Alison Chesley is a cellist and composer who makes music under the name Helen Money. She released her latest album, Atomic (the follow-up to 2016’s Become Zero), just as Chicago went into lockdown in March 2020. She plays a three-night residency at the Empty Bottle from June 17 through 19.
Atomic by Helen Money
I’m really excited for these shows at the Empty Bottle, because I get to play with three of my favorite musicians: Sam Wagster, who I’ve known a long time and is going to be playing pedal steel; Nora Barton, who is also a cellist; and Billie Howard, who’s on piano and violin.
I knew that people were buying my record, which is really awesome. And when I was streaming performances, people would be there watching. I’d be upstairs playing my set in my bedroom, and my husband would be downstairs, and he’d say, “God, I saw all these people, all these hearts and smiles and reactions.” In that way, I still felt I was connecting with people, even though there weren’t people in front of me. I’d get nervous—I think the way to really enjoy streaming concerts is to not feel like it’s trying to take the place of a live show. It’s just connecting in another way.
There’ll be like a core from Atomic, and then I’ll bring in other songs from the other albums, different ones each night. It’s a lot to pull together, but I think it’ll be really fun.
