John Wesley Harding

Wesley Stace (born 22 October 1965) is an English folk/pop singer-songwriter and author who has used the stage name John Wesley Harding. Under his legal name, he has written four novels. He is also an occasional university teacher and the curator of Wesley Stace's Cabinet of Wonders. Early life Stace was born in Hastings, East Sussex, England, the son of educators Christopher Stace and Molly Townson. His mother was also an opera singer and for many years was the director of the Hastings Musical Festival. His sister, Melanie Stace, is a performing artist. His given name, Wesley, comes from John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, who preached one of his last sermons near the town where Harding was born. As a child, he taught himself how to play guitar and eventually starting writing his own songs as a teenager, citing John Prine, Loudon Wainwright III, and Bob Dylan as influences. 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 PhD in Social and Political Science to pursue a career in music. Music career Stace began his musical career using the stage name John Wesley Harding, which he took from the 1967 Bob Dylan album John Wesley Harding, for which Dylan misspelled the outlaw John Wesley Hardin's name, adding a final 'g'. He attracted notice after opening a concert for John Hiatt, leading him to sign with Demon Records, who released his critically acclaimed live album It Happened One Night in 1988. The success of the album led to a record deal with Sire Records, with whom he released Here Comes the Groom in 1990. The album featured members of The Attractions, and this association caused critics to frequently compare Stace to Elvis Costello for much of his career. He released The Name Above the Title and Why We Fight for Sire in 1991 and 1992 respectively, but despite critical acclaim and a strong cult following from his engaging live shows, he was not able to find a larger audience, leading Sire to drop him from the label. He continued to release music as John Wesley Harding throughout the 90s and early 2000s on various independent labels, including the song "I'm Wrong About Everything", featured on the soundtrack for the movie High Fidelity.