The Tumbleweed Jumpers: A Collective Sound
Some morning commutes you need more than your coffee to start your mojo. The Tumbleweed Jumpers will provide the wall of sound and rhythm you need to rouse your spirits. The seven piece band provides a unique blend of folk, rock and funk. Their undistilled rough vocals are ready to take you to the party. Their songs are uplifting and motivating. The seven piece band is complete with guitars, drums base, key boards, mandolin, trumpets, banjos and a tuba. Says Ryan Miller, “The ethos of what we do is play music that frees both us and the audience. We simply lose ourselves in the energy of the music and allow it to take us somewhere new and somewhere exciting. The song “Get up, Get Down,” off their new album reflects Ryan’s sentiment.
The band started as a romance. Scott Lehman spent two years teaching English in Korea. Scott and his girlfriend sent songs back and forth to fill the space between them. When he returned he landed in a house with several musicians. They spent free time picking up their instruments and playing together. When Scott decided it was time to propose to his girlfriend, he asked his roommates to help him form an ad hoc band. On an unusually mild January day he gathered the musicians, his girlfriend and family in Art Ally. The band played the song “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, a tune traded back and forth between the two. She said, yes. The proposal was followed by a two day wedding. The first day of the wedding was for family, and the second day was for bands. The musicians who played the proposal and others joined together to form what became the beginning of the Tumbleweed Jumpers.
The band continued to practice and create music. As they practiced different people would drop in to play, and then step out. At one point the band had 12 members. People would come to band practices just to hang out and be part of the music. Scott explained people would play games, join in the music and wander in to give feedback on a song. The collaborative process of many voices and musicians formed the sound of the Tumbleweed Jumpers, and continues to inform their style.
“Tether to The Weather,” from the Tumbleweed Jumpers EP The Tether to Weather shows their roots and beginnings in a blue grass sound.
The band over the last 6 years had musicians flow in and out. Scott said at one point he heard trumpets in a song, he found a trumpet player who stayed with the band for a while. She then suggested a violinist friend join the band. The change in band members and instruments enhances their sound. New people mean old songs need to be taught to new musicians. Some songs fade away because the musician who wrote the song moved on.
The band became more purposeful when they moved to a studio. “That is what I love about us,” said Scott, “we are kind of a collective. We practice very intentionally every week, we never really take weeks off. We are very intent about going on and being successful.”
The Tumbleweed Jumpers style is tough to pin down. The website describes the music as, “The Tumbleweed Jumpers are a bristling, roaring, dancing, skipping, and jamming folk-rock-Americana monster full of infectious melodies.” Even with a huge blanket description their sound changes, entertains and engages from song to song.
Scott said, “We all have tendencies and things we like to do in creating a song. A lot of times something comes out in practice that works. Then we think all right lets go in that direction. The cool thing is someone will bring a song. Then we’ll jam on it for a while until it transforms into the Tumbleweed Jumpers sound.”
Ryan said, “If you ask the seven of us, we have seven different answers to what inspires us, what has formed our music style.”
Scott “We try to play as many different genres as we can in our own way. We are a collector of styles.”
The bands goal is to write an album where everyone writes and contributes to the Tumbleweed Jumpers sound.
Ryan said, “If we are having fun with the music we play, then hopefully the audience is having fun with the music we play.”
“One Sip” is a song that went through a transformation. The song was written by Ryan. He originally imagined a Ray Charles walking base sound. As it has passed from one bass player to the next the song has changed. JR Jenkins now opens the song with a funky bass.
Scott Said, “There was a long time that we played really loud. When there were 12 of us we were just a wall of sound. We have spent a long time chiseling away at that wall. If everybody plays an idea then the music gets lost. We were very purposeful in saying something like, OK horns; you don’t have to play now. It was good to figure out how to pare it back, and then turn it on. We always love that wall of sound.”
The Tumbleweed Jumpers will next play at Ignition Music Garage January 18, 2020 7:30 PM.
The Tumbleweed Jumpers currently are
Chuck Long - Drummer
JR Jenkins - Vocal Bass and Guitar
Max Johnson - Trombone and Tuba
Scott Lehman - Vocals, Guitar, Horns and a whole lot more
Ryan Miller - Mandolin and Vocals
Scott Senff - Horns
Max Troyer – Guitar
Connect to the Tumbleweed Jumpers website at thetumbleweedjumpers.com