AlbumUmphrey's McGeeBlueprints
Umphrey's McGee Build a Record Out of Their Own Jams on 'Blueprints'
The band's 15th studio album takes six chosen improvisations from UMBowl and finishes them into songs, recorded before 90 people a night on the fourth floor of Chicago's Metro.
Sep 12, 2025
Blueprints is out today, the 15th Umphrey’s McGee studio album and the band’s first since Asking for a Friend in 2022. It runs six songs, and every one of them started as an onstage improvisation that the band’s own audience picked out.
The six tracks were debuted at UMBowl, the band’s recurring fan-driven event, and specifically in its Raw Stewage segment, where fans vote on improvisations that turned into fully original passages. The band calls those passages “Jimmy Stewarts.”
The record was finished at Top Note, a room on the fourth floor of Chicago’s Metro, in December 2024.
Six jams, traced back to the night they happened
Four of the six come from UMBowl IX in 2022: “Wide Open,” “Exit Signs,” “Unevolved” and “Out of Focus.” “Concessions” originated at UMBowl X in 2024. “Den” is the oldest, debuted at UMBowl III in 2012 and played 95 times since.
| # | Track | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wide Open | UMBowl IX, 2022 |
| 2 | Unevolved | UMBowl IX, 2022 |
| 3 | Exit Signs | UMBowl IX, 2022 |
| 4 | Out of Focus | UMBowl IX, 2022 |
| 5 | Den | UMBowl III, 2012 |
| 6 | Concessions | UMBowl X, 2024 |
Recorded in a room above the Metro
Top Note sits on the fourth floor of the Metro, the Chicago venue the band treats as a home room. Umphrey’s McGee worked on the songs and cut additional vocal and instrumental layers there during daytime studio sessions, then recorded live in the same space at night.
Only 90 tickets a night were sold, distributed by lottery. The audience listened on wireless headphones so the room stayed quiet enough for the studio recording.
The band has pointed to the room’s history in its own material, noting that early versions of “November Rain” took shape there and that Guns N’ Roses, the Beastie Boys, Tori Amos, Henry Rollins and Smashing Pumpkins have all used the space.
The vinyl edition documents the method directly: the package includes diagrams of the pedals used on the recordings.
A new drummer behind the kit
The album arrives in the middle of a change in the lineup. Kris Myers announced his resignation on May 13 after 22 years with the band, having joined in late 2002 following founding drummer Mike Mirro’s departure.
Scotty Zwang and Duane Trucks were named the following day to share the drum seat for the remainder of 2025. Zwang played all but three shows of the summer Cruising Altitude Tour, and in August, during the encore at CEFCU Center Stage at The Landing in Peoria, Illinois, Brendan Bayliss asked him mid-song to take the job permanently.
Zwang is the third drummer in the band’s 27-year history.
Where it was marked
The band held a premiere event for the record at Garcia’s in Chicago, with Warren Haynes and Karina Rykman appearing as guests.
Blueprints is documented on the band’s own archive.
Blueprints by Umphrey’s McGee, released September 12, 2025. Six tracks, recorded at Top Note on the fourth floor of the Metro, Chicago, in December 2024.
Sources: Umphrey’s McGee archive, Relix, Relix, Relix, JamBase.
