They are influenced musically by progressive rock bands such as King Crimson, Yes, Dream Theater, and Genesis, as well as heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden. The band also identifies The Police, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin as primary influences. However, there really isn't a style of popular music that Umphrey's does not cover. Artists covered in concert by Umphrey's range from Lionel Richie to Metallica to Toto to Snoop Dogg to Paul Simon.
Formed at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana 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 popular Notre Dame rock bands.
In mid-1998, the band released their debut album complete with a tongue-in-cheek title, Greatest Hits Vol. III. The group decided to record an album immediately because it was easier to get live gigs with an official CD. Long out of print, the album contains many of Umphrey's future concert warhorses, such as Divisions 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. By 1999, the band had gained notoriety outside of Indiana, especially with the release of the live album Songs for Older Women, which featured live tracks recorded over a two-night stand in November 1998.
The addition of Jake Cinninger in September 2000 helped bring the band's musical dynamic to a new level. Cinninger, an accomplished guitarist, brought a distinct 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). Another live album, One Fat Sucka, was released shortly after, containing live performances recorded in the summer and fall of 2000.
Around 2001, the band began practicing intense improvisational exercises. One of their first productive jam sessions took place in a hotel in the "Jimmy Stewart Ballroom" during the wedding of fan/website designer Jeremy Welsh. Therefore, the band began 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 and has been extensively outlined by "McL" in the "Jimmy Stewart writeup" on the fan message board known as "The Bort" at www.umphreaks.com.
2002 saw the release of the band's first proper recording, Local Band Does OK. That summer, Umphrey's was invited to play the first annual Bonnaroo Music Festival which took place in rural Manchester, TN, and featured over 30 bands performing in front of nearly 100,000 people. Umphrey's played to their largest audience to date and ended up selling more CDs than any other artist on the bill including Widespread Panic, Trey Anastasio, and Norah Jones.
In October 2002 drummer Mike Mirro announced he was leaving 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, who has a masters degree in jazz drumming from DePaul University.
In 2004, the band released the critically-acclaimed album 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 music was available in stores all over the country. Anchor Drops received rave reviews from several high-profile magazines. Umphrey's was booked to play the Bonnaroo Music Festival once again in June but unlike their 2002 performance, this time they would play a coveted late-night spot. The band performed to over 20,000 people, many of whom had never heard the band before. Shortly after in July, Umphrey's was declared by Rolling Stone Magazine to "have become odds-on favorites in the next-Phish sweepstakes."
In April 2006, Umphrey's released their fourth studio effort, Safety in Numbers. They appeared on the late night TV program Jimmy Kimmel Live in May and were 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 in April, 2007. It was supported with tours of the U.S., Europe, and Japan.
A live double-album titled Live at the Murat was released in October, 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. Another live double album release came in June 2008, when the band put out Jimmy Stewart 2007. The album consisted entirely of live, improvised "Jimmy Stewart" sessions recorded in 2007.
Umphrey's McGee completed work on their next studio album, Mantis, in late 2008. Recorded mainly in Manny Sanchez’s I.V. Lab Studios in Chicago, the band members began by presenting each other with CDs containing hundreds of musical ideas they’d composed over the past dozen years, which were then shifted and trimmed down to the concise tracks that appear on the album. The band’s longtime sound caresser, Kevin Browning, edited and mixed the album's material.
Mantis became available for pre-order on October 27, 2008. Along with the pre-order announcement came information that unique bonus content would be available and more content would unlock depending on how many pre-orders were placed. This unusual method of distribution has been hailed as the "perfect way to implement a pre-order campaign" by Reuters.com.
Mantis was released on January 20, 2009. The album marked Umphrey’s second decade together as a band and was the first Umphrey’s album to consist entirely of material never previously performed on the road.
Ringo
Umphrey's McGee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Midsummer's trip on the fourth of July
Living off soul and the food of guru
Trickle down process, six pack of blue moon
So if your wish could be granted, what would you say?
To live in peace forever and a day
Double-dipped ship, aqua fantasy, yeah
So what would it take to tickle your mouth?
Troubled and tried, rambling south
So if your wish could be granted, what would you say?
To live in peace forever and a day
Bunch of greasy animals, bunch of greasy animals
Bunch of greasy animals pack
Slim knows the score, she got it the night before
Slim knows the score, she got it the night before
You come around here with a bunch of greasy animals
Bunch of greasy animals, bunch of greasy animals pack
Slim knows the score, she got it the night before
Slim knows the score, she got it the night before
You come around here with a bunch of greasy animals
Bunch of greasy animals, bunch of greasy animals pack
The lyrics to Umphrey's McGee's song Ringo are filled with surreal images and references that may be hard to decipher at first. However, the song seems to be about the dreamlike experience of a midsummer day, where reality and fantasy blend together. The crack of a whip and a sty in your eye may seem like painful images, but they are juxtaposed with the freedom of living off soul and the food of guru. The Trickle down process and six-pack of blue moon may refer to societal issues but are also just mundane details of the day.
The chorus asks the listener what they would wish for if they could have anything, and the answer is to live in peace forever and a day. The verses continue with more surreal imagery such as the dog days of summer and double-dipped ships, but the tone becomes more ominous with the line "troubled and tried, rambling south." The final verse brings in the character of Slim, who "knows the score" and has possibly had a recent sexual encounter. The repetition of "bunch of greasy animals pack" may suggest a sense of danger or recklessness, but the meaning remains ambiguous.
Overall, the lyrics to Ringo seem to be more concerned with painting a picture of a certain feeling or experience than with telling a cohesive story or making a clear statement. There are hints of political or social commentary, but they are buried within the bizarre and dreamy imagery.
Line by Line Meaning
The crack of a whip and a sty in your eye, yeah
Experiencing pain and discomfort
Midsummer's trip on the fourth of July
Taking a trip on a national holiday in midsummer
Living off soul and the food of guru
Living a spiritual life with influences from a wise teacher
Trickle down process, six pack of blue moon
Receiving the benefits of a process that trickles down from the top, enjoying a six-pack of beer
So if your wish could be granted, what would you say?
Asking what someone would wish for if they could have anything
To live in peace forever and a day
Expressing a desire for eternal peace
Dog days of summer, mirages kick in
Experiencing illusions during the hot days of summer
Double-dipped ship, aqua fantasy, yeah
Referencing a fun aquatic adventure
So what would it take to tickle your mouth?
Asking what would bring pleasure and joy
Troubled and tried, rambling south
Feeling troubled and tested, moving in a southerly direction
Bunch of greasy animals, bunch of greasy animals
Referring to a group of unsavory individuals
Bunch of greasy animals pack
The aforementioned group travels together
Slim knows the score, she got it the night before
Referring to a wise and knowledgeable woman who knows what's going on
You come around here with a bunch of greasy animals
Disapproving of someone's choice of companions
Bunch of greasy animals, bunch of greasy animals pack
Repeating the earlier reference to the unsavory group
Slim knows the score, she got it the night before
Repeating the earlier reference to the wise woman
You come around here with a bunch of greasy animals
Repeating disapproval of someone's companions
Bunch of greasy animals, bunch of greasy animals pack
Repeating the earlier reference to the unsavory group
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JACOB ALLEN CINNINGER, RYAN FABEC STASIK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@benjaminreynolds3800
I love our current jam-band era. Phish, Bisco, Umph all performing at the top of their game, and amazing young artists coming up. Great time to be a fan!
@EstimatedProphet92
Benjamin Reynolds thank you. There’s so much tribalism over which band is better your attitude if refreshing. I love the scene but I get tired of the 100th who’s the best band right now conversation lol
@jaydubbz69able
String Cheese, Widespread, Goose. Thank you Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead!
@adambrzezinski1416
Tauk, Twiddle and lot more. Love it! I wish I could live in USA because no one ever comes to Poland :( Except for Gov't Mule and DMB....
@jbrown6367
@Adam Brzeziński at least you have more original metal bands in Eastern Europe
@chrisholmberg6779
@Josh Whitson you mean thank you Allman Brothers? Dead certainly deserve more credit for the festival scene but ABB would be the main influence at least for Umph and panic - all excellent bands regardless
@the.original.K
Man, I wish I could play this at the jukebox at the bar
@travisumbel6877
That's how you get your money's worth!
@PhantasyKingpin
Duuuude, I would piss so many people off if this was an option. 😂
@joeycski
Funny u should say.. on my 21st bday this bar we went too had LOTS of umphreys and a friend of my brothers put in a $20 and we had it going all night... they had murat lol it was hilarious to see everyone else's reactions, especially cus these people kept putting money in trying to play rap and it just kept playing umph!