wordplay by Cassie Hood
images by Danny Clinch & Dan Merlo

There is only one certainty in life: death. Death evokes pain, fear, and suffering. In great suffering comes healing, and in the company of friends, we find the security and comfort to restore our hearts. As human beings, we are prone to find safety in numbers, and the new album from Umphrey’s McGee exemplifies this human nature.

Reaching deep inside their pain, the band pulled together to spill the contents of their hearts onto the album. Based on the concept of dealing with change and life, Safety in Numbers weaves through different sounds and emotions. In 2004, the band’s dear friend, Brian Shultz, was killed by a drunk driver. Intermingling with Umphrey’s overall pain was singer Brendan Bayliss’ own inner torment. So the band took to the recording studio and let everything pour out to help heal them.

“We were writing for ourselves,” Bayliss says. “I wasn’t consciously thinking that maybe this will help someone. I was just venting my own issues.”
The result is a tapestry of sound ranging from blues to electronic rock, from psychedelic to country. Jake Cinninger’s use of a synth in “Believe the Lie” allows the band to play unnatural noises, giving the band an electronic flare, but keeping them from sounding overproduced. “Women, Wine and Song” features their friend Huey Lewis and has a down-home country feel, combining harmonica and acoustic guitars. 

“It was just so cool to see an example of someone staying true in the midst of all this popularity,” Bayliss explains of Lewis, later explaining that Lewis became a friend of the band, and they thought he would be a perfect addition to a song for the album.
Their meandering styles stem from their roots as a jam band. Refusing to settle into one genre, the band has been known to play for hours. No show is exactly the same, and Umphrey’s demonstrates their love for music each time they play.

“The response from the crowd gets us going,” Bayliss claims. “I mean playing big rooms is exciting. But playing packed small clubs is equally as satisfying.”
Formed in 1997, Umphrey’s McGee took their name from Bayliss’ cousin. Their goal was to follow Frank Zappa down the golden brick road of improv rock, instead of mimicking their predecessors the Grateful Dead and Phish. In fact, many fans of Umphrey’s McGee are insulted by the comparison.

Over the years, the band has added and lost members. Morphing and shrinking, finally settling with their six members, Bayliss, Cinninger, Joel Cummins (keyboards and vocals), Kris Myers (drums and vocals), Andy Farag (percussion), and Ryan Stasik (bass). Along with Huey Lewis, the band has performed with saxophonist Joshua Redman, cellist Chris Hoffman, and pedal steel guitarist Mike Racky. Their ever-changing lineup matches their ever-changing sound.

“At the beginning we were just a bar band trying to get free beer,” Bayliss says with a laugh. “I would like to think now we are a little more rounded.”
Though Safety in Numbers is their third studio release, they have yet to become a household name. They remain hindered by jam band stereotypes. Many people feel that jam bands can’t make good albums; other people think that jam bands are too confusing and unstructured to be considered good music. But true fans of music believe that labels are just labels and don’t really define a band or a type of music. Umphrey’s refuses to accept labels by diving into as many genres as possible. Maybe it’s indecision, but either way, the end result is diverse, emotion-packed music.

“We look at what we do live and in the studio as two different things,” Bayliss says of a recent review’s claim that Umphrey’s was trying to become “mainstream.”  “We didn’t really expect; we didn’t think everyone was going to buy it [the album]. We just did it for ourselves.”

Through the good and bad times, the band finds comfort in themselves, in what they do, and in their love of music. Bayliss says the best way to deal with change is to have faith, because, as grim as it is, sh!+ happens. He says his love of music stems from how it affects him and helps him in hard times.  

“Some of the last moments of purity of the world are in music,” Bayliss explains. “It is just very honest and true, and there’s not enough honesty and truth in the world.”
Tried, pure, true, Umphrey’s McGee sought to help themselves. What they ended up doing was creating music the drips with emotion and shows people that even in the worst of times, things can get better. And for Umphrey’s they are.

September 21st @ The Fox
September 22nd @ The Fillmore

 Umphreys.com