By Will McGuirk

So great to have Stephen Stanley do a show at Kops Records in Oshawa. Thursday Dec 22 2022. Stanley will be playing with Chris Bennet. Opening is Evan Rotella. Performance starts at 5:30 p.m. We had a catch-up emailer with Stephen.

Slowcity.ca: Obv folks know you because of LOTL but you have been a successful solo singer/ songwriter for decades - can you give me an idea of what you have been doing in terms of performances and tours, and albums released?

Stephen Stanley: “This past year ended up being a big surprise on the touring front. Guitarist Chris Bennett and I headed out to BC and The Yukon for a bunch of shows this past August opening for New York singer/songwriter Willie Nile and his band. That felt so much like the old days with LOTL - getting to spend an extended time with another band and forming strong friendships and memories. Also, we were greeted consistently by audiences that were more than expressive about the return to live music.

“Then in October, Hugh Christopher Brown, Ron Hawkins and I - put together a unique one-off tour through Ontario and parts of Quebec. Playing songs from all three of our catalogues, with a slightly different interpretation in each case. This was a soul affirming trip, playing to packed houses, we started out with the goal of a two hour show and by the time the tour wrapped up in Toronto, we had played somewhere in the range of 3 hours and twenty minutes...

“Spell that off with a large clutch of shows in the Ontario corridor with my band (The Stephen Stanley Band) and as a duo with Chris Bennett, this has ended up being a very successful year of live music for us, beyond anything we could have imagined from where things were when the year started.

“My band made our first record, Jimmy & the Moon, released in early 2018, on the label Wolfe Island Records. The label is a wonderful artist collective, and the recordings are overseen by Hugh Christopher Brown on Wolfe Island... Frankly, the next album, which will be called "Before the Collapse of the Hive" should have been done by now. The remote location and the pandemic didn't really work in our favour as there were at least two very long periods of time when we had to put recording on hold. But, the album is almost done, and I'm hoping it will be out before spring 2023.”

SC: The Radio show is exciting, how did that come about and what do you think you would like it to grow into?

SS: “Northern Wish on Hunters Bay Radio in Huntsville, Ontario... Yes, I love doing the show. It has become a weekly search to find new Canadian music that isn't really getting the mainstream treatment (although, so much of it should be). I love it because it has changed my listening habits. I was someone who would find one or two albums at a time and listen to them until I couldn't stand them anymore. . . Now, I'm listening to everything. The show has really opened my eyes and ears...

“It really stemmed from my long relationship and love with Muskoka. I worked in the area for five years when I was a kid. Made some lifelong friends that are still a big part of my life today. . . Always being in the area, I would regularly listen to Hunters Bay Radio, and I liked the format, the diversity of shows, music and subject matter. That led to doing their artist-based one-off hour called "My Tunes" - programming an hour of music with songs I was listening to at the time. I really enjoyed that, so I reached out to the station manager and said, "if you ever need someone to fill in. . . " and I think it was a couple months later that I got the weekly gig. . .

“I just delivered my 91st episode this past week... And where would I like it to go... Well, this is a volunteer position as HBR is a community radio station. I would love the idea of doing more in radio, but I consider that a pipe dream, so I will likely ride this wave for as long as it feels fun and fulfilling. . .”

SC: You seem to be around East Ontario a lot, not just cottage country but PEC and Wolfe Island too, where are you based and why there? is being in the country more attractive than the city, and how does this affect or influence your songwriting?

SS: “I love the last part of this question, because it really made me consider the reality that I am a city boy, and my songwriting is mostly affected by living in the city. I'm still based in Toronto, but as you said, I have been spending a lot of time outside of the city. Especially while making records on Wolfe Island. By extension PEC somehow became a hotbed of gigs for us this past year, so I was there a few times playing and hanging out with friends. . .

“Honestly, I think I write about the people in my life more than anything else, and that's a borderless experience, so it likely doesn't matter where I am. . . This next album is a group of songs with an overriding worldview, more so than I have ever done before, but it's still through the lens of the people who I'm surrounded with. I have always been a write what you know person. It just so happens that for the last many years, I have really liked the idea of creating music outside of the city. Where studio life doesn't feel like a 9-5 job, and you immerse yourself in a lifestyle that includes recording but also so many other things that inform the process. . .”