Michael Chamy sent me the email below, and I was wondering if people who know more about the 90's scene or know this guy personally might like to comment or provide us with more information. We noticed that Wanz had posted something about this in a comment thread the other day, but since I don't know anything about this person and very little about his band(s), I figured we'd give someone else the chance to share:

"apparently Chris Foley was found dead sometime in the past few days in an Austin motel room. I heard this secondhand. Foley, as far as I know, was most recently and perhaps still in Austin's very good melodic shoegaze dream/pop group the Swells (circa 2000 to either present or recently, though I think Foley was only in the group the past couple years, though I am not certain), but much more noted in DFW and Texas at large for being a core member of the great slowcore space-pop outfit of the late 90s, Transona Five (circa 1995 to 2000) ... not sure if they were technically from Ft. Worth, Denton or elsewhere in DFW .... but they made some serious waves around here at some point, especially at the end of the Denton space rock thing (they were kinda closer to Comet & Bedhead though) .... they were on the Austin label Sandwich Records, and I think they may have even moved to Boston or something, perhaps causing their demise."

Here is a a short Wikipedia entry about Transona Five, and here is an Allmusic entry about the Swells.

UPDATE 555pm: A blog on Transona 5's Myspace confirms this.

d-e-a-t-h: what's that spell?
DEATH, DEATH, DEATH.

11:41 ... that link is beautiful.

Foley was a great, laid back, easygoing cat, had lots of good times back in the days.
It's a damn shame.

this was a great little write up about transona 5 from back in like 2004.

http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/frontpage/000515.html

Transona Five was great.

Aside:

Would I have seen any of you in the old world at any of the parties thrown by Brooke H? Like- King and Queen of the Dallas Scene- etc. etc. etc.

?

The split atom was that the club/restaurant? Over on 7th?

Anyone remember Deadpan?

Analog Set ... Comet .... Transona Five

Acetone at the Argo. good times.

Dear 11:24...

Split Atom.

Jesus H. Bacon, that brings back old memories.

Saw some good shows at the Dog Star in FW. Split Atom.

Foley helped my first band get a show at the Argo way back in the day. When nobody showed up, he called Will Johnson, who made a surprise guest appearance... bringing with him a slew of fans, friends, and genuinely cool people. That was my introduction to the Denton music scene.
Foley sent our cassette demo to a label, which eventually signed us.
Even after moving to Austin, he would show up at Emo's, with friends in tow, just to support us touring north Texas bands.
The strange thing is, I really didn't know him that well. He was just generally enthusiastic about music, and helped everyone.
We need more people like him.
I'll miss him terribly.

Curtis Glenn Heath

panther city:
the impala
the crossing
the engine room
mad hatters
joes garage

does anyone remember the slip disc in dallas?

Daron: there was a lazy mid-summer night at the carpet-floored Impala ... suffice to say, one of my favorite solitary (as in me & five other people) live musical experiences. Transona then Ohm. Foley then Doug (& Forrest). Funny you mention it.

Cheers.

Chris was a very nice guy. It's very sad that he had to go. We had some good times together.

Transona 5 were a fantasic live band, with much more control and restraint than most of the groups in the "Space Rock" scene.

Chris will be remembered fondly. Thankfully, he left behind some beautiful songs.

For the 30-somethings that know, tonight, drink to the ones who left too soon and too sudden:

Chris Foley-Transona 5-RIP
Chris Forrest-Ohm-RIP
Doug Ferguson-Ohm, Yeti, Frankie Teardrop-RIP

and to the several Syd Barrett clones who quietly remain.

derr, this could help:

www.myspace.com/transonafive

per transona 5 myspace:

Foley

We regret to annouce the passing of our dear friend, bandmate, and brother Chris Foley. This loss is hitting the band hard, though we do have the solace of the music he left behind.

I've posted "Coin Toss" for his friends and fans--please stop and listen, and please keep Foley and all those close to him in your thoughts. He will never leave ours.

A memorial service will take place Friday at 9am, February 2 at Shady Grove--1624 Barton Springs Road, Austin, TX. Everyone is welcome.