Christopher picked up the guitar at three.

GROWING UP with Peter Stanley for a father meant growing up with music. Guitars. Banjos. Autoharps. Dulcimers. Mandolins. Tape recorders, radios, records, CDs, and endless sessions picking out tunes on the guitar or singing with friends. All of Peter’s sons play the guitar, but it is Christopher who has taken the greatest interest in music and who has developed his skills the most.

Christopher learned to play guitar before he could read. In Alaska, Peter gave him a small guitar. Christopher wandered around the cabin plunking on it, and he obsessed—in a three-year-old way—on his favorite song, “I Had a Rooster”.

At age 15, Christopher began playing at every free moment. He took a great leap in his ability to play and sing, but he was unsure of himself. When Tilly’s restaurant booked Peter and Christopher for a session every week, Christopher didn’t want to do it. Bruce Marion, who owned the restaurant, felt Christopher had a lot of potential, and one night when Peter was late, Bruce made Christopher, then 17, play solo. It was a breakthrough for him, and he began to have confidence in his own abilities.

   

Judith Lang, one of the waitresses, would sit and listen intently when she had a free moment. She changed her nights so she would be there when they sang, and Bruce suggested to Peter that she might like to try singing with them. Soon they were performing as a trio. Prior to this, Judith had only sung in church, and she was terrified how her parents would react when they came to hear them perform, but they loved it. Judith added a dimension of discipline, and she forced Peter and Christopher to schedule regular practice sessions. Many of the songs here were recorded at that time.

Christopher, Judith and Peter.

In high school, Christopher joined forces in a band with John McNiel and Tommy Hughes. Christopher ran the Guitar Works store for five years, and later when he worked at Southern Music, he formed a band and starting playing regularly. Christopher is now a full-time musician. His 1998 recordings of “Unwed Mothers” and “Rocky Mountain High” are good examples of how far he has progressed.

 

TIME WARP MUSIC: Thanks to the modern miracle of digital recording and editing, the songs in the Peter Stanley Collection are enhanced by Christopher Stanley playing bass along with Peter, in some cases, before his father had even met his mother. Think about that.