For the record, John Wesley Harding really does not like all those Elvis Costello comparisons.
During a recent stop in Salt Lake City, Harding granted the Deseret News an exclusive interview. The 25-year-old British singer/song-writer said that if his music has anything in common with one of Britain's "three angry men" (along with Joe Jackson and Graham Parker), it's in the pop music side, not in the lyricism."I really don't have anything in common" with Costello, he said. "I don't know where all these critics are getting the comparison, unless it's to his early albums. At one time, he may have been an influence, but I haven't even liked his newer stuff."
Perhaps if there's something rankling Harding about the comparison, it's that some reports have him touring with the Attractions, Costello's former backup band. However, the band currently touring with Harding is the Deceivers, a group of talented musicians who have nothing to do with Costello.
"Why would anyone be excited for me to be touring with the Attractions?" Harding asked. "I've played with some of the Attractions (bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas), but also with Steve Donnelly and Kenny Craddock, who played with Van Morrison."
The Deceivers include bassist Mark Walton, a former member of the Dream Syndicate. Playing with a band is a radical departure for Harding, who in two previous Utah appearances in 1990 (opening for both the Mighty Lemon Drops and Michelle Shocked) played his material solo acoustically.
"Well, it's a little deceiving for me to represent myself as a band on the albums and then turn up solo," he said. "Besides, I'm finding right now how much I enjoy playing with a band live."
Two things that avid fans may have noticed about Harding's albums - 1987's independently released "It Happened One Night," 1989's "Here Comes the Groom" and this year's "The Name Above the Title" - are the lack of lyric sheets and the Frank Capra obsession.
On the first matter, Harding said he prefers to "let his lyrics stand alongside the music, not on a printed page, where they look ridiculous." However, as somewhat of a concession, he did release his "Collected Stories 1990-1991," a book of his lyrics in story form, accompanied by a CD compilation of some of his best work. That book has been released only to various media sources and selected record stores, although he said that Reprise Records may release it to the public later this year.
On the second, he prefers to make his material thematic, and besides, Harding said, Capra "came up with some great titles" - the musician's first two albums take their names from movies by the great director, and the third shares its title with Capra's autobiography.
During the current tour, Harding's first headlining stint in the United States, he has been working on new material for a third major release and negotiating a deal to release his first album in America.
"I already have one great new song called `Warning: Parental Advisory' that I've written with (former Dream Syndicate frontman) Steve Wynn, and the material has come pretty easily so far," he said. "I've enjoyed the tour so far, and I could be back again soon."