Umphrey's McGee

A jam band coming out of the Midwest in the mid-'90s, Umphrey's McGee edged toward the Frank Zappa side of the improv rock scale, as opposed to the Grateful Dead direction espoused by many of their contemporaries. Their first effort, Greatest Hits, Vol. 3, came in 1997, followed by the live album Songs for Older Women two years later. A string of successful tours and studio and live records followed, including 2006's Safety in Numbers, which marked their first appearance on the Billboard 200. The band continued to innovate throughout the next decade with releases like 2014's Similar Skin and 2018's companion albums It's Not Us and It's You. 2022 saw the release of the inward-looking Asking for a Friend. ~ Jesse Jarnow & Marcy Donelson