MP3 Stayton Bonner - Border Radio

"Border Radio is a good introduction to a promising young songwriter..."- Will Ferguson, Daily Texan

12 MP3 Songs
COUNTRY: Country Rock, FOLK: Power-folk



Details:
"Stayton has an artist's soul and a poet's eye. He's one of the most distinctive writers I've heard in a long time."
Hayes Carll

"With a literary bent and penchant for putting his own adventures to music, Mr. Bonner separates himself from the usual pack of Texas Americana singer-songwriters."
Mario Taradell- The Dallas Morning News


Since placing second out of over three hundred fifty entries in 2004âs Merlefest songwriting contest, Stayton Bonner has been busy. Buoyed by the experience, Bonner wrote and recorded Think Iâm Gonna Move to Australia, an album of original material as unusually refreshing as the song that won the young songwriter a ticket to the premier Americana music festival in the first place.

âThe song they picked is called âMe and My Poodleâ,â Bonner explains with a smile. âGrowing up, my family had a standard poodle named Willie. My Mom had researched this dog book and concluded that poodles were supposedly the most intelligent breed. A couple of nights later, after Willie woke up the household barking at his own reflection in a dimly lit window, we realized the book may have been a little off. Ostensibly, the songâs a story about a man and his poodle, but it also addresses the difficulties of growing up different in a small town.â

Born and raised in the rural outskirts of Henderson, Texas, Bonner grew up in a household that placed an importance on the arts.

âMy earliest memory is reading a book in my Momâs lap,â Bonner recounts. âGrowing up in a rural area, my brothers and I didnât have any neighborhood kids to play with, so it was important to be good at amusing ourselves from pretty early on. Besides reading, music offered a low-maintenance means of preoccupation.â

âInitially, Mom made me take piano lessons, and I hated it,â Bonner explains about his musical beginnings. âI told my parents I thought the piano was boring and that I wanted to play guitar like Eric Clapton. So, the next Christmas I got an ancient six-string acoustic theyâd taken from some ancient relativeâs attic. My parents didnât want to buy me a new guitar, because they werenât sure if Iâd stick with it. For the next couple of years, Iâd come home from school every day, turn on the radio, and try to figure out all the songs I was hearing.â

While attending boarding school in Washington, D.C., Bonner started listening to country and bluegrass music. âI was homesick in D.C. when a friend of mine played me Guy Clarkâs Old No. 1 album,â Bonner says. âI was already leaning more towards acoustic stuff like the early Grateful Dead, and the way Clarkâs songs told a complete story or gave a lucid snapshot of someone really had an impact on me. His music led me to Dylan, Kristofferson, Hank, and further back. The whole idea of the solitary songwriter just seemed kind of romantic and cool to me when I was stuck studying algebra in a Washington, D.C. blizzard.â

After high school, Bonner moved to Austin where he studied English at the University of Texas. While attending school, he began writing songs and even recorded an early album. But upon graduating, Bonner found himself with the same questions that most kids ask fresh out of school- What the hell do I do now?

âAll my friends seemed to be either entering law school or going into the real estate business,â Bonner says. âAbout the only thing I did know was that I didnât want to do either one of those.â

Stuck in a stalemate, Bonner made an unusual move. Getting a work visa for Ireland, he left Texas with his backpack and guitar, and moved to the Irish west coast. Working odd jobs during the day, he played music in the pubs at night while starting to hone his stage abilities.

âIreland had a really strong impact on me. I lived in Dunfanaghey, a small town on the northwest coast where there was a grocery/post office/hardware store and 8 pubs strung along one street,â Bonner recounts. âThere wasnât much to do, so music was a real release and social glue for the locals there. I gave my best efforts at strumming along to their traditional music, and then played them Hank or Kristofferson songs in return.â

After a year of living abroad, Bonner moved back to Austin in January 2004.

âPlaying songs for complete strangers in a foreign country really forced me to learn a lot more about myself,â Bonner says about the experience. âI came back a much better singer and writer, with a lot of new songs and the confidence to give the music career a real shot.â

Since placing second at last yearâs Merlefest, Bonner has kept busy playing gigs in the Austin area while recording his new album Think Iâm Gonna Move to Australia. Featuring a sparse atmosphere of mandolin, guitar, and harmonica, the album puts a real emphasis on Bonnerâs writing and melody without any pretense.

âI believe that less is more,â Bonner explains. âI wanted the album to be close to what youâd hear if you saw me playing live, and I keep my stage setup pretty simple.â

Featuring stories about burned-out lovers, prison breaks, Australian dreams, and a poodle dog, Think Iâm Gonna Move to Australia is a remarkably original statement by a young artist.

âIâm really proud of the record. Itâs been an unusual path getting to it, but I feel like everything Iâve done has led me here for a reason,â Bonner says. âIâm just excited to get it out there now.â