James McNew is an American musician who has played bass in the indie rock band Yo La Tengo since their 1992 album May I Sing with Me. He was previously a member of the band Christmas and was featured on their third album, Vortex. McNew also played in Ectoslavia, a predecessor to Pavement and the Silver Jews, in the early 1990s. He has a solo project called Dump. The documentary The Parking Lot Movie highlighted McNew's career as a parking lot attendant in Charlottesville, Virginia, before his career as a musician.