Unamerican

The London-based alt country/roots rock group UnAmerican consists of singer/songwriter Steve McEwan, bassist Peter Clarke, guitarist Matthew Crozer, and drummer Tim Bye. Though he was born in Hull, England, McEwan spent most of his childhood in Scotland and his early adult years in Africa and Australia. This globe-hopping gave him the opportunity to study piano with Sister Ignatius and to collaborate with Miriam Makeba. Returning to London as a professional guitarist/vocalist, McEwan played with World Party for a time while working on material with ex-World Party member Guy Chambers, who left to collaborate with former Take That leader Robbie Williams on his solo project. McEwan then recruited Crozer from a group called Ugli, and Clarke and Bye left a band called Bugs, to form UnAmerican. Within their first few gigs, the band was signed by Estupendo Records, a Universal Music Group imprint, which released the group's self-titled debut in early 2000; Uptown Records released it in the U.S. at the same time.