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Caspar Babypants
Caspar Babypants performing in Medina, Washington, 2011
Caspar Babypants performing in Medina, Washington, 2011
Background information
OriginSeattle, Washington, US
GenresChildren's music
Years active2009–present
LabelsAurora Elephant Music
MembersChris Ballew
Past members
  • Ron Hippe
  • Fred Northup
Websitebabypantsmusic.com

Caspar Babypants is the stage name of children's music artist Chris Ballew, who is also the vocalist and bassist of The Presidents of the United States of America.

History

Ballew's first brush with children's music came in 2002, when he recorded and donated an album of traditional children's songs to the nonprofit Program for Early Parent Support titled "PEPS Sing A Long!" Although that was a positive experience for him, he did not consider making music for families until he met his wife, collage artist Kate Endle.[1] Her art inspired Ballew to consider making music that "sounded like her art looked" as he has said. Ballew began writing original songs and digging up nursery rhymes and folk songs in the public domain to interpret and make his own.[2] The first album, Here I Am!, was recorded during the summer of 2008 and released in February 2009.

Ballew began to perform solo as Caspar Babypants in the Seattle area in January 2009. Fred Northup, a Seattle-based comedy improvisor, heard the album and offered to play as his live percussionist. Northrup also suggested his frequent collaborator Ron Hippe as a keyboard player. "Frederick Babyshirt" and "Ronald Babyshoes" were the Caspar Babypants live band from May 2009 to April 2012. Both Northup and Hippe appear on some of his recordings but since April 2012 Caspar Babypants has exclusively performed solo. The reasons for the change were to include more improvisation in the show and to reduce the sound levels so that very young children and newborns could continue to attend without being overstimulated.

Ballew runs the Aurora Elephant Music record label, books shows, produces, records, and masters the albums himself. Distribution for the albums is handled by Burnside Distribution in Portland, Oregon. All of the albums feature cover art by Ballew's wife, Kate Endle.

The album FLYING HIGH! was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Children's Music Album.

"FUN FAVORITES!" and "HAPPY HITS!" are two vinyl-only collections of hit songs released in 2018

Discography

Albums
Appearances

References

  1. ^ Exclusive: Chris Ballew of The Presidents of the United States of America (aka Caspar Babypants)!, archived from the original on 2010-07-18, retrieved 2010-09-06
  2. ^ Chris Ballew’s Back With Caspar Babypants, archived from the original on 2009-05-05, retrieved 2010-09-06

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caspar Babypants.
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