Remember the old TV commercial that said: “With a name like Smucker’s, it has to be good?” The same can be said for a singer who takes his stage name from a legendary Bob Dylan album.
It was a bold move made by Wesley Stace when he consolidated his Christian name with the name of a famous album some 20+ years ago, then stepped onto the stage to make his way in the music business.
But he’s done alright for himself, he has. In ’88, he released the first of his fifteen albums, the solo acoustic set called It Happened One Night. In ’95, he was pegged to open for Springsteen (the first artist to do so in some 20 years) and, in ’05, he published the first of his three novels, Misfortune.
As if that’s not enough, he has a new album on the shelves since last month, The Sound Of His Own Voice, that’s as good as anything he’s recorded yet.
Waxed at the Type Foundry in Portland, OR, Harding called the creation of his new 13-song set “among the happiest recording sessions of (his) life.” How could he miss with production by Scott McCaughey (of R.E.M. and the Minus Five) and musical support from Roseanne Cash, Peter Buck and a quartet from Portland faves, the Decemberists.
Our Free MP3 of the Day, “Sing Your Own Song,” is a wonderful narrative of how Harding came to find his voice and happened on his long and winding road of a career. We’re particularly fond of the part about how his four year sings songs with the benefit of “explanatory mime.” Word is his other kid, Tilda, laid claim to payment for her particiapation — at the phenomenal price of $10.
November 18, 8:00 PM, New York, NY @ City Winery, Cabinet of Wonders Guests to be announced
November 19, 9:00 PM, Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House
November 20, 9:00 PM, Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell’s
December 6, 7:00 PM, New York, NY @ New York Public Library, DISCUSSION/READING/SINGING w/Josh Ritter, JWH and Friends
December 9, 8:00 PM, New Hope, PA @ New Hope Winery, Supporting Marshall Crenshaw
February 25, 8:45 PM, Scotch Plains, NJ @ Jewish Community Ctr., Split Level Concerts at the JCC
http://vevo.ly/pu8glL
