Band set sights on becoming national act
In December of 1997, two of South Bend, Indiana’s up and coming bands merged
to form Umphrey’s McGee. After playing together for a few months, and releasing
their 1st album “Greatest Hits Volume III”, original members Joel Cummins
(keyboards, vocals), Mike Mirro (drums, vocals) Brendan Bayliss (guitar,
vocals) and Ryan Stasik (Bass) had the opportunity to play a few shows with
percussionist Andy Farag. In June of 1998, they decided to ask Andy to join
the band full time, and in November of 1998, recorded their 2nd release
entitled “Songs for Older Women”. In September of 2000, Jake Cinninger,
musician from Niles, MI, found himself without a band, and Umphrey’s jumped
at the opportunity to ask such a versatile musician to join the band. After
a few practices, it became apparent that Umphrey’s McGee had found the full
sound they were looking for. Jake joined Umphrey’s McGee full time on guitar
and vocals, and the band set sights on becoming a successful national act.
Umphrey’s McGee has quickly become one of the nation's fastest growing musical
acts. Their live music is one of the most widely spread and highly sought-after
on the Internet, and they have a legion of fans that trade and collect their
live recordings. Umphrey’s McGee works with one of the country's top online
promotional networks, JamBase.com, to help market their shows and has joined
forces with the North Carolina based HomeGrown Music Network for the past
three years. ~ umphreys.com |
