Chris Ballew

Chris Ballew

Ballew in 2005
Background information
Birth name Christopher Ballew
Born (1965-05-28) May 28, 1965
Origin Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Genres Alternative rock, post-grunge, power pop, grunge, pop punk
Instruments vocals, guitar, bass, basitar, guitbass
Years active 1986–present
Associated acts The Presidents of the United States of America, Balls, EGG, Caspar and Mollusk, Supergroup, The Minus 5, The Giraffes, The Tycoons, Chris and Tad, The Feelings Hijackers, Caspar Babypants

Christopher "Chris" Ballew (born May 28, 1965) is an American musician, best known as lead singer and 'basitarist' of the alternative rock group The Presidents of the United States of America and performs as a children's artist under the pseudonym Caspar Babypants.

Ballew grew up in Seattle and attended middle and high school at The Bush School, where he met David Dederer, with whom he would form The Presidents of the United States of America many years later. In the late 1980s and early 90s Ballew lived in Boston, where he performed as a street musician in a duo called Egg with Phil Franklin (later of Caroliner Rainbow and Sunburned Hand of the Man).[1] Many of Ballew's songs with Egg would become well-known Presidents songs, most notably Naked and Famous, which is performed by Egg as a bonus track on a 2005 reissue of the Presidents' eponymous debut album. While in Boston, Ballew played briefly with Mary Lou Lord, and also with Mark Sandman of Treat Her Right and Morphine in a duo called Supergroup, in which they developed the oddly stringed instruments that would become a staple of both the Presidents' and Morphine's sound.

Ballew is endorsed by Epiphone Guitars and Orange amplifiers, utilising an Epiphone SG-400 guitar (converted into a two-string "basitar") as well as an AD200B MK 3 200-Watt Bass Head from Orange. No distortion pedals are used live, just the natural distortion of the amp is heard. Regarding his two-string "basitar", Ballew admits: "I’m technically not really a bass player, although, I play as if I’m playing bass lines, a lot of times I strum like (on a) guitar and make chords.[2]

In 2009, Ballew launched a project targeted toward toddlers called Caspar Babypants.[3] Ballew uses a three-string acoustic guitar when performing Caspar Babypants songs. To date, Caspar Babypants has released seven full-length albums; Here I Am!, More Please!, This Is Fun!, Sing Along!, Hot Dog!, I Found You!, and Baby Beatles!

Ballew also was a member of Beck's live band for a period of time in the early 90s, stating the gig "was the beginning of my professional career as a guy getting paid to make music." [4]

Ballew is married to collage artist Kate Endle.[5]

Discography

With The Presidents of the United States of America:

With Balls

With EGG

As Caspar:

With Caspar and Mollusk: (aka Chris & Beck)

With Supergroup: (aka Chris & Mark Sandman)

With The Minus 5L

With The Giraffes:

With The Tycoons:

With Chris and Tad:

With SUbSET (aka PUSA & Sir Mix-A-Lot)

With Chris Ballew and Friends:

With Creepy Stick

With The Feelings Hijackers:

As Caspar Babypants:

Solo work:

References

  1. ↑ Chris Ballew Bandography, accessed August 19, 2010. When Ballew lived in Los Angeles in the 90s he shared an apartment with alternative artist Beck.
  2. ↑ Singing Bassist interview with Chris Ballew', retrieved 2010-08-06
  3. ↑ Chris Ballew’s Back With Caspar Babypants, retrieved 2009-04-30
  4. ↑ Marco Collins picks up the pieces, retrieved 2014-04-13
  5. ↑ Two New Children’s Books from Kate and Caspar, retrieved 2011-12-21

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, January 31, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.