As hordes of Chicago’s chic hipsters scramble for expensive and unique ways to ring in 2009, Umphrey’s McGee keyboardist and co-founder Joel Cummins relaxes in a Los Angeles hotel room with his fiancé. There’s not a hint of anxiety in the 32-year-old’s voice when it comes to his New Year’s plans.
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Umphrey’s McGee
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 Entertainment
Art
The Auditorium Theater
Chicago, IL
December 29- 31, 2008
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Cummins’ plans have been set in stone for quite some time now and aren’t too out of the ordinary. He’ll be with his close friends, maybe drink a little, get boisterous at times, but overall just be happy to celebrate at home.
Only difference is that Cummins, a native of La Grange, Ill., and the rest of Umphrey’s McGee, will be hosting a three-night party, from Dec. 29- 31 at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, with 4,000 of their closest friends joining in the festivities each night.
Umphrey’s has played New Year’s shows in Chicago now for eight consecutive years, working their way up the proverbial rock-ladder that has seen them headlining shows at the Cubby Bear, the Vic, the Riviera, the Aragon, and now the Auditorium Theater.
“More than anything it’s been really a fun way to finish off the year, to throw a party for our friends and our fans,” Cummins says in a phone interview. “We feel really lucky that we have the opportunity to do this every year and to try to do something new every year. It’s been a great little tradition we’ve established.”
The “little tradition” has become a gathering of sorts for musical talent in Chicago. Umphrey’s, which consists of Cummins on keyboards, Brendan Bayless on guitar/vocals, Jake Cinninger on guitar/vocals, Ryan Stasik on bass, Kris Meyers on drums, and Andy Farag on percussion, has been joined onstage in past years by acts ranging from Latin-rockers Los Lobos to jam-band festival regulars North Mississippi All-Stars. This year Umphrey's will share the stage with Chicago blues-legend Buddy Guy. Not a bad guest list for six Midwestern boys.
As college students at Notre Dame University in the late nineties, Cummins admits things weren’t always so glamorous in the dregs of South Bend, Indiana. With Chicago only a few hours away, and the musical and cultural opportunities far exceeding that of northwest Indiana, Umphrey’s adopted the ‘Windy City’ as their hometown, now having lived there since 2000.
“We started to realize very shortly after playing in South Bend that it didn’t have the cultural scene or environment for us to flourish,” Cummins explains. “Chicago is clearly the cultural vortex of the Midwest. It was so close to us and we are all Midwestern guys in the band, so it made perfect sense for us to go there and set us shop.”
Like jam-band predecessors such as Phish, the Grateful Dead, and more recently Moe and The String Cheese Incident, Umphrey’s has made a name for themselves through constant touring, intricate jams during live performances, and grassroots word of mouth publicity. After already having performed more than 100 shows in 2008 and working tirelessly on their fifth-studio album, “Mantis,” due out on January 20, Cummins and his band mates will finally be able to relax on the shores of Jamaica. Not without playing music of course.
As part of an event called Caribbean Holidaze, which Cummins says is “such a fun vacation for our fans,” the band will melt the collective ears of their audience members in early December, which may or may not be submerged in the sparkling water of the Caribbean Sea. It’s simply their choice as Cummins laughingly explains.
“What a really nice way to go into the holiday season,” Cummins says. “C’mon you’re performing on a beach in December. The fans can watch the show from the ocean or the beach, it’s their choice.”
While Cummins is quick to laugh, even showing signs of child-like awe at his band’s success, it’s clear the music has and always will take precedent over any aesthetic luxuries the fame has brought. At Umphrey’s core, the changing dynamic of their musical landscape is all that matters.
It seems like (our music) is in a constant state of evolution,” Cummins reflects. “We’re definitely very focused in trying to be tight while improvising. It’s a really organic system of how we create (music) and it has developed over the years.”
After doing their “best Axl-Rose” trying to “micro-manage every second of their new album,” Cummins can breath a collective sigh of relief for his entire band. Songs from “Mantis” have not leaked out.
Umphrey’s, in uncharted territory for the band, has not played any of their new songs live. According to Cummins, the band felt that this would add to the mystique of the new record, and bring back some of the original aura studio albums used to carry.
“We’re trying to reclaim the identity of the studio album,” Cummins says in theory. “It’s challenging (to not play the songs) because we feel so strongly about them. It’s been hard to hold them back, but we want our fans to hopefully have this unique experience of getting this new music on Jan 20, having never heard any of it.”
With their album completed, a Caribbean work excursion in the coming weeks and of course a New Years run of shows in their hometown, Cummins and Umphrey’s McGee will finish the year in grand fashion yet again.
“We feel like we’re right where we want to be,” Cummins says. “I think 2009 is going to be our best year yet and we’re really looking forward to it. It’s going to be an exciting time.”
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