Presidents Of The United States Of America

The Presidents of the United States of America, commonly referred to as simply The Presidents, PUSA or The Presidents of the USA, is a twice Grammy-nominated[1] American alternative rock band. The band formed in Seattle, USA, in 1993. The three-piece group currently comprises vocalist and "basitarist" Chris Ballew, drummer and vocalist Jason Finn with "guitbassist" and vocalist Andrew McKeag. Long time "guitbassist" and vocalist Dave Dederer departed the band in 2004, after 11 years. They have released six studio albums since forming in 1993. Ballew and Dederer/McKeag respectively play a basitar and guitbass, which are regular, six-string guitars modified to use two strings (for bass) or three strings (for guitar). The original idea came from Morphine frontman Mark Sandman, with whom Ballew had previously worked. Guitars modified in this way use heavy-gauge strings for a heavier sound and are normally tuned in Drop D, though the Presidents play half a step lower in C#. For a basitar, the strings are placed in the D and A positions; on a guitbass, the strings are placed in the A, D, and G positions.