Based in Denver, Colorado the current line-up of the band is Tammy Ealom (guitar/vocals), John Hill (guitar),
Rob Greene (bass), and Darren Albert (drums). The name of the band comes from a doll.
Dressy Bessy first came together after Tammy left her first band, The 40th Day. She got a 4-Track recorder
as a Christmas present and decided to learn guitar. Her boyfriend, John Hill (Apples in
Stereo) was teaching her bar chords and she spent a lot of her time at home recording and practicing.
Around this time she started playing with her friend Martyn Leaper (The Minders),
who was also between bands at the time. This project was strictly a recording venture at the time (with help
from Robert Schneider (Apples in Stereo) and friends) but it eventually became the
first line-up of The Minders. After a short while and some heated arguments, it seemed
as though there was not enough room for two songwriters in the band and Tammy went on her separate way
once again.
She tried playing with various people around town but just ended up frustrated. Tammy had pretty much
given up on the live band thing and decided that she'd just record, when she met Darren Albert. He was working
at a local record store when they met. He told her a story about how he and his friend, Rob Greene, had been
traveling across country from New York (Staten Island to be exact) and their van had broken down in Colorado.
They had both taken jobs temporarily to make enough money to get back home. Being that they were in a record
store, they began to talk about music. Tammy found out that Darren played drums and that Rob played guitar
(mostly jazz). Before they knew it, Darren bought a drum kit (his was back in NYC) and Rob bought an amp and
a bass. It didn't take long before Dressy Bessy came to be. A short time later, John became an official member;
playing lead guitar.
In 1997, the band released their first single Ultra Vivid Color on their own label Little Dipper Records.
Martyn Leaper from The Minders did the cover art.
Drug Racer records from England released the You Stand Here EP within a lovely cloth bag in August 1998.
The 3 tracks from the first single are included on the EP.
100 Guitar Mania, a Japanese record label, released a 7" in January 1999 called Sunny. One weird thing
about the single is that the A-side plays at 45 rpm, but the B-side plays at 33!
The first Dressy Bessy album, Pink Hearts, Yellow Moons was released a month later on Kindercore
Records. Hilarie Sidney (Apples in Stereo, Secret Square)
and Jim McIntyre (Von Hemmling) made vocal contributions, and Robert Schneider
(Apples in Stereo, Marbles) helped on the production side.
Makeup was also featured on the Candyfloss Records compilation, Pure Spun Sugar, and
Extra Ordinary was a re-recorded version of the Drug Racer single track. Big Vacation was co-written
by Tammy and Martyn Leaper of The Minders.
Y2K saw the releases of some songs on various compilations such as the Powerpuff Girls Soundtrack,
Kindercore Fifty, and Song for a Crimson Eggtree. In November 2000, the band released The
California EP on Kindercore Records.
Pink Hearts Yellow Moons was released in the UK by Track & Field Organisation in September 2001.
In January 2002, Track & Field Organisation released a split 7" with Saloon. Dressy Bessy's side features the
song Live To Tell All. In February 2002, the band's second full-length record SoundGoRound was released
on Kindercore Records.
The band's singles & b-sides collection, entitled Little Music, was released on Kindercore Records in
March 2003.
The self-titled album, Dressy Bessy, came out August 2003. It included a bonus DVD
with behind-the-scenes footage, live performances, and videos.
June 14th 2005 will see the release of the band's new record Electrified.
Official web page: www.dressybessy.com
Other projects involving Dressy Bessy members:
Apples in Stereo
