by Kirby Lindsay, posted 22 June 2011
On Saturday, June 25th, at 10:30 a.m., Dusty Strings has scheduled a free family concert, to celebrate the season and the end of the school year. They’ve invited the popular musical performer Caspar Babypants to sing his songs for children ages 0 – 5, and their parents.
“They are the greatest humans ever,” declared the performer about all children. “Playing for little kids is like playing for the drunkest adults,” he acknowledged, “only they’re sweet and fun, and completely random.” After dozens of shows around Seattle, and the country, he knows his audience, and how they compare with those he entertained for years before taking this new direction with his music. For Caspar Babypants is Chris Ballew, lead singer of the Grammy-winning Seattle band The Presidents of the United States of America.
Caspar Who?
“It’s my alter ego,” Ballew explained about the name. ‘Caspar’ has been a nickname since the 1990s, he explained, and when he lived in Boston, as a broke musician, the neighborhood kids called him ‘babypants’ due to his tendency to wear the cheap thrift store finds on his head in winter.
As for the music, Ballew credits his wife, Kate Endle, and her art work, with helping him find his direction. He’d long known that his work with The Presidents, “it’s not my creative end point.” Endle’s bright, fun collages inspired Ballew. “It’s so innocent,” he explained recently, and contains a timelessness that appealed to him.
“I’m done with innuendo,” he said. He has also stripped away the loud drums. Ballew has drawn on the seeds of older music, far beyond rock-n-roll, and the invisible integrity to it. He looks to nursery rhymes, ways to push the melody, and gives the music a little groove, as “it makes it possible for the parents to listen to it over and over,” he explained.
“The line is going to be blurry for other people,” Ballew admitted, for those who listen to the first three Caspar albums – “This Is Fun!”, “More Please!”, and “Here I Am!” – and the music he created with The Presidents, but “for me it is dramatic.”
Ballew prefers to perform for the youngest among the children’s audience. “I don’t think about the 7 – 10 year olds,” he admitted, as his music, he says, contains nothing cool, and nothing educational, “they get that at school.” Instead, he writes about friendships with a volcano, a moon, a star and a cloud. “I’ve been getting into creating a story arch,” he said. He’s also gotten into writing children’s books – two of them, so far – with Endle.
“My global goal with this is to help families sing together, and stick together,” he admitted, “an esthetic that the whole family can enjoy, without anyone wincing.” He understands the stress felt by new parents, and parents to more than one child, and he wants to provide the whole family with something fun to focus on.
Babypants Music
“I’m really all about the songs,” he said. At Caspar shows, he sells his music (and sometimes his son and daughter help with the CD sales,) not t-shirts (although he celebrates the fans that have created homemade shirts.) “I’m interested in getting the music out there,” he said, “not in being famous.”
“I feel like I’ve been accepted into the tribe,” Ballew pronounced, with great pride. As he performs at smaller venues including toy stores, libraries and Dusty Strings, he can stay close to his audience – and their enthusiasm.
Yet, one thing remains. “I do get besieged some times,” he admitted, although he claims, “I’m not ‘famous.’ I’m fame-ish.” Still, at a show at the Phinney Farmer’s Market, he struggled through interruptions by audience members. However, these were pint-sized fans, not rock groupies.
“Presidents fans are the nice, regular people,” he said, “that get our esthetic.” They also attend Caspar shows, Ballew has noticed, since many now have their own children to accompany.
Ballew performs at shows with two other professional musicians: Frederick ‘Babyshirt’ Northup Jr. and Ronald ‘Babyshoes’ Hippe. “Nice guys to play with,” praised Ballew, and both apparently have an easy time connecting with the audiences. Yet, on the records and at smaller shows, Ballew performs solo
For more, families can stop by Dusty Strings on Saturday, June 25, and hear the music (and dance along.) Arrive early, though, to be sure to have plenty of space to wiggle!
Related Articles
- Concert, And Classes, For Kids At Dusty Strings
- by Kirby Lindsay, January 12, 2011
- Fremont’s Public Living Room at Gypsy Music Café
- by Kirby Lindsay, May 25, 2011
©2011 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.