McCartney's backing helps British band out of the pigsty

A little known British band who recorded their first album in a pigsty are attracting plaudits in the US after being championed by Sir Paul McCartney.

The former Beatle has become a fan of Steadman, led by signer-songwriter Simon Steadman, after catching one of their gigs in a pub.

"We recorded our album and were doing a warm-up show in Hastings, near where Paul lives," Simon told the New York Post.

"A friend of ours knows Paul and gave him a copy of the album. We heard he liked it. The night of the show, he actually showed up at the pub, alone, not even a security guy with him, and he stayed for the whole show.

"I do remember I could hardly look him in the eye. I did see that he was really getting into the music and he was even singing along to some of the songs.

"After the show, he came backstage and we talked a little and he shocked me when he told me he had an idea for a harmony to one of your songs.'"

"He told me to get my guitar and we sang harmony together. It was incredible. It doesn't get any better than that," he said.

Steadman are currently in the US playing a series of club shows, including a residency at the Knitting Factory in New York, to promote their new album Revive.

It is the follow-up to their 2000 debut, Loser Friendly, which they recorded in a pigsty in Hastings.

Steadman added: "The pig didn't live there anymore. It was a lovely pig shed. It had walls and was carpeted, and we used egg boxes for soundproofing."