SPECIAL GUEST: Wesley Stace Enters A Grave New World at Strawbs 50th! A Conversation With Judi Cuervo
SPECIAL GUEST: Wesley Stace Enters A Grave New World at Strawbs 50th!
I never was a fan of support acts. It’s sort of like ordering a favorite dish off a restaurant menu and then discovering you have to consume an unpalatable appetizer before you’re permitted to dig in to the good stuff.
Wesley Stace (aka John Wesley Harding) changed my view of support acts the second he took the stage during the Buffalo, NY stop of Acoustic Strawbs’ 2012 North American tour. Kicking off with his hilarious “Making Love to Bob Dylan,” Wesley was the pinnacle of talent, charm, and wit.
But Wesley isn’t the typical support act—in fact, he’ll only support bands or artists he counts among his favorites…like Strawbs…and Bruce Springsteen! That’s right! Wesley opened for The Boss during his 1995 The Ghost of Tom Joad tour (the first support act that Springsteen featured since 1978) and it forged a friendship that continues to this day. In fact, Bruce and Wesley perform the Springsteen hit “Wreck on the Highway” on Wesley’s John Wesley Harding–Greatest Other People’s Hits album released this past May.
Okay, I’ll admit it: I am in awe of Wesley Stace. Author of four critically-acclaimed novels, a phenomenal singer and songwriter, main draw at City Winery New York’s popular Cabinet of Wonders variety show and even a narrator on the audio book version of one of Daniel Handler’s bestselling middle grade Lemony Snicket novels, this guy can do anything well. Extraordinarily well.
Imagine my delight—or should I say glee?–when I learned that Wesley will play an important role at Strawbs’ 50th Anniversary Weekend! I’m dying to reveal all the details, but I’ll let Wesley do that.
Before we get to the 50th, tell us a bit about your history with Strawbs. When did you first hear their music? How did you meet them? Was that 2012 tour your first experience working with the band?
My best friend David Lewis – for whom I’ve produced a few records – introduced me to the music of the Strawbs, at precisely the same time that he introduced me to the music of Al Stewart, on either side of a C-90 cassette, which is how we did it back then. That was Grave New World, coincidentally. I remember Strawbs when I was young performing “Part of the Union” on Top of the Pops but this was a deeper connection and I started picking up all the records one by one. I met them, I think, probably at one of their acoustic gigs at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia, and we became friends. They then asked me to tour as their opening act in 2012, which was a great time. And of course I also enjoy simply going to see them live. Dave Cousins has since done my Cabinet of Wonders: once with Chas in London, and once in its more natural habitat at City Winery in New York City. I love the way he puts things together – the new ideas, the different line-ups – and I’d say the 50th will be the apotheosis of that.
You’ll be playing a dual role during the Grave New World segment of Strawbs 50th Anniversary Weekend: Narrator and musician. As a long-time Strawbs fan, how do you feel about being part of the line-up that will recreate this iconic album at such an important event?
I am deeply thrilled and, in fact, touched. The various component gigs of the weekend are, as a fan, very exciting – so exciting that David is flying over and we’ve booked some recording dates around the shows – but, as a musician, it’s also a total thrill to be part of the Strawbs for the Grave New World performance. I’m as interested in the narration part as you are, since I haven’t seen any of it yet, but knowing Mr. Cousins’ M.O., I’m confident I’ll have something tasty to sink my teeth into.
Was it your anticipation of the 50th and your involvement in the Grave New World segment that inspired you to cut a version of “New World” with your band Corporal Quorum? Can you tell us a bit about that?
Not at all. Complete coincidence. I have a recent band, Corporal Quorum, with my friend Kurt Bloch, and we needed to make a whole set list of great songs, some obscure, some slightly more familiar, and these were basically drawn from things that might be in the intersection of Kurt’s and my musical Venn diagram. And among those things is definitely Strawbs. I remembered watching the Grave New World video with him once, and so we wanted to do something from that album – and it’s “New World” as you’ve never heard it before: basically A POWER TRIO: bass, guitar and drums. And then of course there’s also “Benedictus” which I had on my last album, Greatest Other People’s Hits, one of the few new recordings on there. “Benedictus” I did with Eric Bazilian of The Hooters who loves Strawbs too! In fact, it was originally his recording – he plays everything on it. I asked if I could include “Benedictus” on my record after he asked me to sing on it with him. That’s how it goes sometimes!
Besides performing with Strawbs in 2012 and hosting Dave Cousins at your Cabinet of Wonders in 2017, you’ve written a song with Chas Cronk. How did “Let’s Evaporate” come about?
Well, Chas co-wrote “I Only Want My Love to Grow in You” which is a great favourite of mine, so – after we’d toured together in 2012 – I thought I’d send him a lyric and see if he couldn’t give me some of that magic. And he did! There’s the version on my last record, recorded with The Jayhawks, but there is also an out-take full band version from Self-Titled, the previous record, that is fantastic and I’ll release that at some point too. It was simply too rocking for that rather modest and quiet record so I had to leave it off!
Let’s pretend for a minute that instead of performing at Strawbs’ 50th, you’re just a fan holding a VIP ticket for the full weekend. What are you most looking forward to?
Grave New World, of course! But also Visconti and the strings; seeing Blue Weaver* play with the band. Actually, I’ll be playing with Blue* as he plays with the band, but that doesn’t mean I can’t look forward to it as a fan. It’s going to be a great time: top to bottom.
*Blue Weaver’s participation subject to visa approval.
