Chris Ballew

Christopher Ballew (born May 28, 1965) is an American musician best known as the lead singer and bassist of the alternative rock group the Presidents of the United States of America. He also performed and recorded as a children's artist under the pseudonym Caspar Babypants, from 2009 until 2021.

Ballew's career in music traces back to his street performances in a duo called Egg, during his time in Boston in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Following a brief period in Los Angeles performing with Beck, Ballew returned to Washington and formed the Presidents of the United States of America in 1993, a band that lasted until 2015. In 1998, he started a solo project known as the Giraffes, which turned into a band the following year. In 2009, he launched Caspar Babypants, a children's music project that has since released numerous albums. He has also issued music under his own name. Ballew uses unconventional instruments, notably a two-string "basitar", and he performs without distortion pedals, relying on the natural distortion of the amplifier. He is married to collage artist Kate Endle.