The Poet In Me

Stan returns for a second time to Gran’s Cottage Studio in Lanarkshire to work with Angus Lyon who successfully produced and recorded his previous highly rated album “Fragile”.

Stan and Angus are joined by two of Scotland’s finest musicians Anna Massie and Stevie Lawrence, together they have produced another fine collection of memorable original songs, superbly produced and musically outstanding.

As we have come to expect from Stan’s previous albums, “The Poet In Me” contains a number of songs that are destined to go straight into the Folk repertoire of many singers up and down the country and will undoubtedly end up being part of the Folk Tradition.

The title track “The Poet In Me” is obviously written from the heart and gives us some insight as to where he gets his inspiration.Another stand out track is, “Captain Oh My Captain”, surely a classic in the making, beautifully sung by Anna Massie. As in his previous recordings Stan includes a military themed song, this time about “The Bradford Pals” one of many regiments formed in cities across the country during the First World War and the tragic losses they suffered on the first day of the Battle Of The Somme. For the more traditionally minded, “The Weeping Willow Tree” is an age-old story of parting and promises. Two songs have strong Australian themes, “Australia Bound and “Transportation Orders”, possibly inspired by his good friend Martyn Wynham-Read or perhaps from his experiences touring Australia in 2010 with another great legend of the Folk Scene,Vin Garbutt. Walking To The Border is a poignant reminder of the current day troubles in Myanmar. There is even an upbeattouch of Americana in “It’s A Long Way To New York City” with a slight flavour of Chuck Berry. Stan pairs back to guitar and vocals for the last track “Walking In The Footsteps Of My Father” memorable for it’s simplicity and thoughtful lyrics.

This is without doubt a beautiful and cleverly crafted album of fine songs, worthy of any folk music collection. It has been superbly produced and engineered, the musicianship is outstanding and quality shines out of every track.

Music & Friends

Stan’s new album captivates the listener with a much more personal and thoughtful compilation of songs which reflect his development as a songwriter, and performer. Once again he has produced a number of winning songs on this album;. Classics such as the title track, Music & Friends, the superbly written Closing Time and the moving story of a mothers tragic loss in the Second World War, Three Sons.

Stan is joined by the talented Clair Mann on Fiddle and Flute, Frank McLoughlin on Guitar and Ian Lowthian on Accordion. He teams up once more with multi instrumentalist Stevie Lawrence, with Kenny Speirs and Tommy Roseburgh providing both musical and technical wizardry in the background, this is another not to be missed album by a Master Songwriter.

These Are My Dreams

‘These Are My Dreams’ was Stan’s first full album, recorded just as he was leaving the Army. The CD has been an incredible success story, with the majority of its songs now covered by other artists.

The title track won the coveted Keith Marsden Songwriting Competition in 2000. Various tracks have been recorded in Australia, Norway and the United States.

Skilfully produced by Kenny Speirs, the CD mines a rich vein of meaningful songs including ‘Across The Sea’, ‘Alice’, ‘Days Like These’, ‘These Are My Dreams’ and ‘Monuments Of Stone’.

With superb support from a host of top musicians including Stewart Hardy, Iain Lothian and Tommy Roseburgh, ‘These Are My Dreams’ merits its place in the ‘essentials’ category.

Christmas Bells

Written and Sung By Stan Graham.

Keyboards and Production by Tommy Roseburgh at Big Sky Studios.

More Than Words

Stan’s second studio album ‘More Than Words’, recorded in 2005, has been highly acclaimed for its outstanding quality at every level. It has a well thought out mixture of memorable new songs the likes of ‘Teaching Emily To Count To Ten’, ‘All Is Quiet On The Water’ and the ‘The Olive And The Vine’ selected as ‘One of the Folk Songs of the Decade’. It also contains some of his previously unrecorded songs including ‘Sarajevo’, recorded by Vin Garbutt, ‘Grace Darling’ which featured in the stage play ‘Amazing Grace’, the ever popular ‘No Regrets’ and the unforgettable ‘Time Like The Tides’ recorded by Bill Whally and Dave Fletcher. . This excellent collection of songs has been produced with skill and restraint by Kenny Speirs of Real Time, recorded by Tommy Roseburgh, with outstanding contributions from some of the country’s finest musicians. With simply stunning Cello from Wendy Weatherby, wonderful backing vocals from Judy Dinning and the multi-instrumental talents of Steve Lawrence. Described by ‘Songwriter Magazine’ as “A triumph of a album, each track is stunningly good, it is an essential purchase, from an artist who is becoming more and more talked about, listened to and having his work recorded by others”.

Along The Way

‘Along The Way’, released in 2007, features many beautifully crafted songs – some truly outstanding…..the evocative chorus of ‘Whitby Harbour’, the resounding story line and sadness of ‘The Young Soldiers’ and “Forgotten Fields”, the stunning musical arrangement of the poignant Zimbabwean tale “Rolling River Farm”, [with magnificent musical score by Mike Silver]

The sensitivity of “Songs For The Lonely” and the moving sentiments of “Christmas Soldier”, “Michael And His Medals” and “Doors Ever Open”. Added to this mix are the upbeat rhythms of “Somewhere In America” and “Easy Street”.

This is a varied and thoughtful selection of songs from a writer who combines great vocals with sensitive and well crafted lyrics. Superbly supported by some outstanding musicians, this is an exceptional album by any standard.

Fragile

This is Stan’s fifth studio album and once again he has produced an eclectic and memorable selection of self penned songs. As you would expect from his previous recordings, his songs are delivered with real warmth, combined with sensitive and well crafted lyrics. In this excellent recording he has once again assembled some of the country’s finest musicians. Brilliantly produced by Angus Lyon of Blazing Fiddles, with guitar by Anna Massie(Kate Rusby, Blazing Fiddles & Bella Hardy), internationally acclaimed fiddle player Stewart Hardy, Scottish Cello Virtuoso Wendy Weatherby, with Ian Sandilands (Karine Polwart) on Percussion, James Lindsay (Breaback) on Bass and featuring James McClennon (James Brothers and Emily Smith Band) and the Scottish Songbird herself Emily Smith. Stan has it all covered in this exceptional album. Rated 5 stars by “Rock And Reel Magazine” (Every track is brilliantly crafted but ‘Fathers and Sons’ deserves a special mention. On the surface, his themes may appear deceptively simple, but the unhurried songs are poignantly deep and enriching.) Colin Bailey. June 2016.

One Man And His Guitar

In my opinion, Stan is one of the most underrated songwriters around at the moment.  I was so impressed after listening to his latest album (more about this later) that I decided to look at his back catalogue, and found an impressive collection by anyone’s standards.

There are so many absolute gems scattered across his albums that it’s difficult to know where to start. I’ll leave it to you to find them yourself and find them you will.

There is such variety in his writing, it’s all there, from the classic “Old Whitby Harbour”, the evocative “Fragile”, the award winning  “The Olive And The Vine” to the rousing “Somewhere In America”. The songs are often and I think, deliberately understated, his voice is warm, strong and clear, the melodies are memorable. It might be described as easy listening but there is real depth in his observational lyrics.

His latest album “One Man And His Guitar” is Stan at his best.  It’s another excellent collection of songs, masterfully produced by Angus Lyon of Blazing Fiddles with musical contributions from Anna Massie, Steven Lawrence, Fraser Speirs and Angus himself on piano and accordion. The title track is a clever tribute to Tom Paxton and the Folk Movement in New York in the 60’s. (You can feel the Paxton influence in many of his songs). This album is more thoughtful, more personal and reflective of the world around us. I enjoyed all the tracks, but in particular “Shiraz, Merlot and Chardonnay” made me smile, “Angel With No Wings” brought a tear to my eye and “My England” brought back so many childhood memories.

No wonder so many people cover his songs, it’s been a pleasure and a very rewarding treasure hunt delving into his fascinating repertoire of songs.

Mikael Williams.