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, as well as world-wide dates with Rachael Yamagata and Tom McRae. McGill's second album, Street Ballads & Murderesques, was released in January 2006. Starting with the EP The Company of Great Thieves, which appeared still later in 2011, McGill's next run of releases would be attributed to Cameron McGill & What Army, including 2007's Hold On Beauty, 2009's Warm Songs for Cold Shoulders, and 2011's Is a Beast. ~ MacKenzie Wilson