John Wesley Harding (b. 22 October 1965) is a folk/pop singer-songwriter who has called his style of music "folk noir" and "gangsta folk".

He was born Wesley Stace 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 may be seen as an almost inevitable nickname for a folk-pop musician, in that his first name overlaps with the Bob Dylan album (and song) "John Wesley Harding". The American gunfighting historical figure John Wesley Hardin was largely forgotten before 1965, when Johnny Cash wrote and recorded the song "Hardin Wouldn't Run".

Biography

His education included the boarding schools St. Andrews School (Pangbourne, Berkshire); Milbourne Lodge (Claygate, Surrey); The King's School (Canterbury, Kent); 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.

after 1991, Harding has lived in the United States, most recently in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

Career

Influences on him 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 Bruce 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.

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'infortunée, became a bestseller in France, and has also been tranlsated in Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese etc. 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. 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 second novel By George is due out the summer of 2007

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: 26th 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 (with the Love Hall Tryst)

Singles

Bibliography

• Misfortune (2005) ISBN 0316830348

Web Sites

• Old official site - low bandwidth
• New official site - high bandwidth
• Wesley Stace official site - for writing
• A feature article on John Wesley Harding
• John Wesley Harding Reviews
• A Cosy Promotional Chat with Vivian Stanshall