Chris Stamey

From his tenures with the <a href="spotify:artist:7x6bfimmHLKP7Kk4ugoTKT">Sneakers</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1CYmYyxlWBVY80Kvq5lTDg">the dB's</a> to his subsequent solo projects, singer/songwriter Chris Stamey is a towering figure in the Southern jangle pop renaissance, which was hardly the limit of his talents. Early in his career, Stamey fused the sensibilities of <a href="spotify:artist:3UvcmAOZt64oKpP95f6MMM">Big Star</a> to new wave pop with <a href="spotify:artist:1CYmYyxlWBVY80Kvq5lTDg">the dB's</a> on 1982's Repercussion, later blending angular melodies with playful melodicism on his 1987 solo effort It's Alright. Stamey detoured into introspective semi-acoustic pop with his former <a href="spotify:artist:1CYmYyxlWBVY80Kvq5lTDg">dB's</a> bandmate <a href="spotify:artist:6x1omINXErES0iStMyIgEX">Peter Holsapple</a> on 1991's Mavericks, and he embraced the sounds of mid-century popular songwriting with the retro sounds of 2019's New Songs for the 20th Century. With 2023's The Great Escape, he explored new ground, adding country overtones to songs recalling his jangle pop salad days. Regardless of context, Stamey understands the importance of melody while also demonstrating the many ways in which it can be shaped, depending on its context.

Born December 6, 1954 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Stamey was raised in the Winston-Salem area, and alongside longtime friend and collaborator <a href="spotify:artist:6x1omINXErES0iStMyIgEX">Peter Holsapple</a>, he first surfaced in 1972 in the short-lived Rittenhouse Square, which issued their sole LP the following year. While attending the University of North Carolina in 1975, Stamey teamed up with drummer Will Rigby to form the cult favorite power pop combo <a href="spotify:artist:7x6bfimmHLKP7Kk4ugoTKT">Sneakers</a>; the group were later joined by guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:27tICP1Y2IuLqCpORpfNxF">Mitch Easter</a>, the future <a href="spotify:artist:6HRtcKFPKPw6FtbGpvQviZ">Let's Active</a> frontman who would emerge as one of the era's premier producers. The band traveled to New York City in 1976 to appear at the famed Max's Kansas City but dissolved soon after, at which time Stamey returned to the Big Apple to set up his own label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Car+Records%22">Car Records</a>.

In addition to issuing the posthumous <a href="spotify:artist:7x6bfimmHLKP7Kk4ugoTKT">Sneakers</a> collection In the Red in 1978, Car also issued the magnificent "I Am the Cosmos," the lone solo single of ex-<a href="spotify:artist:3UvcmAOZt64oKpP95f6MMM">Big Star</a> mastermind <a href="spotify:artist:1kWwqZmEoSMeJdyEJR4CdM">Chris Bell</a>; concurrently, Stamey played live with <a href="spotify:artist:1kWwqZmEoSMeJdyEJR4CdM">Bell</a>'s one-time <a href="spotify:artist:3UvcmAOZt64oKpP95f6MMM">Big Star</a> partner <a href="spotify:artist:7CW5MYWUsyUYiHbiTmVZHe">Alex Chilton</a>, and in 1977 issued a solo single, "The Summer Sun." When Rigby and bassist Gene Holder relocated to New York, Stamey joined them as <a href="spotify:artist:1CYmYyxlWBVY80Kvq5lTDg">the dB's</a>, releasing the 1978 single "If and When" before expanding into a four-piece with the addition of <a href="spotify:artist:6x1omINXErES0iStMyIgEX">Holsapple</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:1CYmYyxlWBVY80Kvq5lTDg">The dB's</a>' quirky yet melodic approach anticipated the emergence of the Southern jangle pop explosion, influencing acts like <a href="spotify:artist:4KWTAlx2RvbpseOGMEmROg">R.E.M.</a>, though initially they couldn't even land an American record deal, and their first two albums (the much-acclaimed 1981 efforts Stands for Decibels and Repercussion) appeared only in Britain.

Stamey left <a href="spotify:artist:1CYmYyxlWBVY80Kvq5lTDg">the dB's</a> in 1983, issuing the solo LP It's a Wonderful Life later that same year; after releasing 1984's Instant Excitement EP, he recorded and toured with <a href="spotify:artist:4iBOZeQKhT5NBsPxVXq7JL">the Golden Palominos</a>, squeezing in the Christmas Time mini-album in 1986. A year later, Stamey signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22A%26M%22">A&M</a> to make his long-awaited major-label debut with the superb It's Alright; despite uniformly solid reviews, the album made little commercial impact, and he spent the next several years as a producer and guest musician, completing an album that <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22A%26M%22">A&M</a> reportedly rejected. The LP finally appeared on Rhino in 1991 under the title Fireworks; that same year, he reunited with <a href="spotify:artist:6x1omINXErES0iStMyIgEX">Holsapple</a> for a semi-acoustic album, Mavericks.

For 1995's The Robust Beauty of Improper Models in Decision Making, Stamey made a radical shift away from his pop past, teaming with cornetist/guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1gDqusjIzYDk5QhSjeRvvT">Kirk Ross</a> for an exercise in free improvisation. Stamey spent the remainder of the decade focusing on producing records for other artists at his Modern Recording studio in Chapel Hill, but he returned to his own recording career with 2004's Travels in the South. Less than a year later, Stamey had another new album ready for release, a collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:5hAhrnb0Ch4ODwWu4tsbpi">Yo La Tengo</a> and Tyson Rogers credited to the Chris Stamey Experience and titled A Question of Temperature (2005).

A few years afterward, Stamey reunited with <a href="spotify:artist:6x1omINXErES0iStMyIgEX">Peter Holsapple</a>, releasing Here and Now in 2009 and supporting it with a tour. He then turned his attention to an ambitious live staging of <a href="spotify:artist:3UvcmAOZt64oKpP95f6MMM">Big Star</a>'s third album, 3rd (aka Sister Lovers), acting as the musical director for the star-studded concerts. The first of these debuted at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina in December of 2010 and over the next few years, Stamey brought <a href="spotify:artist:78dyu2fbRs8if7iInnFQZF">Big Star's Third</a> to London and to 2012's South by Southwest. (A 2016 <a href="spotify:artist:78dyu2fbRs8if7iInnFQZF">Big Star's Third</a> show in Glendale, California was recorded for the live release Thank You, Friends: Big Star's Third Live... And More.) That year also saw the reunion of <a href="spotify:artist:1CYmYyxlWBVY80Kvq5lTDg">the dB's</a>, who played live and released the new album Falling Off the Sky that summer.

Stamey continued with his busy workload in early 2013 with the release of the dreamy solo album Lovesick Blues. Two years later, he issued Euphoria, a record that touched upon many of his pop obsessions. 2019 saw the release of an especially ambitious effort, New Songs for the 20th Century, with Stamey writing and arranging 26 tunes modeled on mid-century pre-rock sounds with a bevy of guest vocalists and musicians. 2020's A Brand New Shade of Blue was a similarly minded follow-up, with a greater emphasis on cool '50s vocal jazz and vocals from <a href="spotify:artist:2zBOJLWrDcohnk7xhOUqs8">Brett Harris</a>. Stamey and <a href="spotify:artist:6x1omINXErES0iStMyIgEX">Holsapple</a> reunited once again for the 2021 release Our Back Pages, in which they recorded new interpretations of tunes from their back catalogs.

That same year, Stamey helped co-ordinate the release of I Thought You Wanted to Know: 1978-1981, a collection of early demos and live recordings from <a href="spotify:artist:1CYmYyxlWBVY80Kvq5lTDg">the dB's</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:3azero10EBz68YUn4mWz29">Those Pretty Wrongs</a>, a modern jangle pop band featuring <a href="spotify:artist:3UvcmAOZt64oKpP95f6MMM">Big Star</a> drummer <a href="spotify:artist:6q8Lz8Ef4knDwyHxk76FU8">Jody Stephens</a>, approached Stamey to engineer and write string and horn arrangements for their third studio album, 2023's Holiday Camp. Stamey stepped away from his other commitments to return to his solo career with 2023's The Great Escape, a set that blended his pop sensibilities with a light country accent, courtesy of pedal steel guitarist Eric Heywood and John Teer and Dave Wilson from the celebrated bluegrass outfit <a href="spotify:artist:3M2LPcqyD4PxbOFvtF05R7">Chatham County Line</a>. The album also included guest appearances from his fellow <a href="spotify:artist:1CYmYyxlWBVY80Kvq5lTDg">dB's</a> alumni <a href="spotify:artist:6x1omINXErES0iStMyIgEX">Peter Holsapple</a> and Will Rigby, and included a cover of a rare <a href="spotify:artist:7CW5MYWUsyUYiHbiTmVZHe">Alex Chilton</a> song, "She Might Look My Way." ~ Jason Ankeny & Mark Deming