Led by drummer José Medeles (Breeders, 1939 Ensemble, Revival Drum Shop), Railroad Cadences & Melancholic Anthems is a drummer’s tribute to guitarist and DIY iconoclast John Fahey. Joined for a series of guitar and drum duets with M. Ward, experimental guitarist Marisa Anderson, and Chris Funk (Decemberists, ...view article
Any moderately warm, sunny day spent in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park is bound to be a good day. This past weekend proved to be no exception to this general rule as people young and old packed the park for the 18th annual four day long Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.17356
A good friend of mine tells me that he has always experienced any troubles getting to a show as a good omen that said show is going to be a barn burner. This could all be in his mind, but the adage has rung true for me over this past week while following around Umphrey’s McGee. I’m a bit ...view article
It is nearly 2 a.m. in a gleaming warehouse perched at the Northeast edge of the San Francisco Bay. On the dock, infernos rage from steel barrels, spewing molten fireflies by the dozens with the wind’s every frigid breath as the building’s vibrations and rumbles only hint at the possibilities ...view article
The excitement can be seen on every one of the other 49 faces in the Crystal Ballroom's waiting area as the anticipation for the Umphrey's McGee's second StewArt event reaches it's peak. After a few moments, the door opens and pianist Joel Cummins enters the room first, followed closely by the rest ...view article
We rose some time after dawn in a small bed and breakfast lodge in Sacramento and I was still suffering a bit of barrel fever from all the whiskey I'd drowned myself in the night before. We had traveled East from San Francisco through the night to get a jump on the day. We'd be riding plum through ...view article
With the epidemic-like spread of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band video games, Rock and Roll music has been packaged neatly into five little buttons as mind numbing, modified studio versions of classic hits are practically put on repeat in households throughout the world. Perhaps to counterbalance this ...view article
“Happy birthday America!” exclaims Brendan Bayliss, lead singer and co-lead guitarist of all-American proggy tonk boys Umphrey’s McGee after a captivating, full band a cappella rendition of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ at the Denver (area) Gothic Theatre on Independence Day 2010. Yes, the ...view article
Coming off of one of their most prolific tours in recent memory, selling out nearly every show they played (including The Fillmore in Denver, Colorado), Umphrey’s McGee descended on the ever-familiar frozen tundra of Minneapolis for two consecutive nights at the First Avenue.