Editing Chris Ballew (section)

===The Presidents of the United States of America===
Ballew moved to Los Angeles in the early 1990s, where he shared an apartment with musician [[Beck]] and played in his live band. Ballew told ''[[Seattle Weekly]]'' that playing with Beck "was the beginning of my professional career as a guy getting paid to make music."<ref>{{cite web |title=Marco Collins picks up the pieces |date=December 28, 2010 |last=Kornelis |first=Chris |url=http://www.seattleweekly.com/2010-12-29/music/marco-collins-picks-up-the-pieces |website=[[Seattle Weekly]] |access-date=April 13, 2014}}</ref> He returned to his native Washington in 1993 and started the Presidents of the United States of America. The band released six studio albums, then split up in July 2015.

In 1998, Ballew released a solo album credited to the Giraffes. The recording project turned into a band between 1999 and 2000. For the live version of the Giraffes, Ballew was joined by Jason Staczek (organ, clarinet) and Mike Musburger (drums).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pusabase.com/songography_giraffes.html|title=Songography – the Giraffes (Chris Ballew from the Presidents of the USA / PUSA) Hurley) – is It Christmas Yet?}}</ref>