7 Questions with Jake Cinninger from Umphrey’s McGee

Sep 23 2009 Published by Jason Shadrick under 7 Questions, Twitter

Jake_Umphreys_NewOur next participant in the 7 Questions project is one of my favorite guitarists on the “jamband” scene.  Jake Cinninger is currently the guitarist in jamband via prog rock outfit Umphrey’s McGee.  They tour A LOT, so make sure to check out a show next time they are around.

An interesting side project for Jake has been OHMPHREY which pairs him up for an improv heavy album with Chris Poland (OHM, Megadeth).

Describe your first experience playing music.

The first real memory I have is when I was about four years I played with Tommy Shaw, from Styx.  He was living in my hometown of Niles, MI and my parents were friends with him.  There was a party at my parent’s place and Tommy was playing Beatles by the campfire and I dragged my whole drum set out from my bedroom and joined in.

What has been your most significant musical experience?

I have had a lot of significant experiences, but just this last summer, two late night shows at Rothbury Music Festival.  As far as the eye could see were little heads and Umphrey’s never sounded so tight and proud.  I remember walking off the stage at 5AM feeling like we had connected better than ever, it was great.
What was the best advice you pursuing a career in music you were ever given?

To create something new, you have to fall on your face once in awhile, get up, scape off the bad bits, and go back to the drawing board.  Great songs are like great stories, you need more than one draft.

What is your favorite sound?

My dog does a mean John Coltrane impersonation, she sounds just like a sax when she is happy to see me, it is my favorite sound.

Name some of your biggest non-musical influences.

My parents and wife, the rest really are musical.

What is the most memorable concert you ever attended?

Todd Rundgren’s Adventures in Utopia Tour 1980 in South Bend, IN.
Put your iPod on shuffle and list the first 5 songs that appear.
She’s got Balls, AC/DC
Great King Rat, Queen
Nobody’s Fault but Mine, Led Zeppelin
Brand New Morning, Bob Seger
Burnin’ For You, Blue Oyster Cult.

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Umphrey’s McGee Gives Control to Their Fans

Sep 19 2009 Published by Jason Shadrick under Music Business

I just came across a post on the Umphrey’s blog about some new events they are planning called “Stew Art Series”.

S2_01

Here is the description of the events from the website:

An (S2) event is an experiment in crowd-sourced improvisation. One hundred percent of the music performed at a (S2) event will be improvised, and you are the ones who will serve as directors. Using several communication mediums - which could range from text messaging to prewritten cue cards to chalk boards - you will kick out ideas, descriptive words, phrases, pop culture references . . . pretty much whatever comes to mind. These will be presented to the band who will compose jams on the fly based around those ideas, and ideas will be added to, changed, and deleted as the event progresses. For instance, a fan might toss out the phrase “frightened rabbit,” causing the band the play a frantic, nimble jam and after a period of time, the word “rabbit” might get changed to “brontosaurus” which would take the jam in a heavy, slower direction (though the word “frightened” is still in play). Then perhaps the word “skydiving” morphs the “frightened brontosaurus” jam into a soaring, powerful piece of music that evokes the feeling of being airborne . . . until the phrase “without a parachute” gets tacked on which changes the jam into something else entirely. And so on. No one will have any idea where the music is headed, well, and that’s all part of the fun. The event will also include a Q&A session to provide an opportunity to ask about what you’re witnessing (or ask anything else for that matter). Fans will become a part of the music like never before.

To me this is a GREAT idea that I wish more bands and artists took part in.  Obviously, UM is an incredibly forward thinking band that really looks to push the envelope in order to give their fans the best and most unique experience possible.

Do you think this type of event could apply to different genres of music?

Can you imagine a jazz group using the audience as a source for raw material for their improvisations?  I think this would make the audiences feel more involved and make the live music experience more personable.  If bands want to get people to their performances in this day and age of so many distractions, they need to offer something new.

Well done Umphrey’s.  I look forward to seeing where you go from here.

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