I started playing drumset when I was 12 years old. My older brother Matt ("Dr. Feelgood"), affectionately known as one of the "bad boys" throughout the league, had picked up guitar back in the day. I figured it was only "proper" that I played drums to complete our band. I took lessons from "Sir William Romer" for 6 years. Bill has continued to teach drum lessons and currently performs in the Chicagoland region with his band, Freak Johnson. I went off to school at ND in 1996 ---Umphrey's McGee: 12/10/1997 -- 12/31/02"YEEEEPPPP!"It was during December 1997, in South Bend, Indiana that a merger between two local bands gave birth to the group Umphreys McGee. The original line-up was Joel Cummins (keyboards, vocals), Brendan Bayliss (guitar, vocals) and Ryan Stasik (bass), and Mike Mirro (drums, vocals). After our first studio release, Greatest Hits Volume III (1998), we invited percussionist Andy Farag to join. In 1998 UM completed and released our second CD, Songs For Older Women, with Andy on board. The next evolution in our sound came in September of 2000, when primo guitarist Jake Cinninger became available and began contributing his guitar chops and ace songwriting to the mix. With the addition of Cinningers vision, Umphreys McGee focused exclusively on improvisational composition at live concerts. We recorded our third album in 2000; it was dubbed "One Fat Sucka". The live album draws upon performances from our Fall 2000 tour and is indicative of our "quirky musical antics". We released "Local Band Does OK" in 2002 on an independent label. LBDOK was received with critical acclaim, and helped thrust the Umphreys name beyond the insulated confines of the jam scene and into a broader consciousness:
Music that fuses fusion, funk, and pop into a steamy psychedelic swirl"; music that is called cerebral and mathematical, yet danceable and infectious at the same time; music that prog-rock nerds delight in discovering"; music that threatens to blow speakersand a few minds; music for the "parched heads out there thirsting for some depth and complexity"; This is the startling music we delivered on LBDOK.Since making the difficult decision to leave Umphrey's McGee, I have enrolled in medical school at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). I was able to collaborate with my good friend John Wasem (singer/songwriter www.jhwmusic.net) frequently despite my rigorous medical school curriculum. Together Wasem and Mirro have assembled a new, full band, recently dubbed The Sparrow Four, and have been turning heads ever since. The current line-up also includes lead guitarist Marcus Rezak, bassist Kyle Myers, both of Berklee School of Music in Boston, and a number of other guest musicians. The official debut of John Wasem and The Sparrow Four, with the new ensemble, was a two night stand supporting The Fareed Haque Group at the historic Wise Fools Pub in Chicago.
I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V3.6 !
