Cameron McGill

A multi-talented songwriter, poet, and educator from Champaign, Illinois, Cameron McGill emerged in the early aughts with a darkly romantic blend of roots rock, indie folk, pop, and Americana. Debuting in 2004 with Stories of The Knife and The Back, he spent the next two decades producing erudite and heartfelt albums like Warm Songs for Cold Shoulders (2009) and Gallows Etiquette (2013). In addition to his musical output, which more often than not features his backing band What Army, and a six-year run as a member of Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, McGill holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Idaho and teaches at Washington State University. In 2020, he unveiled his first collection of poetry, Meridians. Born in Champaign-Urbana, Cameron McGill credits his father's record collection for sparking his musical interest. Childhood years spent listening to the Beach Boys, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash left an impression, and by the time he was in high school, McGill was playing guitar and writing songs. In 1998, he moved to Chicago after graduating from the University of Illinois. After playing the coffeehouse/bar scene for two years, he formed Morris Minors with Paul Callen and Gabe Grout. The band issued a self-titled EP in 2002 before calling it quits a year later. McGill went solo and issued Stories of The Knife and The Back on his own Post-Important label in fall 2003. Additional solo tours in and around North America followed into 2004, along with international dates with Rachael Yamagata and Tom McRae. McGill's second long-player, Street Ballads & Murderesques, was released in January 2006. Starting with the EP The Company of Great Thieves, McGill's next run of releases -- Hold On Beauty (2007), Warm Songs for Cold Shoulders (2009), Is a Beast (2011), and Gallows Etiquette (2013) -- would be attributed to Cameron McGill & What Army. Between 2009 and 2014, McGill was a member of Indianapolis chamber pop/indie rock outfit Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, and in 2020 he released the poetry chapbook Meridians, with plans to unveil his first full-length collection, along with a new album, the following year. ~ MacKenzie Wilson & James Christopher Monger