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Founded in 1993 by Stephen Gardner, Chessie has been making Electro-acoustic music inspired by the physical, emotional, and aesthetic elements of railways for 10 years. Ben Bailes, a childhood friend, joined Gardner full time in 2000. Since then the two have been writing, recording, and performing as a duo, and have toured the world with appearances in Spain, Germany, Belgium, Canada, and cities throughout the U.S. Chessie has three LPs. The first two, Signal Series (1996) and Meet (1998) were released on Drop Beat Rec ords, and Overnight (2001), is Plug Research Records release. In addition to the LPs, there are numerous singles and remixes on various labels. Chessie's side project, Camping, with German singer/songwriter Henning Fritzenwalder, released its first LP, Suburban Shore, on Plug Research in April of 2004. The DVD Alpha Arvonia (2003.) was made to accompany Chessie's art installation of the same name. The DVD contains video footage of rural Virginia taken from a boxcar on the Buckingham Railroad, Chessie's original live score from the show mixed in 5.1 surround sound, and photographs by Colby Caldwell. Chessie's work has garnered critical acclaim from the BBC, PRI, and WAMU Radio, The New York Times (Best of 2001), The Washington Post (Best of 2001), The Washington City Paper, The Village Voice (Best of 2001), Amazon.com (Best of 1998), The Wire, Spex, Le Monde, and more. |
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