Bumpus

Bumpus shatters the mold of the contemporary funk band by eschewing the more pedestrian ‘one groove’ jams for richly textured and concise songs structured around energetic melodies and chord arrangements. Much like Sly Stone fused the pop music of Jefferson Airplane with the heavy funk of James Brown, Bumpus incorporates propulsive rhythmic grooves and energetic horn lines with into deeply layered yet uncluttered songs that form the foundation for rich soul and gospel-laden vocals. While you can’t hear Bumpus without the word “funky” coming to mind, there’s an unmistakably modern and relevant element to their music. Formed in 1996, the members of Bumpus combined their mutual love of soul, funk, and hip-hop into an incendiary live show that quickly propelled them into the spotlight of Chicago’s live music scene. Their notoriously high-energy shows drew the raves of concertgoers and critics alike and initiated an intensive performance schedule consisting of Midwest and East coast shows. In 1999 their self-titled debut album won high marks from reviewers at the Chicago Reader, Tribune and Sun-Times; the use of the song “Spattered” in a Leo Burnett advertising campaign for Toyota, 3 appearances on the nationally syndicated Jenny Jones Show, headlining appearances at Chicago’s MOB fest and the honor of being selected by the Chicago Historical society as the band that best represented to the contemporary music scene what the Beatles did in their early days in Liverpool and Hamburg. The release of their second album “Stereoscope” in 2001 established Bumpus as a legitimate studio band. Working with Doug McBride (Smashing Pumpkins, Bob Mould, Veruca Salt) at Gravity studios, the band members delved into their numerous collective and respective influences to create an album reminiscent in its diversity to Funkadelic’s “America Eats its Young” or the Beatles “Abbey Road”. Critics praised the bands ability to evolve and develop a truly unique sound. Opening slots for numerous national acts including The Roots; Maceo Parker; Dr. John; 10,000 Maniacs; The Wailers; They Might Be Giants; Liquid Soul; and Hootie and the Blowfish at Chicago’s United Center, an appearance on the MSNBC debut of Detroit’s “Mitch Albom show”, and the inclusion of several of Stereoscope’s songs in Miller brewing company’s ‘MGD blind tracks’ promotional campaign continued to expand the band’s following and provided television and radio airplay in major cities around the United Sates. After taking a well deserved break and spending some time in the woodshed focusing and further refining their sound, Bumpus re-emerged in 2003 with an expanded line-up and set of new material to compliment the old fan favorites. Recent world events provided a backdrop against which their concerns for the well being of civil liberty and human decency took on a deeper significance. Like their musical forefathers the conditions to which Bumpus’ message pertained had unfortunately escalated and become the forefront of world news. The band decided to capture some of these songs along with some of their ‘classics’ by recording their long anticipated third album “Bumpus Live” before a packed house at Chicago’ s famed club the Metro. The release of that album secured a spot on WGN’s battle of the bands competition later in the year and Bumpus rose to the challenge, winning the vote of best band from judges Monica Kendrik (Chicago Reader), Dave Chamberlain (NewCity) and Richard Milne (WXRT-FM). With over 300 performances, over 8,000 albums sold independently, multiple industry accolades and a continuously expanding fan base, Bumpus continues to solidify their following by reinventing funk, rock, and soul classics with a modern edge and increasingly relevant message that has proven to be accessible by individuals from multiple generations and walks of life. While they are sometimes mislabeled simply as a “party” band due to their optimism and energy, they are more accurately described as “a Sly and the Family Stone for the 2000’s” and are likened to such contemporaries as Beck, Maroon 5, and N*E*R*D and appear to be a band continuously ahead of the curve yet seem increasingly destined to rendezvous with the here and now.