June 2003
Newspaper Article - Tom Hill, Staff Writer for The Valley News in White River Junction, VT, penned this article and reviewed several albums. Check out the printed version of the article and review here.

thanks for coming to the page. and for checking everything out. the latest news is the fantastic job that webmistress zan has done creating this page. i love the new look and how easy it is to navigate. and she put in this cool sign in map where we locate ourselves on the map and sign in. it's fun to see how spread out we are across the globe. check it out and sign in. plant your flag and your figure.

musicwise, i have finally gotten free of the contractual obligations that were holding up the official release of "traces of the old road" everyone seems to think it's one of my finest efforts and i must say, i love it. we sent it to radio and there will soon be a radio list with their cities and phone numbers and e mail addy's, so that, if you like, you can contact the stations near you and request me, or thank them for playing me. this is how we build the groundswell. you must be fair tho, only contact the stations you can actually tune in to. otherwise it's a false campaign.

the musical is moving along at a glacial pace, but i'm hoping to have it completed and available by september of 2003. the booklet is being scanned and readied as we speak and the musical, starring pamala, who wowed you on the 2002 beachwood christmas cd, will be shopped to actual production companies during this calendar year.

the 2003 beachwood christmas cd is going to have about twice as much stuff and a new spontaneous play. peter's doing a banjo version of angel's we have heard on high. tom paxton is supplying two -- a beautiful christian christmas tune and new words for the perennial jingle bells that is sure to replace the old words. and katy moffat, a wonderful singer and writer (and we share the same agent, June Lehman) will be contributing an original christmas song as well. and i've got some new festive ledgermain up my sleeves. it will be fun. and it will also be commercially produced with pictures and other fun stuff.

for the fans of my nascent work, beachwood can now burn you a cd from the actual masters of james lee stanley, james lee stanley, too; and three's the charm. they are only made when they are ordered. and the word is they sound better than the originals.

i'm also considering doing an album of songs i didn't write. i had such a good time rearranging those dylan tunes, i thought that i might do a cd of songs from other writers. let me know your input on that front.

and pamala is going to become bicoastal, so we'll be doing the twoman band cd that we promised you. and she is doing an album of her favorite songs of mine. that should be a wonderful project. she also just completed an album of standards that is really a stunner. great players and it's all live, so there is that synergy that makes the jazz standards so wonderful to perform.

the cafe press beachwood stores have exploded this year. we have all kinds of products with the covers of your favorite jls cd's as well as the fabled, "too many hats, not enough head" beer mugs and such.

and lastly, i'll be on tour most of this year, because it's important to me to get to everyone that i can, up close and personal. time is slipping away and the appointee is now trying to restart nuclear testing. this is the first time i've been embarassed to be an american. i've been in contact with my representatives at congress and the senate repeatedly to voice my views. if you care about the planet, it's time to put down the remote and take some action. this is our country, our government and our lives. god bless you all and i hope that i'm in your town playing music for you really soon. come up and say hi, i'm easy to talk to.

james lee stanley