John Wesley Harding

Wesley Stace (born ) is a folk/pop singer-songwriter who goes by the stage name John Wesley Harding and who has called his style of music "folk noir" and "gangsta folk". Under his real name, he has recently written two bestselling novels.

He was born in Hastings, East Sussex, England. His given name, Wesley, comes from John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, who preached one of his last sermons in the town where Harding was born.

Name

His stage name is the same as the Bob Dylan 1967 album (and song) John Wesley Harding, for which Bob Dylan famously misspelled the outlaw's name, adding a final 'g'. The American gunfighting historical figure John Wesley Hardin was largely forgotten by 1965, when Johnny Cash wrote and recorded the song, "Hardin Wouldn't Run".

Biography

His education included the boarding school St. Andrews School (Pangbourne, Berkshire); Milbourne Lodge (Claygate, Surrey); The King's School Canterbury; and university at Jesus College, Cambridge. He left Cambridge with a First in English Literature, but left before completing his Ph.D. in Social and Political Science. Since 1991, Harding has lived in the United States, most recently in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. His sister, Melanie Stace, well known in Britain, is also a successful performing artist.

Career

His influences include Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Ray Davies, and Phil Ochs. He has been frequently compared to Elvis Costello probably fueled, in part, by the fact that two members of his early band The Good Liars (Pete and Bruce Thomas) had been members of The Attractions. Harding was chosen by Springsteen as his first opening act in 20 years for his solo shows at the Berkeley Community Theatre in 1995. Harding most often plays solo, or as a duo, but has also done concerts with various backing bands: The Good Liars, The Family Values, and, most recently, The Radical Gentlemen. His best-known work may be "I'm Wrong About Everything", which was included on the soundtrack for High Fidelity. His cover of the Madonna song, "Like a Prayer" is also widely known. He has released 15 albums, and his most recent pop release Adam's Apple was called "the finest album of his career" (All Music Guide), and "a dazzling piece of popcraft that shows wide range and real heart" (No Depression.) He has been joined onstage by Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, John Prine, Bruce Springsteen (with whom he recorded a duet on his album Awake), Joan Baez, Peter Buck, Evan Dando, David Baddiel, Rick Moody, Scott MacCaughey and Robyn Hitchcock amongst others.

In 2005, he published his first novel, the critically acclaimed Misfortune, under his real name (Wesley Stace). It was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award, and shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. Misfortune was also chosen by Amazon as one of the Ten Best Novels of 2005, and was one of The Washington Post's Books of the Year. Misfortune, translated as L'infortun?e, became a bestseller in France, and has also been translated into many languages including Hebrew, Chinese, and Japanese. The movie rights to "Misfortune" were sold in 2008. His 2005 album Songs of Misfortune comprises songs written for, or appearing in, that book, and was one of Amazon's Top Ten Folk records of the year. His second novel, By George, was released on , 2007 to numerous positive reviews; it was one of the New York Public Library's Books To Remember of 2007, and Booklist Editor's Choice for books of the year. Other writings include chapbooks for some of his albums, and essays for various music publications from Creem to Raygun. His essay, "Listerine: The Life and Opinions of Laurence Sterne," published in Post Road #5, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

His latest album, Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead recorded with The Minus Five, and featuring Mike Viola, Kelly Hogan, Earl Slick, Steve Berlin and many others, was released in March 2009 by Popover Corps. His accompanying series of "Cabinet of Wonders" variety shows in Spring 2009 in New York City at Le Poisson Rouge includes appearances by Rosanne Cash, Graham Parker, Josh Ritter, Rick Moody, Colson Whitehead and Jonathan Ames.

John Wesley Harding/Wesley Stace is currently artist-in-residence at Fairleigh Dickinson University, NJ, where he curates the Words & Music Festival.

Discography

It Happened One Night (live)
God Made Me Do It: The Christmas EP
Here Comes The Groom
The Name Above the Title
Why We Fight
Pett Levels: The Summer EP
John Wesley Harding's New Deal
Dynablob (studio outtakes, fan club release, later commercially released)
Dynablob 2 (live recordings, fan club release, later commercially released)
Awake
Trad Arr Jones (a tribute to Nic Jones)
The Confessions of St. Ace
Dynablob 3: 26 March 1999 (live, fan club release)
The Man With No Shadow (unreleased, later issued as Adam's Apple with slightly different tracks)
Dynablob 4: Swings & Roundabouts (studio, new material, fan club release)
Garden of Eden: The Fall EP (EP)
Adam's Apple
Songs of Misfortune (as the Love Hall Tryst)
Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead (with The Minus Five)

Singles

Year
Title
Chart positions
Album
US Modern Rock
1990
"The Devil in Me"
17
Here Comes the Groom
1991
"The Person You Are"
8
The Name Above the Title
"The People's Drug"
29

Contributions

Song of America (2007) - "God Save the King"

Bibliography

Misfortune (2005) ISBN 0316830348.
By George (2007) ISBN 0316830321.