Quincy Mumford

Quincy Mumford (born December 18, 1991) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter.

Quincy Mumford was born in Asbury Park, New Jersey in 1991 and grew up in the nearby seaside town of Allenhurst, New Jersey.

His parents were both music lovers and exposed Mumford to a wide variety of genres in his youth, with artists including Talking Heads, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Pink Floyd, and Sublime.

Mumford was nine years old and in the fourth grade when his neighbor, future bandmate Brian Gearty, picked up bass and encouraged Mumford to learn guitar so they could form a punk band.

By the age of eleven Mumford was engrossed in the pop punk scene, attending concerts for bands such as Blink-182.

According to Mumford, "My parents were totally cool with it. I’d just show up, this little 12 year old with blue liberty spikes."

He was educated in Ocean Township, New Jersey, playing trumpet in the school band and taking guitar lessons.

He was thirteen when he started singing and writing his own music, focusing on punk.

However, after hearing Jack Johnson's album In Between Dreams he began taking songwriting more seriously, stating "I started listening to a lot more funk and soul music, just feel-good music. And the whole vibe changed."

Around the age of fifteen he started performing at open mics around town.

Mumford attributes the development of his laid back style of pop, funk, rock, and reggae to growing up in Allenhurst, where his primary pastimes were surfing, skateboarding in the empty Allenhurst pool, and hanging out on the boardwalk or by the lagoons.

Growing up in an urban environment, Mumford says he also leaned towards hip hop music, and has at times incorporated it into his music.

When he was nearing the age of sixteen Mumford met producer Jon Leidersdorff of Lakehouse Music, and shortly afterwards they began recording Mumford's first album.

Stated Mumford, "I wrote music all of the time, and finally found someone who was interested in recording me. They believed in me and taught me a lot about the industry and music."

He has released several solo albums since his debut in 2008, and is also rhythm guitarist and frontman of the band Quincy Mumford & The Reason Why, a five-person group based in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

Mumford's style has been described as "funk, soul and surf music, with a dash of reggae thrown in."

Mumford was sixteen when his debut album Quincy Mumford was released on June 10, 2008.

Soon after recording his first album Mumford formed a live band, which was a change from his usual habit of performing as an acoustic solo act in coffee shops and open mics.

Brian Gearty joined first as bassist, and a drummer joined them shortly after.

The band was named Quincy Mumford & The Reason Why, and Mumford stated the name was chosen because "There’s a reason for everything. The reason why we play music, the reason why people show up to see us, the reason why there’s good vibes, the list goes on."

The group performed as a trio for around a year, frequently playing at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park.

After the release of his second album South Edgemere, he won three Asbury Music Awards in 2009, including Best Male Acoustic Act.

That year MSNBC also named Mumford one of their "1 of 10 up and coming young artists."

Around 2009 the live band expanded to five members, with Karlee Bloomfield joining on keys.

Mumford first met Bloomfield at a concert when he was opening for the band DeSol at age sixteen.

Stated Mumford, "[Bloomfield]'s always been involved in the process of [The Reason Why], even before I released records with the band itself."

The live band spent its first few years performing 3 to 4-hour sets at bars, and according to Mumford, "As a band it forced us to learn and create more songs. It also got us to become very tight together, and become better as a group."

In 2009 Mumford self-released the full-length album South Edgemere, drawing the album cover himself.

He won Best Male Acoustic Act and him and his band, The Reason Why, won Album of the Year (for Sound Edgemere) and Song of the Year (for "Can’t Break Free") in 2009.

Quincy Mumford & the Reason Why won the Asbury Park Music Award for Top Young Band Under 21 in 2010.

That year MSNBC also named Mumford one of their "1 of 10 up and coming young artists."

It was again produced by Jon Ledersdorff, who also produced Mumford's next release, Speak, in 2011.

After the release of South Edgmere Mumford was the recipient of three Asbury Music Awards.

Mumford's third album Speak was released in April 2011, which The Aquarian's John Pfeiffer says is "a high point for Mumford as it has separated him from that Dave Matthews, jammy high school vibe and purified his atmosphere with some truly memorable sounds, and stand out compositions of a seasoning writer."

One of the songs featured singer-songwriter Glen Burtnik of Styx as a guest artist.

Speak went on to rank number 10 in the top 90 albums of 2011 on 90.5 The Night's year end countdown.

Quincy Mumford & the Reason Why won the Asbury Park Music Award for Top Pop Band in 2011.

He and the band were featured in the rockumentary Calm Before the Storm in 2012.

The film was released in conjunction with the live album and DVD titled Live at the Saint, which was voted by WBJB 90.5 The Night as the No. 7 Top Album released in 2012.

The band has performed at venues such as Gathering of the Vibes, Musikfest and Appel Farm and toured with artists including Slightly Stoopid, G-Love and Rusted Root.