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Chris Stamey

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American musician, singer, songwriter
Chris Stamey
BornDecember 6, 1954 (1954-12-06) (age 70)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
GenresRock, power pop, jangle pop
Occupations
  • Musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • record producer
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • bass guitar
  • trumpet
  • piano
  • vocals
Years active1977–present
Labels
Websitechrisstamey.com
Musical artist

Christopher Charles Stamey (born December 6, 1954) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. After a brief time playing with Alex Chilton, as well as Mitch Easter under the name Sneakers, Stamey formed The dB's with Peter Holsapple.

Early life

Stamey was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. He grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and graduated from R. J. Reynolds High School. He attended the University of North Carolina before transferring to New York University, where he graduated with a degree in philosophy.

Career

After moving from Chapel Hill to New York City, Stamey played with the Erasers, then as Alex Chilton's bass player.

In 1977, Stamey founded the independent New York City record label Car Records, which released the 1978 Chris Bell single with the tracks "I Am the Cosmos" and "You and Your Sister".

Stamey recorded and released two critically acclaimed albums with The dB's, Stands for Decibels (1981) and Repercussion (1982), which were initially released only in the UK, before leaving the band to pursue a solo career.

In 1991, Stamey and Holsapple reunited to record the album, Mavericks, which led to live concerts in London, England.

In 1996, Stamey moved back to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and opened the recording studio, Modern Recording, with former dB's producer Scott Litt. He has worked as a producer and sound engineer for various artists and recording projects including those by the alternative country group Whiskeytown.

In 2004, Stamey released the album Travels in the South, quickly followed by V.O.T.E. 2004, enlarged as 2005's A Question of Temperature featuring the group Yo La Tengo as the album's backing musicians.

In July 2009, Stamey and Holsapple released their second album as a duo entitled Here and Now, which was promoted by a follow-up concert tour.

In 2012, Stamey reunited with the dB's to complete Falling Off the Sky, their first new studio album in 25 years and their first in 30 years with the original 1978 line-up.

On February 5, 2013, Stamey released the solo album Lovesick Blues on Yep Roc Records, followed by Euphoria in 2015.

Stamey was the driving force behind a group of musician-friends performing Big Star's Third album live in the US, the UK, Spain, and Australia, on a series of occasions between 2010 and 2016, resulting in a live double CD/DVD recorded at Glendale's Alex Theatre in 2016 and released in 2017. On the record, he performs vocals and guitar on I Am the Cosmos, the Chris Bell single he had released on his Car Records label some 40-odd years earlier.

On June 12, 2021 (Record Store Day), Stamey and Holsapple released Our Back Pages on Omnivore, an album of acoustic arrangements of songs by The dB’s.

Discography

Solo albums

  • 1982: It's a Wonderful Life (DB records)
  • 1987: It's Alright (A&M)
  • 1991: Fireworks (New Rose)
  • 2004: Travels in the South (Yep Roc)
  • 2004: The Speed of Sound (Yep Roc)
  • 2013: Lovesick Blues (Yep Roc)
  • 2015: Euphoria (Yep Roc)
  • 2019: New Songs For The 20th Century w the Modrec Orchestra (Omnivore Recordings)
  • 2020: A Brand-New Shade of Blue w the Fellow Travelers (Omnivore Recordings)
  • 2023: The Great Escape (Schoolkids)

Singles

  • 1977: "The Summer Sun" (Ork Records)
  • 1983: "Winter of Love" (Albion)
  • 1987: "Cara Lee" (A&M)
  • 1992: "On the Radio" (Intercord)
  • 1993: "Alive" (Singles Only)
  • 1994: "Let It Be Me" (Car Records)
  • 2018: "Greensboro Days" (ShangMoto Songs BMI)

EPs

  • 1984: Instant Excitement (Coyote)

As a member of the dB's

As Chris Stamey and Friends

As the Chris Stamey Experience

  • 2004: A Question of Temperature (Yep Roc)

With Kirk Ross

  • 1995: The Robust Beauty of Improper Linear Models in Decision Making (East Side Digital)
  • 2021: The Robust Beauty of Improper Linear Models in Decision Making Remastered Editions, Vol. I, II (Modern Recording)

With Peter Holsapple

Albums
  • 1991: Mavericks (New Rose)
  • 2009: Here and Now (Yep Roc)
  • 2021: Our Back Pages (Omnivore Recordings)
Singles
  • 1991: "Angels" (New Rose)
  • 2009: "My Friend the Sun" (BarNone)
  • 2009: "Live at Euclid" (Euclid Records)

With Yo La Tengo

  • 2004: V.O.T.E. (Yep Roc); reissued and expanded as A Question of Temperature in 2004

As producer

As contributing musician

As contributing musician and co-producer

References

  1. "Chris Stamey". TrouserPress.com. Retrieved 2015-05-02.
  2. ^ "Chris Stamey Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  3. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 2359. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  4. O'Donnell, Lisa (6 May 2018). "Following the Muse: Stamey Chronicles a Musical Journey". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  5. Gillispie, Tom (7 March 2013). "'The Winston Sound': Musician Whose Roots Go Back to '60s and '70s Winston-Salem Returns for SECCA Event". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  6. Breznikar, Klemen (2022-11-01). "Peter Holsapple | The dB's | Interview". It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  7. "Producer / Mixer – Music Mixing and Recording at Modern Recording". Chrisstamey.com. Retrieved 2015-05-02.
  8. "Discography – Albums – The dB's Online". Thedbs.com. Retrieved 2015-05-02.
  9. Mark Deming (June 9, 2009). "Here and Now – Peter Holsapple,Chris Stamey | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-05-02.

External links

The dB's
Studio albums
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