RR: I imagine the members of Umphrey’s have always been their own worst critics.
JC: Definitely. Definitely. And it’s funny because I feel like a lot of the things that we are critical about are probably things that a half a percentage of our fanbase notices. (laughter) We want to go out there and we do want to put out our best show every time, and when that doesn’t happen it is frustrating for all of us because we know how good we can be. I know one of the more recent sets that we played, the late night set at Wakarusa (June 5), was one where things were just happening, and falling into place. It was like 8 to 10,000 people, everybody, gettin’ down. We really felt good about that recent performance, and I think a couple of our Summer Camp shows, too, we definitely felt really good about those, too.
So, overall, our consistency level has gone up in 2010 both with the creativity with the setlist and the improvisation. Those are the two things that really keep our core fanbase interested in coming back to see us time after time. We just plan to keep on focusing on those this summer. It’s really exciting because this is our first real summer headlining tour that we’ve ever done. Of course, we have a few festivals here and there that we’re still doing, but, for the most part, these are headlining shows. The biggest thing our fans have asked for is “Can you do a summer tour where we get to hear more than 90 minutes of Umphrey’s McGee?” (laughs) I think every single one of these shows, except for a scant few, we’re either doing a two-hour set and an encore, or we’re still doing two sets. It makes me really happy that we’re able to accomplish that, and get into a number of venues that we wanted to play at, and places where we could have success from a business standpoint, and also, have success with making our fans happy.
RR: For the most part, in the best sense of the phrase, Umphrey’s McGee is a fairly well-oiled machine these days. However, the band also welcomes guests from time to time. How much rehearsal is planned for these sit-in appearances? For example, you had Jesse Clayton from the Macpodz sit in on keys on “Slacker” at Summer Camp.
JC: Sit-ins are almost entirely improvised—85% of the time. There might be a time or two where nobody knows a song, and we’ll have ten minutes to work on something backstage, but, yeah—for the greater part of it…for example, I told Jesse, “We’re going to do this jam in G, and you can come up, and we’ll just see what happens.” (laughs) That’s what happens most of the time. Ivan Neville has sat-in with us about six or seven times. He really gets what we’re doing, understands that there’s a lot of eye contact and stuff going on, and he just kills it every time. I love playing with Ivan.
There are some people who come up and it’s more about playing the solo and totally crushing it that way. Ivan can do that, but Ivan can also come up and really get into the groove, and the two of us lock into some stuff on keyboards. It’s nice to have two keyboardists; I have two guitarists all the time. (laughter)
*RR: What’s it like to stand on Wrigley Field and sing the National Anthem? [Author’s Note: On Father’s Day, Sunday, June 20, Joel Cummins, Brendan
Bayliss, Kris Myers, UM manager Vince Iwinski, and ex-UM lighting designer Adam Budney sang before the Chicago Cubs game [Only half the band could attend as bassist Ryan Stasik was sidelined for family reasons, guitarist Jake Cinninger canceled after a flood and a power outage hit his home and percussionist Andy Farag was hit with food poisoning].*
JC: I’ve grown up a Cubs fan my whole life, so, needless to say, these are always a real pleasure for me. It’s cool to be able to get up there. We’re more known for what we create instrumentally with our songs, so to be able to get up there and sing a four-part a cappella version of the National Anthem is always a good, fun challenge for us. A couple of us are really big Cubs fans, so any time we get to do that is a great thing. The fact that it’s during the interleague series, and it’s on Father’s Day is pretty special for us. My mom and my dad are going to be there, too. We get to share the whole thing with them.
That’s one of those things—my parents actually do come to a lot of shows, and they totally get it, and they are really happy for our career. But, being able to see your kid sing at Wrigley Field is probably one of those things that Pops was very proud of. He was hoping I’d make it as a baseball player, but if I have to make it there as a singer, I’ll take that, too.
RR: To cover all bases, literally, you’ve also sung before White Sox games, and have an upcoming National Anthem appearance there in late August.
JC: I’m actually a huge baseball fan, so I’m not afraid to say that while I’m a Cubs fan, and when the Cubs play the Sox, I definitely talk plenty of smack, but, you know, I’m a big baseball fan, and I’ll cheer for Chicago, too. I have no issue with going down to the South Side, and singing there a little bit, too. I think this might be our fifth or sixth time with the Sox. We’ve done some acoustic performances there, and it’s always great. We had our best ever sideshow there. I know we’ve had fireworks and pyro and crazy light shows, but two years ago, when we actually sang for Opening Day, we got the fly-by at the end of the National Anthem, so that was pretty sweet.
RR: On that note, I am going to throw a couple of summer festivals your way where Umphrey’s McGee will be playing. Tell me what you think of each. All Good?
JC: “All Good” is a very good description of that. This is probably our fifth or sixth year doing that one. What a great site. There is one main stage, and you’re playing and looking out at this beautiful natural amphitheatre on top of a mountain. That is always one of those that is always the highlight of the summer for us.
RR: Gathering of the Vibes at the end of July?
JC: I think this is our second time up there, but what a cool lineup this year. They’ve got Furthur and the Rhythm Devils, so you’ve got a lot of the surviving Grateful Dead membership performing up there with us, as well. It’s always good to find a good gig in Connecticut because those are always hard to come by, and Gathering of the Vibes is certainly the best gig we’ve ever done in Connecticut—right on the ocean, so no complaints here.
RR: The reason I asked about those two festivals is that they are prime examples of the improvisational spirit. When you are on stage these days, whom are you listening to, and focusing on? What has changed? How are you maintaining that particular input, the idea of ‘keeping your mind and ears fresh’, after all this time?
JC: Right. Right. That’s a great question. I’ll start off with a bigger picture answer to that, and get a little more microscopic with it. I think the number one thing that we do to stay fresh is to make sure that we don’t play too many shows in a row, or we don’t stay out on the road too long. Inevitably, the first couple shows after a few days off—the improv for those shows are really fresh and really exciting. By the time you get to the fifth day in a row, you have to dig a little bit deeper to find those good ideas to really get that energy up. That’s one of the things that we’ve recognized over the years. To perform our best shows, we really shouldn’t do more than four or five in a row, and we really shouldn’t be out on the road for more than three weekends in a row. Those two things are huge factors in our ability to stay fresh, and to be able to get what’s going on with each other.
On a more microscopic level, we work on all kinds of things. Kris has been like a huge, huge kind of…pushing us to really think about feel with every song, so there are some songs where he’ll say, “O.K., I’m going to really pull this one back—he’ll say this in the talkback right before the song—so really, really fall back on these hits, so we’re all tied together like that.” Sometimes, there will be places where we’re pushing it a little bit more, and we’ll talk about that.
But, I think, for the most part, every single…yeah, you’re right. I’m trying to listen to everything that’s going on, but throughout the night, I’ll be focusing on different things because my role goes back and forth between leading with melodic ideas to supporting melodic ideas that the guitars are doing to being part of the rhythm section with Ryan and locking in with him and Kris. I feel like I float around fulfilling different roles depending on what the song, or the moment, really needs. Yeah, I think that that’s been an important thing for me as I have developed as a musician—to realize that I can have this versatile role with the band, and that’s something that, obviously, is going to work best for creating our sound, and having a nice variety of stuff.
Yeah, the listening is always an important thing for creating. As years have gone by, I have definitely worked on my ear training to the point where if somebody is playing something now, if I know what key it’s in, within one time of hearing it, I can probably play it back for you. Which is nice to be able to do, so you don’t have to sit there and fumble around and try to figure out what the hell’s going on with the rest of the band. (laughs) Hopefully, that has added to some of our confidence as a band—being able to really lock into things quickly, as opposed to having to wait and figure out: “What is he playing?” We try to really focus on that listening, and then, be able to jump in with something creative pretty quickly.
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