Hot on the heels of their first annual Woodlands Music and Arts Festival in Charleston, SC, and gearing up for their first annual Rockjavik event in Reykjavik, Iceland, world-renowned improv-rockers Umphrey’s McGee are ready to release new music. Earlier this year, on a show day in New Haven, CT, the band found themselves recording a studio version of live show fan-favorite, “Ride On Pony,” at Telefunken Recording Studio. First played live back on April 5th, 2009, and written by guitarist Jake Cinninger a dozen years before that, this recording marks the first official release of the country-tinged, Bob Seger inspired tune. Today, Rolling Stone Country featured “Ride On Pony,” calling it “Nostalgic country-rock,” and making mention of the “Earnest acoustic strumming uplifted by arena-ready distortion-soaked chords and anthemic organ swells.” Listen here.
“Ride On Pony” opens with the lines, “Looking back on my life when it was cool to be young. Beer in the back of pickup trucks and sack of clovers just to press the luck. Laughs and jokes until morning comes up.” “This song goes back almost to pre-adolescence,” says Umphrey’s guitarist, Jake Cinninger. “It harkens back to the days of those mixed-up feelings and trying to cut loose, a teenage daydream.” Opening with a beautiful juxtaposition of strummed acoustic guitar and big, dirty power chords, “Ride On Pony” settles into a familiar 6/8 time feel, with tastefully picked guitar flourishes playing counterpoint to each heartfelt line of the lyric. The bridge brings a more familiar Umphrey’s McGee dual-guitar attack, satisfying even their oldest of fans before settling back into the last verse and chorus. “It’s all real…no joke, about the feel of being a teenager,” says Cinninger. “We tried to recapture some of those magical years gone past for everyone that listens.”
In usual Umphrey’s fashion, the band will finish out 2019 with a four-night New Year’s run, this year at Denver’s Fillmore Auditorium. To start things off in 2020, Umphrey’s will headline two nights at New York’s famed Beacon Theatre. Stops at fan favorites like Penn’s Peak, The Fillmore Detroit, The Caverns in Pelham, TN, and the ExploreAshville.com Arena fill out the band’s January and February schedule before they head west for the remainder of February and March. Umphrey’s sold-out Rockjavik shows at Eldborg Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland, mark the first of their kind for the band, and fans lucky enough to get tickets couldn’t be more excited.
Stay tuned to Umphreys.com for details on future single releases and new tour dates.
Catch Umphrey’s McGee On Tour:
Dec. 27 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
Dec. 28 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
Dec. 30 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
Dec. 31 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
Jan. 17 – New York, NY – The Beacon Theatre
Jan. 18 – New York, NY – The Beacon Theatre
Jan. 19 – Brooklyn, NY – The Brooklyn Bowl
Jan. 23 – Jim Thorpe, PA – Penn’s Peak
Jan. 24 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
Jan. 25 – Columbus, OH – Express! Live
Jan. 29 – Ft. Wayne, IN – The Clyde Theater
Jan. 30 – Northfield, OH – MGM Northfield Park
Jan. 31 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
Feb. 1 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
Feb. 12 – Memphis, TN – Graceland Soundstage
Feb. 13 – Pelham, TN – The Caverns
Feb. 14 – Asheville, NC – ExploreAsheville.com Arena
Feb. 15 – Asheville, NC – ExploreAsheville.com Arena
Feb. 26 – Bend, OR – Midtown Ballroom
Feb. 27 – Eugene, OR – McDonald Theatre
Feb. 28 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
Feb. 29 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo
Mar. 12 – San Diego, CA – The Observatory North Park
Mar. 13 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
Mar. 14 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theatre
Mar. 15 – San Rafael, CA – Terrapin Crossroads
Mar. 20 – Reykjavik, Iceland – Rockjavik
Mar. 21 – Reykjavik, Iceland – Rockjavik
Mar. 22 – Reykjavik, Iceland – Rockjavik
Apr. 2 – Kansas City, KS – The Truman
Apr. 3 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
Apr. 4 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
Apr. 5 – South Bend, IN – Morris Performing Arts Center
Apr. 16 – Houston, TX – House of Blues Houston
Apr. 17 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s BBQ
Apr. 18 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues Dallas
Apr. 19 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
Apr. 24 – New Orleans, LA – The Fillmore New Orleans
Apr. 25 – New Orleans, LA – The Fillmore New Orleans
Jul. 2-5 – Scranton, PA – The Peach Music Festival
