Kris Myers delivered one of his first public performances since leaving Umphrey’s McGee earlier this month, sitting in with The String Cheese Incident on Saturday at CaveJam at The Caverns in Pelham, TN.

The String Cheese Incident headlined the first of two nights of CaveJam, welcoming The Infamous Stringdusters during the first set above ground in The Caverns’ amphitheater. In the second set, following a solid trio of “Jellyfish” > “Howard” and “Sometimes a River”, keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth announced that “Kris Myers of Umphrey’s McGee [will] come up and do some drumming with us.”  Despite the small gap in his résumé, Myers slid right into the maleable SCI lineup, adding percussion to “MLT” and a particularly engaging “Drums” alongside Michael Travis and Jason Hann.

Myers just resigned his position in Umphrey’s on May 13th after 22 years with the band, citing his desire to pursue “other elements of my musical creativity.” His final set with Umphrey’s was a Jason Bonham-assisted Led Zeppelin tribute at Daze Between New Orleans during Jazz Fest. Drummer Scotty Zwang, who had filled in for Myers in the past, handled drumming duties for Umphrey’s this past weekend in South Carolina. Following a run of shows with Widespread Panic’s Duane Trucks later this month, Zwang will step back in for the remainder of the band’s 2025 shows.

Related: Is This Spinal Tap? A Roundup Of The Many Bands Who Just Split With Their Drummer [Videos]

“We’re proud of everything we’ve built together and grateful for the bond that will always remain,” Umphrey’s McGee wrote when Myers announced his departure. “As he sets out to explore new creative pursuits, we wish Kris nothing but success and fulfillment.”

Stream The String Cheese Incident with former Umphrey’s McGee drummer Kris Myers via this nugs player, with the sit-in starting at 2:28:08. Not a subscriber? Get started here. [Editor’s note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your subscription via the links on this page helps support our coverage of the live music world. Thanks for reading!]

Up next for Cheese is a swing through the Northeast in Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York in mid-June. Find tickets and tour dates here.

Setlist: The String Cheese Incident | CaveJam | The Caverns | Pelham, TN | 5/24/25

Set One: All We Got > Lost > California Love (Tupac Shakur) > Boo Boo’s Pik-A-Nik, Stay Through > 3 Little Birds (Bob Marley) > Stay Through, Miss Brown’s Teahouse, Black Clouds [1], Bollymunster [1]
Set Two: Jellyfish > Howard, Sometimes A River, MLT [2] > Drums [2], This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) (Talking Heads)> It Is What It Is > Valley of the Jig

[1] w/ the Infamous Stringdusters
[2] w/ Kris Myers (Formerly of Umphrey’s McGee)