Editing Chris Ballew (section)

===Early life and musical beginnings===
{{More citations needed|section|date=May 2025}}

Ballew grew up in Seattle and attended middle and high school at [[Bush School (Washington)|Bush School]], where he met [[Dave Dederer]], with whom he would later form [[The Presidents of the United States of America (band)|the Presidents of the United States of America]]. As a child, he was musically inspired by [[the Beatles]].<ref>{{cite web|title=I'm Chris Ballew, aka Caspar Babypants, and This Is How I Parent |url=https://lifehacker.com/im-chris-ballew-aka-caspar-babypants-and-this-is-how-1830039399 |website=lifehacker.com |date=October 29, 2018 |access-date=May 6, 2025}}</ref> In the late 1980s and early '90s, Ballew lived in [[Boston]], where he performed as a [[street musician]] in a duo called Egg with Phil Franklin (later of [[Caroliner Rainbow]] and [[Sunburned Hand of the Man]]).<ref>[http://pusabase.com/bandography.html Chris Ballew Bandography], accessed August 19, 2010.</ref> Many of Ballew's songs with Egg would become well-known Presidents songs, most notably "Naked and Famous", which is performed by Egg as a bonus track on a 2005 reissue of the Presidents' [[eponymous]] [[The Presidents of the United States of America (album)|debut album]]. The two members of Egg were also part of the experimental triple-[[bass guitar]] ensemble Balls, which released a 12-inch EP in 1991.  While in Boston, Ballew also played briefly with [[Mary Lou Lord]], and with [[Mark Sandman]] of [[Treat Her Right]] and [[Morphine (band)|Morphine]], in a duo called Supergroup, in which they developed the oddly-stringed instruments that would become a staple of both the Presidents' and Morphine's sound.