Photo by Zack Blum


Today, Dec. 16, marks Umphrey’s McGee guitarist Jake Cinninger’s birthday. To celebrate, the band released a new single, “Interloper.” The song was original released on vinyl in 2018 as part of the it’s not us B-sides.

“Happy Birthday Jake! For your present this year, we got you ‘Interloper’… now available wherever you stream/download music,” wrote the band in a social post sharing the song. Listen to “Interloper” below!

The instrumental track was written by Cinninger with his bandmates, bassist Ryan Stasik and keyboardist Joel Cummins. The three musicians recorded the track at Cinninger’s Boondock Studios in Michigan. Cinninger performed the drums, with Stasik on piano and Cummins on other keyboards. The guitarist overdubbed additional parts after the fact.

In addition to the new song, the band also shared some choice cuts from Cinninger and guitarist Brendan Bayliss’ traditional holiday duo show, which was performed virtually this year. While the two usually perform as a duo, this year, due to COVID-19 precautions, they performed separately.

The band shared footage of Cinninger playing a solo rendition of the UM instrumental “Glory.” They also dropped a video of Bayliss performing “Remind Me/Christmas Song.” Watch both videos below!

Read our February Q&A with Cinninger here.