Alison Chesley
| Alison Chesley | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Helen Money |
| Born |
January 4, 1960 Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instruments | Cello |
| Years active | 1995–current |
| Labels | Epic, Table of the Elements, Temporary Residence, Victory, Warner Bros., Minty Fresh, Invisible, Temporary Residence, Suicide Squeeze, Naïve, Arts & Crafts, Plate-Tec-Tonic, Premonition Records, Whitehouse Records |
| Associated acts | Verbow, Poi Dog Pondering, Anthrax |
| Website | Helen Money Website |
Alison Chesley (born January 4, 1960), known also by her stage name as Helen Money, is a Los Angeles-based cellist and composer.
Chesley was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern University, where she received a master's degree in cello performance in 1994. While at Northwestern, Chesley met Jason Narducy. Chesley and Narducy performed as an acoustic rock duo called Jason & Alison (renamed Verbow), which went on to release two albums for Epic Records – Chronicles, produced by Bob Mould and White Out produced by Brad Wood. Opening for such bands as Frank Black, Bob Mould, Counting Crows, Live, Morrissey, Liz Phair and Brad with Stone Gossard, Verbow toured nationally for seven years. Meeting and working with Bob Mould was a big influence on Alison Chesley forming the Helen Money project for aggressive, amplified cello.
Verbow broke up in 2001 and Chesley turned her attention to a busy career in Chicago as a composer/performer and session musician in the studio. She most often recorded at two of Chicago's busiest recording studios; Steve Albini's Electrical Audio and Soma Studios. Some of the artists with whom she worked include albums by Mono, Anthrax, Broken Social Scene, Russian Circles, Chris Connelly, Poi Dog Pondering and Disturbed, among many others. She also appears on albums by Bob Mould and Rachel Grimes. In 2011, Chesley moved back to Los Angeles and switched her attention away from studio work and towards touring as Helen Money. Since then, she has toured widely across the U.S. and Europe opening for acts such as Shellac, Earth, Nina Nastasia, Joe Lally, Mono, Sleep, Magma, Jarboe, Neurosis and Agalloch. During the Spring of 2015, Chesley performed with Bob Mould on his Workbook 25 tour which included an appearance on the David Letterman Show.
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