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HISTORY PAGE 2

In May 1983 it nearly all ended. After a tiring week of bookings all over England culminating in a Festival weekend, Stanley drove over 200 miles in an evening to join some friends for a holiday in South Wales. Still tired, he was driving next day when he fell asleep at the wheel and met a wall. Despite hospitalisation and RTA injuries that included a bitten-off tongue, he recovered after a few weeks and even played his first gig back (at Whitehaven) with his arm still in plaster.

In 1984 Stanley made his only Sidmouth Folk Festival appearance, doing well with audiences but falling foul of the booking policies of subsequent directors. However, chance meetings there led to breakthroughs into the international world. In the mid and late 1980’s he added the USA to his area of work with some brief tours, and in 1988 and 1992 was invited to the Hong Kong Folk Festival. (The Channel Islands, Scotland and Wales were also briefly attacked)

At around 120 bookings a year, this “hobby” was now getting out of control and in 1988, coinciding with a planned mid-life crisis, he found an excuse to ditch the day job.

Without ever making a breakthrough to other levels (or having much ambition to do that) Stanley maintained his Folk Club, Festival and other acoustic venue work throughout the 1990’s. By now he had become a regular performer at 2 of England’s finest Festivals, the Whitby Folk Week and Fylde Festival, playing both every year since 1985)

In 1991, Stanley married Julie (coincidentally the sister of a Folk Club organiser and owner of a Martin guitar). Twins Sam and Joe popped out in 1995, and Sally arrived in 2000. The only unfortunate side-effect was the inevitable return of the day-job in 1992.

At the time of the setting up of the long-overdue web-site, Stanley has done over 1500 gigs including over 200 Folk Festivals, and many radio appearances. He has performed at weddings, a black-pudding cookery demonstration, an anti-motorway demonstration, a theme night on “bees”, and a moorland restaurant’s Septic Tank Opening Night, to name but a few of the odd places he ends up in.

He continues to write material in a range of styles. Some of his songs have been picked up and sung, and recorded, by other artists. What keeps him going is the compulsive urge to write songs, to incorporate new styles and, mainly, to have fun.