s all this shit that needs to be cleaned as well as other shit that gets in the way. 
So today I installed a big boy toilet seat for my son’s man shits. Hopefully it means less shit to worry about so I can get all my other shit done before I head back out on the road next week.”

Jefferson Waful: “Ah yes, a brief break from touring life. I’ve been staying busy here in the frozen tundra of Brooklyn and experimenting with different scarves and super fashionable boots that apparently are not waterproof. Mornings are spent firing off emails and coordinating photo and video shoots around the country for CID Entertainment. Then it’s off to my corner coffee shop with Howard Stern for gluten-free pastries and a large, iced cold brew. Afternoons are spent editing videos and staring at Excel Spreadsheets of various schedules and creative ideas. Around 7, I can generally be found ironing vertical stripes in preparation for a night out in NYC, celebrating this amazing year that is 2015. Hopefully some delivery system for cilantro will be found an hour or 2 later and paired with a bottle of red wine and perhaps some witty banter. Mostly just banter.

What else? One night last week I watched The Theory of Everything and was blown away by the ending, which was the inspiration for the concept of the latest Umphrey’s promo video I edited. (Ironic spoiler alert: he pretty much figures everything out except for The Theory). I also went to my first red carpet television premiere for the show Dig and was both surprised and starstruck to be in the same room as Claire from Six Feet Under and Gale from Breaking Bad. It occurred to me that both are from shows about people who work in basements. And death. Quite the party though. There were monks holding real fire.

Ok, I’m jacked on coffee and rambling. Stop me.

Shit. Just remembered I have to do my laundry today. Tour starts up again Wednesday in San Diego. Are there internships for people who want to learn about the music business and also do your laundry? Find me on Twitter.

P.S. Have you guys ever thought about hiring Liv Tyler as a spokesperson?”

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How you know you’ve made it…Umphrey’s on Jeopardy!

 

I’ll take THINGS WE DIDN’T SEE COMING for $600 Alex.

A video posted by Umphrey’s McGee (@umphreysmcgee) on

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Tour Manager Bobby Haight Joins On Drums On ‘Immigrant Song’ For His Birthday! Happy birthday, Bobby!

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Check out a thorough rig rundown with Brendan Bayliss, Jake Cinninger, and Ryan Stasik:

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2/19/15: State Theatre, Portland, ME

Joel: “Had a blast in Portland last night. It was one of those nights where everyone has a collective sense of accomplishment for even making it out in frigid, snowy conditions. Last night’s version of the Floor featured a written Stewart by Ryan & Jake that definitely has the potential to become song material. The other highlight for me was the 2nd set opening stanza of Bridgeless > improv > Get In the Van > Bridgeless, which had some fiery creativity from everyone. The State Theater in Portland has quickly become one of my favorite venues in New England. It’s a beautiful room with great sight lines and a fantastic staff. Can’t wait to go back, hopefully it will be a room we can do two nights in at some point.”

The blizzard won’t stop Joel from rocking two keyboards at once! #keyboardblizzard

“Picking up right where it left off, they drop back into Bridgeless from GITV.” — Stage manager Robbie Williams

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The surprise Abbey Road sessions!

Congrats to Umphrey’s on their major feature piece in Rolling Stone about the band’s once-in-a-lifetime recording session at Abbey Road Studios in London. The London Session will hit shelves April 7. Check out the first single, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” below.

More info on the Abbey Road sessions here

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Umphrey’s vs. Tauk!

“All I can say is that we’re old, they’re young. We even got there an hour early to practice and still got waxed!” — AndyFarag

 

 

Our very first second place trophy. @taukband @umphreysmcgee @liveforlivemusic

A photo posted by Ryan Stasik (@ryanstasik) on

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Meet Jason Allind and Kelly Lemmons, a true Umph Love story!

How’d you first meet?

We had mutual friends at the time, and we would see each other at shows and around town. I also worked at a bluegrass bar that she would frequent with friends. We met up at a phish show in the summer of 2012 in Atlanta and then made plans to attend the Umphrey’s concert 9/08/2012 in Black Mountain, NC.

How has Umphrey’s been a positive influence on your life and on your relationship?

Since our first show together in 2012 we have seen 18 shows as a couple, we love working Umphrey’s shows into our vacations. The creativity and growth of Umphrey’s is something we really look up to, with every show we go to we find new things about ourselves and the band. Through travel, music, sightseeing, and friends I have grown up with this band since my first show in 2000. Growing up in Chicago gave me many chances to see this wonderful band early in their career and I am now sharing that with Kelly.

How did you finally pop the question?

I wanted to do something special that involved a trip with our favorite band, my favorite venue, and my beautiful girlfriend. We decided to drive to Colorado for the 4th of July weekend shows, culminating in a sold out Red Rocks Amphitheater. I didn’t want to get engaged at an actual show, that idea just didn’t seem that special to me. So on the morning of the Red Rocks show we went up to Morrison for breakfast and a hike. I wanted to try to do it in the venue but it was so incredibly crowded with people doing yoga and working out. We found a nice hiking trail and went up above the amphitheater on some nice big red rocks and I popped the question. It was a beautiful spot that we will visit for years to come!

That must have been so special to go and celebrate your engagement at such a legendary venue with your favorite band. Tell us more about that day, your thoughts, emotions, experiences etc.

After that moment, the day was a whirlwind for sure, and passed by too quickly. My best friend from high school came down from Vail for the show, and we met up with one of my old tour buddies. It was strange showing up to full parking lots and people fervently searching for tickets. The celebration ensued and we were both overcome with emotion, great friends, and our favorite band. That day really was a surreal experience for us, seeing them in that big of a venue, sold out, and full of energy was icing on the cake.

How many Umphrey’s shows have you been to? And the wifey?

119 for me and wifey is at 48, with 18 shows together, we were both fans well before met.

What’s been your best Umphrey’s experience with the future wifey so far? (Other than the engagement!)

Our favorite show together is 1-23-2013 Winston Salem, the set list was great, well executed, and the crowd was manageable so we had a fun night. Asheville Valentine’s Day 2014 was a wonderful trip, we love that city and it was a great place to be on the holiday weekend. We ate some great food, stayed at a nice hotel, and were treated to a heavy rock show which we didn’t expect on Valentine’s Day.

Weirdest/funniest Umph experience?

I have many memorable moments, this band has such a large sense of humor which is what drew me to them in the first place. From Brendan doing beer bongs from the upper deck balcony on NYE one year, to a “dick in a box” encores, the birthday jokes, trying to let the fans name songs (“dirty sanchez” which is now “The Crooked One”), and the odd metered clap alongs that no one can get right.

Aspen 2003 was probably the weirdest and most fun, at that time Aspen was not that big of a draw, now the Belly Up sells out immediately. I traveled up from Flagstaff with some friends, we rented a huge condo in Snowmass on the ski hill(it was summertime). The show was very small, as I recall we knew everyone in attendance. I think they ended “Sociable Jimmy” 3 times that night and the music the rest of the set was just wild. We partied in that condo until the sun came up and I believe a few band members got in trouble for holding up the bus to Mishawaka for the next show.

What’s your favorite Umphrey’s song to make love to?

Nothing says I Love You like “Wizard Burial Ground”.

What are your plans for Valentine’s Day?

Well since this contest our plans have changed, it was going to be a quiet evening at home with fine wine, aged beef, and pants off couch tour. Now we will be on the road to Raleigh most of the day, but I believe my copilot and partner in crime is planning a road picnic for us. We will be coming to the show at the Ritz and celebrating our Valentine’s Day as an engaged couple in style, thanks to y’all! I’m excited to catch another show on this tour as it seems the band is firing on all cylinders and the improv the last few weeks has been great! Thanks to Umphrey’s McGee, L4LM, The Ritz, and Livenation for this opportunity.

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Never Miss A Sundae Show

L4LM: What was it like to play your first arena show in Asheville?

Jake Cinninger: “Mos-def a different sonic vibe. We’re used to playing with large walls surrounding us, so there is a natural sound reflection. I get a gut-punch of low-end from smaller rooms, so the desire to play harder on your instrument is very present..”

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Photos & Setlist from The Ryman, Nashville, TN. 2/6/15
By Michael Weintrob





Setlist

Set 1: Catshot > Mullet (Over), Educated Guess, Puppet String, Alex’s House, Snake Juice, I Want You (She’s So Heavy), Eat, Rocker, Rocker Part 2

Set 2: Believe the Lie, Booth Love > Nothing Too Fancy > Women Wine and Song > Den > Kashmir, Intentions Clear[1] > Glory[2] > Nothing Too Fancy[3]

Encore: All In Time[4]

[1] with Footprints (Shorter) teases
[2] with Simple Gifts (trad.) teases in intro
[3] with Stranglehold (Ted Nugent) jam
[4] “Jimmy Stewart” with lyrics

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2/7/15: Jefferson Waful (lighting maestro) gears up for his first arena show in Asheville this evening, and recaps last night’s show at the legendary Ryman in Nashville.


Photo by Heather Guthrie

L4LM: So are you getting excited for your first arena show?

JW: Super excited. Walking into this big cavernous room this morning reminded me of the scene out of Hoosiers when they walk into a giant arena, and Gene Hackman has them take out a tape measure and say okay, the basket’s still 10 feet, the foul line’s still 15 feet, it just reminded me of that. The first thing I do when I walk into a room at any venue is take my tape measure out and start marking spots. It’s pretty inspiring to walk into this for the first time.

L4LM: So what can fans expect, anything special planned?

JW: Nothing specifically, that’s kind of the joy of improvisation is that I know something special’s gonna happen, I just can’t really plan for it. So depending on what the band does, I’m just gonna follow their lead. Last night I didn’t have anything special planned and it just ended up being one of the greatest shows of my life. Everything clicked. The energy in the room was off the charts. When the band plays really well, I’m just kind of following them, so it makes my job pretty effortless.


The Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN, 2/6/15. Photo by Phierce Photography

L4LM: What was that like to light up the Ryman, such a historic and prestigious place?

JW: It really is, it’s one of the most legendary rooms in the world, and it definitely was not designed for rock ‘n’ roll. So no matter what I do in the context of a rock-like show, it feels like you’re having a party at your parents’ house when they’re out of town. It feels a little bit sacrilegious because it used to be a church, and all of these legendary bluegrass and country acts have played there over the years and here we are with our fog machines and our strobe lights, it kind of makes us feel a little bit badass. And because of the acoustics, it was designed acoustically for the human voice, so when the crowd cheers, the louder the crowd gets it creates this sort of vortex because they can hear themselves and it sounds like there’s ten thousand people in the room, which makes the crowd more excited which gets the band excited. There was this moment in “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” where the band stops for a second, right before the first lyrics come in, and right as the band stops Brendan pauses because the crowd is so loud and the band is paused for what seems like 30 seconds, and the crowd just went ballistic. And from then on the crowd was just out of control, you can feel the building shaking and you can hear that spine-tingling roar from the crowd, almost like a World Series or Super Bowl crowd. And when that happens it elevates everyone — the band plays better and it becomes this very cyclical kind of affect.


The Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN, 2/6/15. Photo by Phierce Photography

L4LM: How’s the rest of tour been going?

JW: Having the two buses for the first time is a really big step for any band, and I think it’s motivated us — not that we needed motivation — but it feels like we’re a much bigger touring operation now, and gives us a lot more flexibility for the band to come to the venue a little later to get more sleep, or to leave later as the crew is loading out, and it’s just starting to feel like we’re becoming this touring machine and getting to the next level. Selling out the Ryman for the first time and playing my first arena gig the next day, selling out Red Rocks for the first time last summer, all of these milestones are happening very quickly for us and it’s an exciting time. A lot of bands in our genre never get to this level so we feel super lucky. It’s all happening right now, not to quote ‘Almost Famous.’ It’s a really exciting time to be part of this organization.

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2/6/15: Last night, Umphrey’s covered Anchor Drops in its entirety in Chattanooga. We spoke to Ryan Stasik about how that came to be, life on the road, some heavy competition that’s heating up between the Umphrey’s and Tauk guys (look out for an olympics coming soon!) and more.

L4LM: You guys just covered Anchor Drops in its entirety in Chattanooga, what was the story behind that and how’d that turn out?

RS: Initially I had come up with this idea of something I wanted to do over New Years, I thought it would be cool on the first day of the year to do something surprising but we had so much on our plate already, so with the horns and new songs and stuff we decided to wait. Chattanooga seemed like the perfect place to bust it out, and we knew some people and some superfans were gonna be skeptical of which record we chose, so the first night we did the first two songs off of ‘Local Band Does OK.’ And I saw some kids in the front high-fiving and tweeting, being like “they’re doing it!”, so we fooled them! And then the next night we were blessed to have Jen Hartswick come down and do “Bullhead” with us. And a lot of people don’t know that the hidden track on ‘Anchor Drops’ is “Barracuda.” A lot of people don’t know the code on the CD to get there, so we played that last night and that was a lot of fun. We’ve only done that once before where we played ‘Mantis’ at the Vic the year that came out, but we’ve never done a whole record through with improv sections.

L4LM: How’s life on the road been?

RS: It’s been an unbelievable tour. Pretty rad to have the Tauk guys out with us, and tonight we’re doing an aftershow with them. Having two buses is a game changer. Instead of having 26 smelly feet on the bus we only have 7! Unfortunately I’ve been really sick so it’s nice to come back and have a giant bunk with a humidifier so I can actually get better, and it’s quiet. I’m sure the crew bus digs it too, they don’t have to deal with all of us! Everybody enjoys their space.

L4LM: What can fans expect tonight in Nashville and tomorrow in Asheville?

RS: They’re two awesome venues for us. The Ryman sold out, we’re stoked. It’s legendary. You’re standing on a stage where hundreds of the greats have stood. There’s just so much history. If you don’t feel it in your veins, you’re dead. So that’s gonna be exciting. And tomorrow I’m excited for Jeff Waful because he gets to light up his first arena show! So we’re excited to play the big room but I’m more excited to see what he can design and what he’s gonna do to take it to that next level for him.

L4LM: What else can fans get excited about coming up?

RS: Well we’ve gotten quite competitive with the Tauk guys. They’ve got about ten, eleven years on us old Umphrey’s chaps, and probably twenty on Joel. We went bowling yesterday and we did beat them! They won the first round and then we destroyed them in the second round. You know us old guys take a little while to warm up. So when we play the NorVa, which is one of our favorite venues, we’re gonna have a mini Umphrey’s vs. Tauk olympics and a 4 on 4 basketball game as well. The olympics will involve foozeball, ping-pong, billiards, a half-court basketball game and then each of us is gonna choose an audience member to see who can hold their breath longest in the backstage hot tub. 

L4LM: Sounds amazing. You’re clearly going to dominate them.

RS: Eh, they’re young bucks. We might have lost a step in our years in our cockiness. We used to be undefeated in everything but I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little scared about the basketball game.

L4LM: What does Live for Live Music mean to you?

RS: It means exactly what we’re doing. We’re on the road, we’re living, we play live, this is our bread and butter, and we have a damn good time doing it.

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Bowling With Umphrey’s & Tauk in Chattanooga!

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Things get weird en route to Chattanooga…

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Everything you ever wanted to know about Jake Cinninger…

Ryan Stasik recaps tour thus far…

 

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SUPERBOWL 2015
 
 
 
Joel on the Collaboration:

“While it seems weird now that these Umphrey’s McDoodles are on stage with Katy Perry, these types of things are gonna be a regular occurrence soon. I’m sorta hoping to go the Flaming Lips route and do something with Mily Cryus.”
 
Pats or Seahawks?
 
Bayliss: I hate Pete Carrol. He is the devil incarnate. So… Go Pats.
 
Stasik: Bayliss just likes Belichick’s sweatshirt look and Tom Brady sucks. Go Seahawks. 
 
Joel: Here’s my prediction:
Da Bears 46
Seahawks/Pats All Stars 10
 
Andy: Its a tough one, I hate both teams but I guess I’ll go with the Seahawks. Tom Brady went to Michigan and if he won, he would have as many rings as Joe Montana. 
 
Kris: No preference if the Bears aren’t there. 
 
Jake: GO IRISH!

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Gearing up for the Fillmore Detroit!

 

.@umphreysmcgee keyboardist Joel Cummins shares his view of @FillmoreDetroit at soundcheck #L4LUM

A video posted by Live For Live Music (@liveforlivemusic) on 


The Fillmore Detroit: 1/31/15
Photos by Abby Fox

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Night Three: Taft Theatre, Cincinnati, OH. 1/30/15


Everything’s better with horns…

That time Ryan Stasik “sat in” on lights:
 
 

Nick Blasky sits in on bass, @ryanstasik sits in on lights #umphreys #theview

A photo posted by Jefferson Waful (@jeffersonwaful) on 

 
Kris of Umphrey’s, Isaac Teel of TAUK and Michael Mavridoglou of Maddog’s Filthy Little Secret give their best Michael McDonald impressions…  

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Night Two: Tennessee Theatre, Knoxville, TN. 1/29/15

Setlist

Set 1: Educated Guess, Kabump > Slacker, Final Word[1] > Glory > Little Gift, FF -> Baba O’Riley, JaJunk[2]

Set 2: Wizard Burial Ground, In The Kitchen, Wappy Sprayberry > Got Your Milk (Right Here), 2×2, 40’s Theme

Encore: Conduit

[1] with Simple Gifts (trad.) tease
[2] with Jake on keys

Photos by Whitney Fisher

DID YOU KNOW? Drummer Kris Myers loves Shirley Temples!

The Daily @GoldLikeJoel:

On L4LM…

Should we fulfill this request from The Disco Biscuits’ Aron Magner?

On their band names…

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Night One: The Lyric, Oxford, MS. 1/28/15.
Recap from keyboardist Joel Cummins…

Had a great tour kick off yesterday in Oxford. Last night’s show highlights included All In Time with a lyrical Stewart. We worked on the chord progression for about 5 minutes right before the show but Brendan’s lyrics came to him in the moment, the “C” section of the Stewart was also unplanned. Hurt Bird Bath was another first set highlight, with Jake leading some key changes.The second set kicked off with an adventurous take on 3x that went into very un-Triple Wide territory. Excellent key work from myself. Turn & Dub went to some interesting places & the Bright Lights jam to close brought the house down. A quality, different set list from our man Pone.

Stream “Hurt Bird Bath,” Oxford, MS: 1/28/15

DID YOU KNOW? The band is named after a distant cousin of Brendan Bayliss’, Humphreys McGee, who is from Mississippi! Read the full story here.


Humphreys McGee

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Crew gears up for takeoff…
Chris Mitchell, Front of House:

“Last night I spent a romantic evening to my wife. This is by no means an uncommon event, but one that always takes on a bit more urgency the night before I fly. Less like checking off a “to do” item and more like a last huge gulp of pure air before diving into the rolling ocean. Today I got a hair cut, cleared my clutter out of the living room, loaded my current save of Far Cry 4 onto a memory stick, walked and washed the dog and chatted with my teenager. I packed my suitcase using a new and more efficient method I’m testing out and covered the work in progress on my workbench. Dust ALWAYS accumulates when I’m on the road. Even just a few weeks worth of dust can set an electronics project back several days and I’ve been known to go on tour for much longer than that. I could ask my wife to dust in there while I’m away, but I know she doesn’t like to go in my workroom when I’m gone. So I just throw a cover over all the chips and capacitors and switches and hope for the best. Then throw a cover of love over every soul in the house and do the same.

By the time I get to the airport, I won’t be dragging my feet. We don’t cry any more about these separations – we haven’t done that in years. We keep our transition time short or it eats into our happiness. And make no mistake: we are happy. I know people who don’t even have one fulfilling life. I have two! One at home with the family who adores and supports me, and one on the road doing a job I love so much I can’t imagine ever quitting. With a whole other family who loves and supports me. No, by the time I get to the airport, I won’t be dragging my feet. One last hug and a kiss, suitcase wheels on the pavement, feet headed towards this leg of the tour, no looking back. Ready for the new bus, ready for the fans, ready for the rush of love in every direction and music front and center!” 

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