Umphrey’s McGee released details of a new interactive fan experience – the Stew Art (S²) Series – a completely improvisational set of performances that has the band taking cues from its audience.

The group calls the improv section of its live shows  “Jimmy Stewart” in reference to a late night jam session in the Jimmy Stewart Ballroom at the Pittsburgh Renaissance Hotel where they had performed earlier in the evening at a wedding  in the fall of 2001.

The Stew Art Series will take place independent of their regularly scheduled shows, occurring during the day prior to a show or on a rare day off while on the road. Each will feature a Q&A session with the band and each attendee will receive a custom laminate ticket as well as a copy of the performance in hand immediately following the show. Here’s how they describe how the “experiments” will work:

Using several communication mediums which could range from text messaging to prewritten cue cards to chalk boards you will kick out ideas, descriptive words, phrases, pop culture references . . . pretty much whatever comes to mind. These will be presented to the band who will compose jams on the fly based around those ideas, and ideas will be added to, changed, and deleted as the event progresses.

It remains to be seen how well this turns out.  It could be an awesome experience and a new step in fan/band interaction that really meshes the interplay of the two. Or it could be a train wreck of cacophony and aimless noise with the band being guided in every which way but a good one. Stay tuned as more details emerge and we see how this experiment plays out.