With radio and TV video playlists getting smaller and smaller all the time, getting the word out on new bands can’t be easy.

Chicago-based band Umphrey’s McGee decided to get creative when spreading the word about its music. Perhaps taking a cue from the Dave Matthews Band, Umphrey’s encourages fans to tape its live shows.

Fans then burn mass amounts of these live sets and return them to Umphrey’s, which labels them and sends them out in promotional packs. The music is fresh, there is no money spent in the studio and the results speak for themselves.

“It was something our manager Vince kind of spearheaded for out first trip to Colorado and was incredibly successful,” says Joel Cummins, Umphrey’s keyboardist. “We went out there and people knew all the words to the songs. We feel that putting together a strong live show is something that is certainly our most effective promotional tool.”

A creative promotional angle isn’t the only thing that sets Umphrey’s apart from other bands, however. A self-description on the band’s Web site, www.umphreys.com, says the sextet mixes such styles as bluegrass, rock, jazz, funk and even gangsta rap.

“We try to put on a show that’s both full of energy and musically challenging both to us and the listener,” Cummins says.

Smack dab in the middle of what seems like a lifelong tour, Umphrey’s shows no signs of slowing down, except, of course, when the bus stops in Ames on Friday.

“We’ve been touring pretty hard for the past two years,” Cummins says. “Been working pretty hard in every market trying to get our name out there.”

The band has averaged six to eight months a year on the road since the journey began in December of 1997. Tours have begun in Umphrey’s hometown of South Bend, Ind., but have expanded to such places as Boston, New York, Atlanta, Florida, Colorado, Oregon and California.

Needless to say, being in Umphrey’s McGee is a full-time gig.

“I would say more than full time,” Cummins says. “It’s very intense.”

Umphrey’s paid the dues that most young bands do and formed a following in Chicago, Indiana and Wisconsin before branching out of the Midwest.

“We tried to get a good thing going regionally so that we can go out and do these larger tours and come back and have a few gigs to help pay the bills,” Cummins says.

So at least the bills are getting paid, but when it comes to the price of putting the band into a studio, Umphrey’s doesn’t venture there very often. The one studio album, “Local Band Does OK,” captures the band’s song writing while live discs, such as “One Fat Sucka,” display the band’s all-around live show.

“We would love to be in the studio more, it’s just we can’t afford it at this point,” Cummins says. “The studio is going to become a more and more valuable resource as we go on. We’re definitely focusing on the live thing, that’s how we get people to hear our music.”

Playing in so many different cities, Umphrey’s has noticed a little better reception in the Midwest given its roots, but it doesn’t take long to capture the ears of fans all over with the use of cover songs and infectious grooves supported with a high-quality light show.

“We’re very intense on the flow of a show,” Cummins says. “If you’re having fun up there, that’s the main thing the audience is looking for and they’ll be receptive to that.”

With no particular ultimate goal in mind, Umphrey’s has decided to keep doing what it’s doing, while keeping things original, and will let things happen naturally.

“We definitely want to be able to support our families and do stuff like that, but our main goal is to continue to try to make music,” Cummins says. “To try and create something that is unique. And we feel like if we can do that, hopefully success will follow.”