Tony Cummings reflects on the music and life of singer/songwriter STEPHEN STANLEY

Stephen Stanley

One of the best of the new wave of American singer/songwriters to arrive on the US scene, Stephen Stanley has clocked up a Shoal of Cross Rhythms radio hits including "The Edge", "Your Heart", "I Shall Have You", "Not By Sight" and "Signs".

Stephen is based in Mansfield, Georgia and grew up in a happy Christian home. He picked up the guitar at age nine after suffering an accident that left him deaf in one ear. Within a few years he was leading worship in his church. He told Melodic magazine, "Music and faith always went together. That's where I learned to play music, at the church literally. I listened to Christian music, but not only Christian music. It wasn't super, like, legalistic or anything, so if I wanted to listen to Led Zeppelin or, you know, My Chemical Romance or something like that it was fine, so I definitely did. But there was a certain point where I was questioning, my dad's a pastor, so I was kind of questioning whether I believe because of where I was born in the world and because who my dad is-which I think if you grow up in church, that's like, kind of a common thing that you go through when you're in your late teens or so-but I had this crazy experience with God when I was leading worship in the mountains in Tennessee and it was super amazing. I thought I was gonna be a worship leader, like a worship pastor at a church for a long time and I did that from 17 to 18 and it was a terrible experience, and it just was not what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to make music, and I knew my faith was super important to me, and they just kind of went together, and I knew that's what I wanted to do.

Stephen has been married 10 years and has two children. He is keen to emphasise that however fulfilling music ministry is, there are more important things. He said, "There's always going to be more, no matter how high my TikTok follower count gets, or how much a song streams, like it's going to make me happy, but it's not going to bring me joy, if that makes sense. But, if I keep it in the right frame of mind, and I see this as, you know, I want to help people, maybe if someone can hear my story and what I've gone through and it can actually help, that's fulfilling to me because that's more like ministry. God and family is truly fulfilling, and that's what brings me joy. And music can be fulfilling if it's not just me, and it's not just for vanity or fame or money. If it's truly to help people and talk about faith and talk about God, then that's what's going to bring me fulfillment.

Now regularly touring across the USA Stephen is determined that at one of his concerts the audience will receive more than a good evening's entertainment. He told wearevesselsmedia,
"I hope that behind the scenes, the people in my band are having integrity, they're in the Word, they are strong leaders, and they have a good culture. That's the first thing. This tour has been an amazing culture, all the guys are super kind and believers. On stage, I hope people honestly have fun. I want them to get something out of it, appreciate the music, and hear the message, hear the Gospel, especially if they're not a believer. Ultimately, I do want it to be a fun night, I hope it's worth their time, because they're risking a lot coming out here. It's a Friday night, they're gonna be out late, and they spent money on gas. I hope they leave encouraged, and if they don't know the Gospel, maybe they do now."