Former student releases album

By Ettie Berneking
Feb. 5, 2008

Courtesy of Adam Stanley

It’s been four years since Missouri-based Adam Stanley released his first record, Simply Randy. Requisite Renaissance (quite the mouthful) will be released Friday.

(Click graphic to enlarge)

Adam Stanley, once a student at MU, left the world of academia to pursue his passion for music. He has spent the last four years developing his skills and his sound and will be celebrating the release of his sophomore album, Requisite Renaissance, Friday at The Blue Note.

His debut album, Simple Randy, a self-described “journalistic album,” was released in the spring of 2004.

The new album is less about Stanley himself and more about building relationships with the audience.

“The lyrics were a log of what had happened to make me a musician,” Stanley said. “I’m hoping that this will help the audience to familiarize with the album.”

For the last two years Stanley has been scouting for talented musicians to play with him on his new album. He’s been hitting up open mic nights and local gigs looking for musicians who would be able to meld with his sound. After shows he would talk to the musicians and the conversations would either lead to a few laughs or result in that person playing on the recording.

“It’s a cool process,” Stanley said. “You familiarize yourself with the music and them, which establishes you as a musician instead of a socialite.”

His new album features an array of musicians and instruments including drummers Ryan Hurn and Brady Fisher, bassist Thom Hoglen, guitarists Martin O’Flaherty and Mike Evans, Justin Arft on mandolin, and harmonica player Jeff Youngblood.

Stanley dealt with the problem of the musicians living in various cities by using overdubbing to record the majority of Requisite Renaissance. The guitars were recorded first and the rest of the band came in later to record the rest of the song. All recording was completed at Facet Sound Recording Studio in Joplin, Mo.

“It’s really interesting,” Stanley said. “You want to work with the highest caliber musicians.”

Stanley has been on the search for more permanent band members and said that this album really helped him find musicians that he can rely on and work well with.

Seth White, one of the drummers Stanley has worked with, said he thinks the CD turned out great.

“A good friend of mine is the drummer on it, Ryan Hurn,” he said. “Dude’s amazing. But that’s not to take away how good this band is. The material we’re working with is great stuff, and I think we’re gonna rock the house.”

When Stanley was a student at MU, he was involved in several activities including Beta Theta Pi fraternity. The Beta house was where Stanley met one of his pianists during his early days with the band Simple Randy.

Stanley calls himself a student of life rather than the classroom. As Stanley got more involved in his music and spent more time playing gigs, he realized that he could make a career out of his music, so Stanley made up his mind to leave school and develop his skills as a singer/songwriter.

Once he started working with Facet Sound Recording Studio, Stanley “never looked back.”

Now with two records finished, Stanley wants to return to Columbia to play at hubs like The Field House and Shiloh Bar and Grill, where he got his start.

“I’m not trying to kiss Columbia’s ass,” he laughed, “but it’s one of Missouri’s coolest cities.”

Stanley plans to head west after spreading the new album in hopes of spreading his name. He said he could use 20 to 30 fans in all the major cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco.

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Former student releases album

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