Singer-songwriter Chris Stamey is what you might call power pop royalty. Prior to hitting cult fame in New York as one fourth of the dB’s and playing bass for Alex Chilton, he cofounded North Carolina punk pioneers the Sneakers with future Let’s Active leader Mitch Easter and in recent years has overseen a series of all-star concert performances of Big Star’s classic Third album. The dB’s own third album, 1984’s Like This, was recorded at Bearsville Studio, and Stamey makes a return to the local hamlet with a June 7 concert at the Bearsville Theater.
While the dB’s have been an on-again/off-again situation since their landmark 1981 album Stands for Decibels, Stamey has kept busy as a producer (Whiskeytown, Tift Merritt, Flat Duo Jets) and a solo artist. The latest release under his own name is Lovesick Blues, a set of alternately upbeat and intimate songs that employ strings, woodwinds, and vocal harmonies. Stamey’s Bearsville date is being billed as a “special chamber pop concert,” and features local cellist extraordinaire Jane Scarpantoni and other guests. Here’s a video for the new album’s title track:
Chris Stamey will perform at the Bearsville Theater on June 7 at 8pm. For tickets and more information call (845) 679-4406 or visit Bearsvilletheater.com.
This article appears in June 2013.
