James Dewees

James Matthew Dewees (born March 13, 1976) is an American musician best known for his work with The Get Up Kids, Reggie and the Full Effect and My Chemical Romance.

He has also been involved in other musical projects including New Found Glory, Coalesce, Leathermouth, and Death Spells.

However, he did not feel as though they fit with the distinct style of The Get Up Kids, so with the assistance of bandmate Matt Pryor, he recorded Greatest Hits 1984-1987, releasing it on Vagrant Records in 1998 under the name Reggie and the Full Effect.

He continued to write songs, finally releasing his second album Promotional Copy two years later.

Dewees graduated from Liberty High School in Liberty, Missouri in 1994.

He started college at William Jewell College in Liberty later transferring to the University of Missouri to study music composition.

In 1995, he was asked to replace Sean Ingram as vocalist for the Kansas City hardcore band Coalesce.

This angered Ingram, and caused a fight that eventually broke the band up.

However, in the summer of 1996, the band decided to re-form, but this time with James Dewees as a drummer.

With them, he recorded the band's first two full-length albums Give Them Rope and Functioning on Impatience.

Dewees was later kicked out of college for missing too many classes while touring with the band.

In 1997, Coalesce played a music festival in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania with fellow Kansas-Citians The Get Up Kids.

At the end of Coalesce's set, they began smashing all of their equipment, and James picked up his Floor tom and threw it into the audience, hitting a girl on the head.

Someone picked it up and tried to steal it, so James began chasing him, along with The Get Up Kids' guitarist Jim Suptic.

They started talking, and Suptic invited James To hang out with the rest of the band.

Coalesce and The Get Up Kids began collaborating more and more, playing shows together and eventually covering each other's songs for a split 7-inch.

James recorded keyboard for the band on their Red Letter Day EP, and after its release, joined the band full-time.

After the release of the band's second album Something to Write Home About, The Get Up Kids began receiving much greater national attention.

In order to capitalize off of the success of Something to Write Home About, as well as bridge the gap between their next album, the band released a collection of B-sides and rarities, entitled Eudora, in 2000.

This also included a re-make of "A Newfound Interest in Massachusetts", with a new arrangement placing a much heavier emphasis on the piano.

In 2002, the band released their third studio album, On a Wire, produced by Scott Litt.

The album was a major departure from the band's previous, poppier sound, and struggled sales-wise as a result.

In 2003, he released a third album entitled Under the Tray.

After this album released, his marriage to his first wife Megan began to break down.

He was soon involved in a bitter divorce, much of which inspired his fourth album Songs Not to Get Married To, which he was writing and recording during the divorce.

In 2004, the band released their fourth album Guilt Show.

The album was met with a much warmer reception than On a Wire, but there was a great deal of tension between the bandmates during their world tour supporting the release.

Lead singer Matt Pryor, whose wife had recently given birth, wanted to spend more time at home.

At one stop in Australia, the band broke up before deciding to finish the tour.

However, they decided that they would do one final farewell tour before going their separate ways for good.

Around the beginning of their final tour, the band released Live! @ The Granada Theater, their first live album.

The album was recorded at the Granada Theater in Lawrence, Kansas at the band's tenth-anniversary show.

On July 2, 2005, the band played their final show at The Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Missouri.

On August 28, 2008, James announced there will be a reunion tour in 2009.

On April 8, 2008, Alternative Press announced that they had received details on the new album from Reggie and the Full Effect.

The 12 song album, Last Stop: Crappy Town was produced by Sean Beavan with tracks also done by Paul Gray from Slipknot and was released on June 17, 2008, through Vagrant Records

The Get Up Kids also did a tour in Japan in November 2013.

The band played US shows in Spring 2015.

On September 7, 2019, it was announced through the band's instagram page that Dewees was no longer a member of The Get Up Kids.

While playing with the Get Up Kids full-time, Dewees began to write some of his own songs.