We strive to don the latest in upper lip fashion and wanted to share our progress to date. As the moustache tour rolls along, follicles begin to settle in and resemble something you may recognize as whiskers . Hopefully by Missoula we'll all look like Joel's younger brother (image at the bottom).
Brendan Bayliss
Jefferson Waful
Kris Myers
Joel Cummins
Jake Cinninger
Robbie Williams
Ryan Stasik
Bob Ston
Kevin Browning
Andy Farag
Josiah Cummins
The Herzog family riding the rail in Oklahoma City
Hard to argue with these set list requests
It's never too young to start your kids on Umphrey's McGee
Yesterday kicked off the first Stew Art Series event of the fall and what a blast it was. Where else do you get to see Ryan Stasik sing two verses of Divisions? This S2 also delivered a sneak peak of Wellwishers, a new UM original that will be coming your way very shortly. Keep your eyes peeled for a few more S2 events before the year is over.
Excerpt from "Graceland Honey Sugar Darling"
Improv #1
All Things Glory
Joelvis
Graceland Honey Sugar Darling
Funktcular
TN Bluegrass Jamtronica
Eminence Front Porch
Jamaican Man's Moccassins
Thick Air
I've heard that shows the night of S2 events are always extra special. Do you guys feel this is true?
Excerpt from "Kris Sings The Blues"
Improv #2
FF the police
Jake Plays Keys
Double Rainbow All The Way
Kris Sings The Blues
Collective F**k You Joel
Dirty Father
Double Moog Me
Shredfest 2010
Excerpt from "Wellwishers Preview?"
Improv #3
Dub & Dirty
Stasik Sock Jam
Stasik Sings a Verse of Divisions
Waful Has Seizure
Evil Jazz
Walkin In MEMPHIS
Local Band Does Subpar
Xanadu Epic Solo
Vocal Jam
Don't Stop Till You Get a PuFF
Tribute to Isaac Hayes Shaft
Wellwishers Preview?
Join us for a wrap up of the day in the life of keyboard wizard Joel Cummins & a pictorial wrap up from photoguru Chad Smith.
Pretty much sums it up...
Not all festival days are created equal. Today was one of those rare festival days that actually started and ended in my own bed, which had me a bit more rested than usual for festival craziness. Welcome to a day in my life, September 4th, 2010!
8:29 am -- Probably the earliest I've every woken up on a festival day, today I wake up to give my wife Dasha a ride down to the festival. She's running the artist relations department and if I don't get her there, no Jameson for Brendan for later.
8:43 am -- Coffee run to Starbucks, this is way too early. Anyone else have trouble remembering coffee orders before caffeine hits you? It's such a daily catch 22.
9:02 am -- On the road from our house to site, without traffic it was less than 10 minutes away. WXRT always providin good tunes, also listened to some of the most recent Mary J. Blige.
9:11 am -- Arrive on site, looks like a beautfiul day, dropped Dasha off. Also dropped off my Motion Sound leslie speaker, which I'll be using for the sit in with Land of Atlantis. It's the only Leslie cabinet I can carry by myself!
9:48 am -- Friends from NYC arrive at ORD and I pick them up at the Belmont blue line stop, this is their first trip to Chicago. Psyched they have such a gorgeous day on tap. Now back home to get myself ready for the day!
10:15 am -- Time for a quick shower, get my head together for a great day of music.
10:40 am -- Sittin down at the piano for a review of some Land of Atlantis tunes I will play with them later today. Also goin through a new cover for Umphrey's and in general, warming up.
11:08 am -- We head to Irazu, a Costa Rican restaurant in Bucktown with outdoor seating. Oatmeal shakes, more coffee and good company. Got the Gallo Pinto breakfast: eggs, plantains, rice and beans......yum!
11:27 am -- Rod Stewart's greatest hits blaring over our conversation.
11:38 am -- Traditional music now at lower volume, interesting mix!
11:52 am -- Server makes 2nd Rod Stewart joke of the meal, he's actually kind of funny with it.
12:14 pm -- A short drive down Milwaukee through to Ashland takes us to Union Park. I point out things like Subterranean, Double Door, the Bongo Room and my favorite name of a restaurant in this neighborhood, Eat First II.
12:19 pm -- Have to get my Moog from the North stage to Red Bull stage for my sit in. Robbie has already packed it up, nice work man! AR sets up a ride for me, funny how that works.
12:27 pm -- Arrive at Red Bull stage, people slowly gathering. Not only is there a ton of red bull over here, the stage actually looks like a can of it.
12:44 pm -- I find my NYC friends and they've already purchased $60 of beer tickets, with fresh beers in hand. These guys know how to rage.
1:09 pm -- Previous set is over, Joe from Strange Arrangement and I start building keyboard rig. I'm using his base rig and adding my Moog and Leslie cabinet to give me a few more options.
1:16 pm -- Leslie power is on, but something is wrong, it's making terrible sounds and something is hitting the sidewall every time it spins.
1:18 pm -- My friend Dave Skach shows up and helps me take apart the Leslie. Assistance is always helpful as the pressure of time sets in.
1:20 pm -- Land of Atlantis ready to start, Leslie speaker is not.
1:21 pm -- We've identified the problem as the centering pin is loose and the bottom rotor is swingin around like crazy. I fixed it and the organ now sounds the way it should. Dave helps me stitch the back of the cabinet up again.
1:23 pm -- I watch Land of Atlantis crush their first song from side stage
1:31 pm -- I sit in and play Alley Cat and Lobotomy, two originals of theirs, along with Edgar Winter's Frankenstein, also a first for me. A lot of great energy and a solid crowd make this a really fun, energetic sit in. The most hilarious dude is dancing in front of me the whole time, knee pads and elbow pads included. We have some great photos of him stretching on bike rack rail pre-set. Totally awesome.
2:05 pm -- My sit in is over, I think I did well, knew the songs and didn't do anything too ridiculous. I sign some autographs and take a few photos with fans side stage.
2:26 pm -- As i'm moving my gear back to the main stage, i get a text from Dasha asking if the New Mastersounds (in addition to running AR, she has also tour managed NMS) can use my keyboard. I consider a smart-ass response, but give them the green light as it was 4 minutes until set time.
2:48 pm -- Simon Allen.....good drummer, great look.
3:02 pm -- New Mastersounds still killin it, sound great from mix position. Found Scarlet and my friends from NYC, who learn that when I say meet me at FOH, it doesn't mean dead center on the rail.
3:16 pm -- Prime tanning time out here, it's 75 and sunny!
3:30 pm -- New Mastersounds finished, I go backstage to hang with those crazy cats for a few minutes. I've got man love for every one of those guys.
3:49 pm -- I see Jake for the first time since he's become a Dad, lots of smiles, hugs....ready to make some music with this guy!
3:57 pm -- Simon, also a great photographer, snaps some pics of Dash n me backstage.
4:02 pm -- My parents show up! They love to support our music. And I think they are bigger celebrities than me at our shows at this point.
4:31 pm -- The rest of the band starts to trickle in. I go to our trailer and set up my practice gear.
4:43 pm -- Jake and I run through Ms. Tinkles Overture and parts of Mulche's Odyssey.
4:54 pm -- Set list discussion. Should we do "F*** You" by Cee Lo or "Time" by Pink Floyd?
5:03 pm -- Dinner is up! Dinner with Dasha, mom and dad, Kris, Ryan and a few other friends. Our friend Tim-o has his Rock Sake drink station set up right behind us. Come on now!
5:41 pm -- Back to rehearsal in the practice space, time to dig into Cee Lo.
5:49 pm -- We start going down the set list song by song and rehearsing sections that are tricky, some songs we just play all the way through to work on the groove.
6:27 pm -- Kidd A, a rapper and friend of Andy's, comes in and rehearses with us so that he knows what our changes will be under his rhymes.
6:49 pm -- We've gone through the set list, worked on he Cee Lo tune and now its time for just vocalists to warm up together and get things tight
7:04 pm -- Rehearsal is over, we're warmed up and are ready to rock North Coast!
7:22 pm -- First drink of the night, unfiltered Rock Sake. Ryan and I head to the field in search of Mike Mirro, who is out here somewhere.
7:33 pm -- De La Soul starts and sounds great, listening to them for a few minutes.
8:02 pm -- Time to go out on stage and tweak my gear, get everything set for the first few songs and retune the Moog.
8:30 pm -- Conduit kicks things off. The crowd digs it.
8:36 pm -- I turn around to face the audience for 1348 and see nothing but people in every direction....this is good!
8:58 pm -- Kidd A comes out throws down
9:31 pm -- We debut "F*** You," most people seem to know it in the crowd. Some look confused but most are amused by the choice and are singing the chorus by the end.
9:46 pm -- Encore break, let's make this quick as we have a hard 10 pm curfew! As Jack Bauer would say, "We're running out of time!"
9:56 pm -- Brendan absolutely destroys the closing vocal of Divisions. Goosebumps.
10:03 pm -- Decompress, a few minutes in the trailer to take a deep breath.
10:08 pm -- Post show hang, lots of friends and family are out. I meet former students of my mom's who remember me coming to their 1st grade classroom and playing the piano for them back in '96.
10:56 pm -- Reconnect with my NYC friends in the production trailer of all places.
11:09 pm -- Production trailer dance party, music courtesy of A.J. Niland, who I know from working with the infamous Tony Clifton. A.J. is much more likable.
11:48 pm -- Still havin a ball with friends on site.
12:35 am -- A few of us head to the Double Door for some more New Mastersounds
12:55 am -- I find Joe from Strange Arrangement inside a packed, sold out Double Door.
1:38 am -- I get the feeling people are trying to get me drunk. Get handed my "last" drink.
1:46 am -- Get text from a friend who got kicked out for smoking (although apparently not *his* cigarette as he doesn't smoke). I see him on the other side of the glass and tell him he's an idiot.
2:03 am -- Still have a show to do tomorrow, should probably wrap this up.
2:15 am -- We depart the Double Door and head toward home but not before a stop at.....
2:23 am -- Chicago's Pizza! Wanted to give my friends a taste of some Chicago goodness.
2:34 am -- We're home, a little night cap to wrap things up. We watch some funny youtube videos, including the Leprechaun of Mobile, AL, Antoine Dodson's "they snatchin up everyone, so hide your kids, your wives, etc..." and the extended video of Huey Lewis' "Power of Love."
3:03 am -- I head upstairs to bed.....wifey is already asleep.....shhh.......good night everyone!
