Event

Wesley Stace & Joe Pernice: The Wes & Joe Show

Formerly known by his stage name John Wesley Harding, under which he has performed and recorded for the past 25 years, Wesley Stace chose to step out from behind his well-established pseudonym for his new release, Self-Titled, in honor of the increasingly personal nature of his new material. "Novels seem to take care of the intellectual business for me these days, and my songs have become a lot more intimate and autobiographical, requiring a different musical treatment entirely. It seemed ridiculous to sing them under any name but my own," notes Stace, adding, "It's time to bring everything under one roof."

Stace co-wrote two of the tracks from Self-Titled"Stare at the Sun" and "When I Knew" with the Fiery Furnaces' Eleanor Friedberger. Both songs appear in alternate versions on Friedberger's critically acclaimed new album Personal Record, which was entirely co-written by Stace. Of Personal Record, SPIN hails the pair's "easy collaboration" while NPR Music notes that Harding "knows a little something about smart love songs of every stripe."

Over a 15-year career in music, Joe Pernice has made 13 full-length records. He began in the mid-90's, with Scud Mountain Boys, who released two albums (Pine Box and Dance the Night Away, later compiled as The Early Year) before signing to Sub Pop and releasing Massachusetts, considered by many to be an alt-country masterpiece.

In 1998, Pernice disbanded the Scuds and assembled Pernice Brothers, recording Overcome By Happiness (Sub Pop), called "a startling slice of beauty" by The New York Times and "A thing of pernicious beauty indeed" by The Irish Times. In 1999 and 2000, he released two records, under the names Chappaquiddick Skyline and Big Tobacco.