Brendan Bayliss (born August 11, 1976 in Annapolis, MD) is an American musician, the founder, a lead guitarist alongside fellow guitarist and band member Jake Cinninger, and primary vocalist for progressive rock band Umphrey's McGee. He formed the band in 1997 and took its moniker from the name of a distant relative he met at a wedding named Humphries McGee. "My father’s aunt’s sister’s son’s kid," says Bayliss. "He’s just a nice guy. Lives on a farm, I think." Bayliss is one of the band's main songwriters.
Bayliss attended the University of Notre Dame, where his father Bob Bayliss is a tennis coach, and formed the Star Wars inspired Tashi Station with bass player Ryan Stasik and keyboardist Gregg Andrulis. After the band split in the fall of 1997, Bayliss and Stasik joined up with Joel Cummins and Mike Mirro - two former members of another recently defunct local band, Stomper Bob - to form Umphrey's McGee.
Bayliss uses Paul Reed Smith guitars, Mesa/Boogie and Oldfield amps, endorses VOX Classic Plus amps, and along with the rest of Umphrey's McGee endorses Morley pedals and BBE Sound equipment.
Bayliss recently founded a non-profit charity called USTORM (United So Together Our Reach Multiplies), a non-profit organization aimed at raising funds to help needy children and young adults improve their lives by providing access to various music and art educational programs.
Bayliss and fellow musician Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band have played a handful of shows together since the summer of 2006 and, as of May 11, 2010, have released a studio album together under the name 30db. The album is called One Man Show, and the band went on tour in Spring, 2010, to release their album.