Big Stir Records is proud to present the continuing adventures of Chicagoland's DOLPH CHANEY with the February 20 release of THIS IS DOLPH CHANEY, the all-new followup to last year's watershed REBUILDING PERMIT. Featuring 13 tracks produced by NICK BERTLING, the album is available for pre-order on CD and digital formats at

Big Stir Records is proud to present the continuing adventures of Chicagoland's DOLPH CHANEY with the February 20 release of THIS IS DOLPH CHANEY, the all-new followup to last year's watershed REBUILDING PERMIT. Featuring 13 tracks produced by NICK BERTLING, the album is available for pre-order on CD and digital formats at www.bigstirrecords.com/store and everywhere now. As intimated by the title, it's at once a career summation, an introduction, and an artistic leap forward for Chaney, hot on the heels of the many honors and breakthroughs of 2020 which culminated in his coronation as WOODY RADIO's Artist Of The Year.

Dolph made unprecedented new friends and fans with his first label release in 2020, but the singer-guitarist has been writing and recording for decades, dating back to his teens in the late ‘80s. Throughout that career, Dolph worked in isolation with lo-fi gear and playing every instrument, aiming to capture his songs quickly and intuitively, then move to the next. It's an approach that reached its peak in terms of both artistry and audience reach on REBUILDING PERMIT, an album that changed everything for Chaney... and just happened to materialize in April 0f last year, when the nascent COVID-19 pandemic changed everything for everyone.

It came as no surprise to those who have known him as long as we have that Dolph proved to be that rare artist suited to thrive and grow in adversity. As that singular moment of cultural uncertainty began to mutate into one sociopolitical nightmare after another, Chaney too evolved, and his response was nothing short of inspirational. With his album earning admirers, airplay, and strong reviews worldwide, Dolph took an invitation from online radio station Woody Radio to perform regular live webcasts and ran with it. The shows brought Dolph more than just new listeners and a much-needed opportunity to interact. “I had the chance to push myself, to try things with my guitar and voice I hadn’t thought I could pull off,” he says. “I was blessed to have all of that keeping me engaged and sharp at such a bewildering time.”

The impetus to keep the shows fresh saw Chaney delving into his own deep back catalog as he caught the ears of other leading lights on the global pop rock scene. Enter NICK BERTLING, also a veteran of homemade music-making, celebrated for his creative work as bertling noise laboratories and helming much-loved records from GRETCHEN'S WHEEL among others. Dolph reached out to simply to express admiration for Nick's work on the just-released Futureman Records XTC tribute. By July 4, after trading tracks, shared admiration and feedback, Nick proposed working together. Things moved quickly, and mere months later, THIS IS DOLPH CHANEY is the dazzling and thoroughly engrossing result, equal parts deeply considered craft and inspired immediacy.

The title reflects the game plan that organically drove the collaboration: an album featuring new arrangements of what had been solo lo-fi songs from Chaney's back catalog that begged for something more. Bertling introduces a clear, direct approach to the sound and the definitive new beginning it represents. It's the first time Chaney has handed over the producer's reins, and a true collaboration, with Bertling sifting through a 50-song pool of candidates to workshop with Dolph. On the final record, songs written between 1991 and 2008, sourced from the Dolph's albums RIPPLES, INFINITY DOGS, HUMBUG GLORY, CLIMBING MOUNTAIN TIME, and GUMSHOE KOALA, all receive empathetic reworkings – some drastic, some subtle, all emblematic of the “next level” production mastery that Bertling brings to the table, with the needs of the tunes front and center.

THIS IS DOLPH CHANEY features key vocal contributions from Kevin & Scott Robertson (The Vapour Trails) on the late-Mersey swing of "Pleasant Under Glass", and Lindsay Murray (of Gretchen's Wheel, who also handles the art design) on the irresistibly rocking first single "Now I Am A Man". But at its core it's Dolph and Nick, who found their perspectives and skills to complement each other astonishingly well. It's a natural next step from REBUILDING PERMIT, where bringing sympathetic partners into the fold multiplied the effectiveness of the results.

The album is, in a word, expansive. Pandemic-era recording being what it is, Bertling and Chaney go home and go big at the same time, and the sound they conjure leaves the bedroom behind for a greater wide open. And it's all different kinds of huge, encompassing Cars-worthy pop (“Cuddle Party”), Bob Mould-tinged rock (“Scales”), and the inexorably building and harrowing arena massiveness of “Meaningless”. There are the evocative Lanois-like soundscapes bookending the record – the opening “Status Unknown” and gently insistent closer “Graveyard Shift” -- and the lushly propulsive college rock heights of “Worship Song” with its sly and striking refrain “Jesus, I'm a dumbass, please forgive me” (and the even more arresting response to the plea). At the forefront, always, is Chaney's voice, bringing newfound control and urgency to the swooping melodies he's crafted over the decades. Everything old is very much new again on TIDC.

“As often as not, the new arrangements on the record were initiated by Nick, and frequently they were complete (pleasant!) surprises to me,” Dolph reveals. Witness the transformation of “Under The Overpass” from a winsomely strummy acoustic number written in 1991 into a lush, seductive groove suggesting Seal or Sade, albeit still sung with Dolph’s signature vulnerability. Conversely, Dolph gives Nick credit for stoking the dormant rock energy in “I Wanted You” and “My Good Twin,” two previously mopey 2008 standouts that benefit greatly from the aural caffeination that makes their hooks simply pop.

The broadening of the production pallet and the tightening of the performances only bring everything that was visceral, heartbreaking, and wonderfully playful about DOLPH CHANEY into clearer focus. Building on a tremendous first year with Big Stir Records, with regular FM and online airplay as well as glowing press responses, he's ready to show rock listeners everywhere what all THIS IS about. On February 20, find out why THIS IS DOLPH CHANEY, and find a new favorite song.

BIG STIR RECORDS continues our Bonus Single Week! And today DOLPH CHANEY's back with a brand new followup to his acclaimed recent album: a double A-side, out at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles right now. And this time there's methane to his madness. Joining REBUILDING PERMIT standout "If I Write it Down" as the other A side is "Be

BIG STIR RECORDS continues our Bonus Single Week! And today DOLPH CHANEY's back with a brand new followup to his acclaimed recent album: a double A-side, out at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles right now. And this time there's methane to his madness. Joining REBUILDING PERMIT standout "If I Write it Down" as the other A side is "Be My Old Fart," a longtime cult favorite that's no longer so silent but just as deadly.

Dolph has had a few ones-that-got-away in his 33 years writing songs, before landing with Big Stir in summer 2019 for the "It's OK" single. One of the Chicagoland singer-songwriters's most popular vintage crowd pleasers, "Be My Old Fart" was originally released in an acoustic version on 2008's GUMSHOE KOALA. That album was his last one recorded on 4-track cassette (before taking his "fi" from "lo" to "lower-mid"), and among its wide variety of experiments lay several of Chaney's most opaquely glittering gems.

To finally get "Fart" afloat and rising as it always should have, none other than MICHAEL SIMMONS (Popdudes, Yorktown Lads, sparkle*jets U.K., and his own bad self) provides his prodigious talents as multi-instrumentalist, one-man chorale, and production maestro. "I never in my life thought anything this smooth could pass as still being mine!" says Chaney with delight. It's this same enthusiasm that rings through this cracked, witty declaration of love and invitation to not let it all evaporate away (...and folks, by some miracle, she said 'yes!'). Breathe deep and inhale the musical fruit of Dolph Chaney & Michael Simmons -- crank it up, and make sure to open a window.

The other “A” is a complete contrast, almost pre-ordained as the second single from the album and an airplay favorite since the its release. “This is the oldest song on REBUILDING PERMIT, having been written during - and about - a period of general writer's block in 2014,” explains Dolph. “It was put out as a crude YouTube video back then, complete with documented footage of my bare knees, which few had ever seen and no one had requested. Notwithstanding, I knew it was an important song, and it didn't let go of me. Over time, it became the totem for my whole process as the writing for the album gradually kicked into gear in 2017.” That fine record can be purchased at www.bigstirrecords.com/store as Chaney continues his banner year, with doubtless more to come!

BIG STIR RECORDS is proud to announce the April 3 release of REBUILDING PERMIT, the new album from DOLPH CHANEY, up for pre-order now at www.bigstirrecords.com/store and everywhere music is sold. Seven years since the Chicagoland singer-songwriter's last album - and two solid years in the making - the wait is over. Rebuilding Permit is in hand for

BIG STIR RECORDS is proud to announce the April 3 release of REBUILDING PERMIT, the new album from DOLPH CHANEY, up for pre-order now at www.bigstirrecords.com/store and everywhere music is sold. Seven years since the Chicagoland singer-songwriter's last album - and two solid years in the making - the wait is over. Rebuilding Permit is in hand for spring 2020, and Dolph is here to break new ground with his full-length debut on Big Stir.

It's an eclectic but focused stunner. Coming out of a challenging time of loss and recovery, Dolph has tightened up and written in a way that uses his imaginative skills to connect with his listeners at a deeper level than ever. You can still expect what you came for if you're already hip to his deal: chord changes, collisions of style, and turns of phrase that fly in from all directions, only to make themselves right at home. What's different here is that Chaney has kept the quirks and digressions as filigree, digging deeper to the emotions underneath. The whimsy is in the details rather than being the point. Our boy's grown up!

And for the first time since his 1998 New Bird Rise album, he and his quiver of guitars, Moog, and bass are not doing all the work alone. The Rebuilding crew includes engineer Milk Arnold, Ryan O'Malley (who adds roiling Hammond organ to "A Good Road Is Hard To Find"), and drummers Clayton Melocik (on the giant psych-jangle of leadoff track"It's OK") and Jim LeFager, who navigates the rest of the album's gauntlet of genres.

Indeed, you'll be treated to everything from rolling shanty-folk ("The Biscuit (Who Grabbed My Face)") to sensitive and deft rimshot grooves ("Broken," "If I Write It Down") and dam-smashing echo ("Diet Of Worms"), from searing and searching roots-rock ("The Handling”) and an end-of-prom last-nerds-standing waltz ("(Who Am I) To Ask You To Dance?") to the '90s-throwback agitpop-punk of "The President Of The United States Is The Breitbart Bimbo." The comparisons to Bob Mould, Guided By Voices, and even Peter Gabriel seem apt given the scope of the work on hand here.

Rebuilding Permit comes on the heels of two singles, “It's OK” and “The Handling”, which garnered international airplay and a wider audience for Chaney, yielding reviews from the likes of The Big Takeover (“a passionate wall of melody”) and a Dolph-curated artist block on Boom Radio's There Once Was A Note program. Both tracks, along with exclusive non-album B-sides, can be found on the BIG STIR SINGLES CD compilations (THE THIRD WAVE and THE SIXTH WAVE respectively). Dolph Chaney is thrilled to have REBUILDING PERMIT on file with Big Stir so he can get to work making a new home in your ears and hearts.

This Friday, March 6, 2020, “The Handling” by Dolph Chaney becomes the 63rd BIG STIR DIGITAL SINGLE OF THE WEEK!! It’s 3 minutes of jangly, pure pop ear candy. As always, it's available for preorder at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles now.

This is the second BIG STIR DIGITAL SINGLE from Illinois-based, low-fi champion Dolph Chaney’

This Friday, March 6, 2020, “The Handling” by Dolph Chaney becomes the 63rd BIG STIR DIGITAL SINGLE OF THE WEEK!! It’s 3 ½ minutes of jangly, pure pop ear candy. As always, it's available for preorder at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles now.

This is the second BIG STIR DIGITAL SINGLE from Illinois-based, low-fi champion Dolph Chaney’s upcoming “Rebuilding Permit” album which will be released on Big Stir Records this April. Backed with “Automatic Caution Door,” the sound of “The Handling”, and the entire ”Rebuilding Permit” album, is pop that is at once both familiar and alien. The guitars ring and buzz with Pete Townshendy zeal and analog synth bloops as Chaney’s voice soothes, cajoles, smirks, pries then climbs higher and higher until the listener becomes aware of being awash in an apocalyptic epiphany amid a song about nasal spray.

“It took a surprisingly long time to write a song as simple as 'The Handling'”, says Dolph Chaney about his upcoming single. “I had the gist of the verses and the main riff seemingly forever. I would come back to it every few months over a period of nearly two years. My dad flew away the following October, the oldest and largest-looming of the "old cats" I'd had to bid farewell that year. I relied upon "The Handling" to help hold myself together.” Chaney plays guitar, bass and sings on “The Handling,” and Jim LeFager keeps the beat with his steady drumming. The song was produced by Dolph Chaney, co-produced and mixed by Milk Arnold and mastered by the maestro himself, Big Stir’s very own Steven Eric Wilson.

“’Automatic Caution Door’ was originally written on 04/04/04,” continues Chaney. “The original version was the closer of my CDR-only album VERY JUST FINE: AMPLITUDE THREE. It's either a weird prayer or a really weird love song.” Here again we find Jim LeFager’s rock steady drumming keeping time as Dolph contributes his voice, acoustic guitar, bass, electric guitar and E-bow guitar.

Comparisons have been made to acknowledged influences such as XTC, Robyn Hitchcock, the Violent Femmes, Bob Mould, Elvis Costello, Matthew Sweet, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Henry Cow.

Dolph Chaney’s music has brought him experiences running the gamut, from early encouragement received by mail from experimental guitar shaman Eugene Chadbourne, to sitting in a festival green room being told by Jim Bakker why he cowers at the sight of a Diet Coke.

Chaney’s prior work is available immediately along with many others via www.dolphchaney.com and major online retailers and services. Throughout these three decades of work, what always shines through in a Dolph Chaney release are the imaginative, irrepressible, and deeply felt songs. Feel them today.

Big Stir Records’ 40th Digital single release (out Friday, August 23 and available for pre-order now at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles ) comes from Illinois-based lo-fi mastermind DOLPH CHANEY. Dolph’s roots in the Big Stir massive trace back to the ’90s when Chaney and BSR co-founder REX BROOME were part of an online songwriting

Big Stir Records’ 40th Digital single release (out Friday, August 23 and available for pre-order now at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles ) comes from Illinois-based lo-fi mastermind DOLPH CHANEY. Dolph’s roots in the Big Stir massive trace back to the ’90s when Chaney and BSR co-founder REX BROOME were part of an online songwriting cabal (also including Single Series vets MATT SEWELL of CHARMS AGAINST THE EVIL EYE and PAULA CARINO among others) centered around mutual love of ROBYN HITCHCOCK’s work. Dolph is now back with a forthcoming album REBUILDING PERMIT, and our single, “It’s Okay”, cheekily backed with “I Am The B-Side”, is your first chance to hear what the prolific and brilliant singer-guitarist is about to unleash.

In 2016, Dolph Chaney was a JEOPARDY! contestant. Alex Trebek spent his interview with Dolph by trading "Weird Al" Yankovic anecdotes. His correct question-answers included John Lennon, Flight Of The Conchords, and Jesse & the Rippers. So, if you're new to Dolph's music, you should know that you're in talented, smart, and funny hands. These hands hold a new album for 2019, entitled REBUILDING PERMIT.

Starting in 1987, around the time Robert Pollard and Lou Barlow were starting to do the same in rec rooms in Dayton and Northampton, Dolph (then 13 years old) began messing around with words, melodies, guitars, his Realistic Moog synthesizer, and half-malfunctioning tape recorders in his Indianapolis basement.

REBUILDING PERMIT arrives 6 years after its predecessor, SHENANIGANS, a one-man-show of Dolph's creativity and craft with loose but listenable sonics. The solo approach follows a line from homemade peaks such as GUMSHOE KOALA (2008) and LOUDNESS 2 11 (2012). REBUILDING has PERMITted outside collaborators for the first time since 1998's NEW BIRD RISE. These include engineer Milk Arnold ("will mix for pie") and drummers Clayton Melocik (on the giant jangle of pre-album single "It's OK") and Jim LeFager, who navigates the album's genre gauntlet from rolling folk ("The Biscuit (Who Grabbed My Face)") to sensitive and deft rock grooves ("Broken," "If I Write It Down," and "Diet Of Worms"), from roots-rock ("The Handling," "A Good Road Is Hard To Find") and end-of-prom waltzing ("(Who Am I) To Ask You To Dance?") to the '90s-throwback agitpop-punk of "The President Of The United States Is The Breitbart Bimbo." Jim and Milk also helped Dolph resurrect "I Am The B-Side," a song written 25 years earlier for his Houston-based band Port Radium, as the (ahem) B-side of "It's OK" for its August release in Big Stir Records' Digital Singles series.

The sound is pop both familiar and alien. The guitars ring and buzz with Townshendy zeal, analog synth bloops and chatters away, as the voice soothes and cajoles and smirks and pries and climbs... until suddenly the listener, for example, becomes aware of being awash in an apocalyptic epiphany amid a song about nasal spray.

But it's not all fun and game shows-- the REBUILDING has been thorough and it's all reflected in the songs, as Dolph spent the intervening years getting sober and grieving the passing of several loved ones, including his Baptist-minister father. The songs show him processing all of that and finding peace at the Studio Dolphty home base near Chicago with his wife, dog, and 3 cats.

Comparisons have been made to acknowledged influences such as XTC, Robyn Hitchcock, Violent Femmes, Bob Mould, Elvis Costello, Matthew Sweet, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Henry Cow. Dolph's music has brought him experiences running the gamut, from early encouragement received by mail from experimental guitar shaman Eugene Chadbourne, to sitting in a festival green room being told by Jim Bakker why he cowers at the sight of a Diet Coke.

Dolph's prior work is available immediately along with many others via www.dolphchaney.com/ and major online retailers and services. Throughout these three decades of work, what always shines through in a Dolph Chaney release are the imaginative, irrepressible, and deeply felt songs. Feel them today.