Umphrey's McGee will be among the first group of bands to offer songs at the just-launched (beta testing period) Rock Band Network. The much buzzed-about video game platform works with Xbox video game systems to allow bands to Xbox users, and to offer fans a way dig into their favorite band's music in ways they have never been able to before.
Umphrey's McGee has been working with former Harmonix Music Systems employee – and now "Rock Band" freelancer - Andrew Buch. An alumn of Berklee College of Music, Buch has author several Umphrey's McGee songs for the new program, including "1348" and "Miss Tinkles Overture." These songs and others will be made available within the next few months - when the first wave of the Rock Band Network releases are scheduled to hit upon the release of the new Xbox 360 system.
Buch, whose video/music "claims-to-fame" include the underground release of his mind-numbingly difficult "Trippolette" in the original Guitar Hero, has worked on several games in the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises, making him a likely choice to prepare the music of Umphrey's McGee for the game. Additional work by Buch can be found at http://www.andrewbuch.com, including video footage of both Umphrey's McGee's music and the Rock Band network re-release of "Trippolette."
Umphrey's McGee's participation in the Rock Band network is one of many ways this band continues to prove themselves truly a band of the 21st century. The band's innovative, interactive Stew Art Series (S2) has been hailed as a ground-breaking fan experience.Hosted as individual events before that evening's already scheduled show, Umphrey's Stew Art Series is a crowd-sourced improvisation experiment, in which all the music performed by the group on stage are entirely directed by S2 audience members.
