Interview: Wesley Stace (née... ...née Wesley Stace, actually) Is Playing The Saint on October 4th

Photo: Ebet Roberts

The Artist Formerly Known as John Wesley Harding

I’ve been listening to Wesley Stace’s music for about 25 years. He’s released upwards of twenty albums and EPs -- from his debut studio LP, Here Comes the Groom, to 2011’s The Sound of His Own Voice. Most of his recordings fall somewhere on the folk / folk-rock / rock spectrum. Stace is also an engaging live performer and an excellent storyteller. He’s toured extensively throughout his career, and I’ve seen him play shows in New York, Seattle, Red Bank (twice), and Asbury Park. And for the last several years, Stace has curated, hosted, and performed his Cabinet of Wonders shows, bringing together musicians, comedians, and writers in a series of relaxed, very funny, and informal evenings. He has been doing all of that under the stage name John Wesley Harding.

Also an author, Stace published his first novel, Misfortune, in 2005 using his given name. Since then, he’s published two more acclaimed novels -- By George and Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer. He has maintained his dual-named, yet singular identity until now. The release of his latest album, appropriately called Self-Titled, marks his musical debut as Wesley Stace.

Stace is currently touring in support of Self-Titled. His tour brings him to Asbury Park on October 4th for a headlining slot at The Saint. He very graciously took some time out from preparing for his tour and for the next Cabinet to answer some questions over email for me. He writes about his decision to drop his stage name, his new record, and working with Eleanor Friedberger on her latest album. He also sets the record straight on a local legend about a show that happened in Asbury Park over 20 years ago.

After performing for twenty-five years and releasing twenty-plus albums and EPs as John Wesley Harding, what prompted you to unite your music and your writing under your given name? Did you have any concerns about abandoning the John Wesley Harding brand that you’d created?

It's too long an answer for email, sadly, but basically it's quite a personal selection of songs and lyrics, and, in two songs (“Goodbye Jane” and “We Will Always Have New York”), I actually refer to myself -- because I was quoting other people -- as "Mr. Stace"  and so it seemed absurd to keep calling myself Mr. Stace on the record and then release the album under the name John Wesley Harding. Also, I've been writing novels under my real name for some time, and it gets weird having two names. Time to bring it all under one roof! It's something I thought of doing before but I never really had a pressing reason to do it until now, and specifically because of the autobiographical element of the songs. Besides, I was always a weird candidate to have a left-field stage name: it's not like there was any difference between me and JWH. And everyone's being very supportive, even the business people for whom it causes slight problems!

Photo: Ebet Roberts

Over the course of your career, many of your songs have been short works of fiction. “Miss Fortune” even formed the basis for your first novel. Many of the songs on Self-Titled, like “We Will Always Have New York” or “The Bedroom You Grew Up In,” are more direct and personal. Has your work as a novelist affected your approach to songwriting? Are you now getting most of your fiction fix as an author?

I think it probably has and I think it's probably most fair to simply say yes to that latter question. If it's a coincidence, it's a weird one. But even my next novel is more directly based on my own experiences (while being entirely fictional), so perhaps it's just a general turn in my "aesthetic." All my novels were actually about, or in some way, were concerned with, songwriting, in one way or other -- Little Musgrave in Jessold, the ballads in Misfortune. And one thing's for sure: there's very little fiction in the lyrics on my new album, though some of the reality is greatly romanticized. What I do think is that I am now allowing music to perform an emotional function for me that I never did before.

You co-wrote Eleanor Friedberger’s latest album, Personal Record, with her; and you have alternate versions of two of the songs -- “When I Knew” and “Stare at the Sun” -- on Self-Titled. Compared side by side, the songs illustrate your different styles as performers while fitting, I think, seamlessly into each of your catalogs. How did the collaboration come about and how did two unique voices manage to share songwriting duties?

It's a long but simple story. A couple of years ago, I asked Eleanor and her brother Matt (as the Fiery Furnaces) to write a few songs for the fictional band in my next novel. She wrote a couple of fantastic tunes for lyrics that were already in the text of the book, so we just kept writing together. Eleanor was going out touring her last record and needed more new material to play with her band live, so the timing was right. And the collaboration eventually turned into a whole album of material, which was Personal Record, though we wrote some other stuff besides. Two of these co-writes meant a lot to me and I couldn't consider my new album without them, though (as becomes plain from the finished recordings) my visions of those two songs were very different to hers -- and I love her versions. I wouldn't have considered recording any of the other songs on Personal Record, but I loved those two. There are some others that will almost certainly see the light of day.

You’re on a combination Cabinet / headlining tour now in support of Self-Titled. For the last several years you’ve assembled and hosted your Cabinet of Wonders shows. Has interacting with so many musicians, comedians, and writers over the years affected you as a solo performer? Do you find that there’s more pressure in putting together and running those Cabinets or in headlining your own shows?

It absolutely has. In totally practical ways to start with, since, for example, Ted Leo got in touch last Sunday to have me open for him and Aimee Mann at a new club in Philly, the next day -- and that wouldn't have happened if we hadn't become friends through the Cabinet, so that's a perfect example of how it's certainly expanded my circle of musical friends. But also that "throwing it together" MC aspect of it (the posh word is "curating") absolutely brings out the best in me. I love to do things on the fly. And in fact I'm not very good with a script at all. The shows can be slightly trying to put together sometimes, just in terms of getting the acts etc., but once they start, even at soundcheck, it's amazing fun -- just like rolling a snowball down a hill. I suppose there are pressures involved, but I don't feel them: pressure is relative. Pressures, anyway, reminds me more of something like, "will the audience show up?" And there's way more pressure in that regard with my shows as opposed to with Cabinets, as they always seem to be full. But then I don't feel any pressure with my show either: only in the lead-up!

Your tour is bringing you back to Asbury Park for a headlining show on October 4th at The Saint. I saw you back in 1991, I think, at The Fastlane. If I remember correctly, The Judybats opened. It was a great show, and your performance of “Save a Little Room for Me” is one that sticks with me to this day.

I remember the show! Thank you. Really looking forward to playing The Saint this time. Please bring one hundred friends. (I always say that.)

There’s a story about that show. The way the story goes is that you spent the early part of the evening at the Little Steven concert down the street at The Stone Pony, hoping for a Springsteen appearance. At some point, you decided you could wait no longer and made your way back to The Fastlane, taking the stage very late in front of an impatient crowd. Do you remember that night? Can you give us your version?

I don't really remember that. I do remember that it wasn't a Little Steven show but a Nils Lofgren show, and I was certainly chatting with Nils on his tour bus after his soundcheck, because we had a mutual friend. I can't remember if Bruce was there at all (!) but I think I can remember that Steven was. I can't imagine I was late for anything, and if I was, that wouldn't have been the reason. I'm terribly punctual and I can't STAND shows starting late or having my shows start late. I don't even like it when the club delays the stage time because some of the people with tickets aren't in yet, partly because it looks like your fault (my fault) that the show is starting late! So if I was late it would have been for a much better reason that waiting or not to see Bruce jam "Glory Days" in a club! And if that was the reason then I gravely apologize for my stupidity!

For what it’s worth -- and I’m reaching deep into the memory bank here -- I have no personal recollection of a late arrival to that show. I just remember enjoying myself immensely. I’m looking forward to enjoying myself immensely once again at The Saint. Thank you so much for answering my questions.

Self-Titled, Wesley Stace’s debut album, is out now on Yep Roc Records and is available in all the usual places. You can catch Wesley Stace with support from Rick Barry and The Sunday Blues at The Saint in Asbury Park on Friday, October 4th. Bring one hundred friends!

Post-Cabinet Edition

Après Cabinet Friday

For a few years now, I've been attending -- usually with MomVee and her husband -- the John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders shows at City Winery.

I've been a fan of John Wesley Harding's since his 1990 debut album, Here Comes the Groom. The Good Liars, which included Pete Thomas and Bruce Thomas of The Attractions, backed Wes back then. Many of the cuts on that record have the feel of Attractions-era Elvis Costello, but the album includes the unmistakably folky "Things Snowball" (a song that I love and that I love to sing in the voice of Peter Case who co-wrote and sings on the song) and "The Red Rose and the Briar."

I've seen Wes live several times over the years, including shows at New York's Bottom Line, The Fast Lane in Asbury Park, a show at some venue in Seattle that reminded me of a college classroom, the old Internet Cafe in Red Bank where he had to tell the baristas to stop steaming milk during his set, and one other time in Red Bank as part of WBJB's Songwriters in the Park series. Those were all shows with his various backing bands -- The Good Liars, The Radical Gentlemen, The English UK -- or solo acoustic sets.

The Cabinet of Wonders, on the other hand, is kind of a variety show. Wes will do a few songs to open the proceedings, but then he turns things over to a bevy of guest performers whom he introduces with a poem. I've attended Cabinets that have included performances by Eugene Mirman, Sarah Vowell, Ted Leo, Evan Dando & Juliana Hatfield, Edie Brickell, Josh Ritter, The Spinto Band, Punch Brothers, Nicole Atkins, Eleanor Friedberger & Britt Daniel, Peter Buck, and another backing band called The King Charles Trio made up of members of the Decemberists. The bill usually includes one or two authors who read from their work. I've heard readings from Patrick McGrath, Haley Tanner, Rivka Galchen, and Myla Goldberg.

Last night's line-up included Dan Zanes, comedian Leo Allen, authors Amy Sohn and Peter Carey, Fred Armisen, Hospitality, and the legendary Graham Parker. Going all the way back to the way he introduced himself to the world on Here Comes the Groom, you could say that John Wesley Harding owes a lot of his musical career to Graham Parker; and his happiness at being able to perform "Local Girls" with Parker came through last night.

You can hear bits of some of the recent Cabinets over at NPR, but get out to one of these things if you can. Go with some excellent company as I usually do. You'll likely get to see an act that you already enjoy, performing in a relaxed, free-form environment; and you'll almost definitely discover a band or an author that will bring you happiness for years to come.

Wow. That one was longer than usual.

Anyway, rock on...