Huey Lewis talks Umphrey's
Huey Lewis first met Umphrey's McGee in the spring of 2005, when they began rehearsing for an appearance at the Jammys in New York City (a collaboration that also included Mavis Staples, Sinead O'Connor and Jeff Coffin). After rehearsal, Huey joined a few of the band members for drinks at a local watering hole and wound up hitting it off particularly well with Brendan Bayliss.
"Drinks turned into multiple drinks," recalls Bayliss. "You know when you wake up the next day after a night of drinking and you can't really remember what happened, but you know something stupid happened? You're swimming in remorse and then it hits you. Apparently I had fallen and hit my head and Huey picked me up and carried me to bed and tucked me in. I woke up the next morning with a knot on my head and said to myself 'wait, did Huey Lewis tuck me in last night?' I was that guy."
Needless to say, a friendship was formed that night - not to mention quite a bruise - and Huey and Umphrey's have stayed in touch over the years. Lewis appeared on the album version of "Women, Wine and Song", which led to an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live with Umphrey's. Bayliss also sat in with Huey Lewis and the News in July of 2005 and August of 2008.
Lighting designer Jefferson Waful recently interviewed Lewis for the new issue of Relix Magazine (on newsstands November 23) and the topic of Umphrey's inevitably came up on more than one occasion.
Here is an audio excerpt: