George Stanford

George Simon Stanford (born May 8)^[1][2] is a Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter who was signed to Mercury Records. He is a former member and lead vocalist for the band Townhall. George is a graduate of Harriton High School in Rosemont, PA where he played Trombone in his high school Jazz band.

Career

Singer/songwriter Stanford honed his musical skills at Philadelphia's University of the Arts. The multi-instrumentalist (his first love was trombone) abandoned the academic world midway through his tenure for a life on the road with eclectic Philly rock act Townhall, a relationship that lasted five years (and produced one live album - 2001's Live at the Point - and two studio albums - 2003's New Song and 2005's American Dreams). In 2006, Stanford gathered his songs, left his job at a laundromat, and moved to Los Angeles, where within weeks of arriving he landed a record deal with Epic Records. The soulful singer relocated to Smash/Mercury Records the following year, moved back to his native Philadelphia, and released his debut album, Big Drop, in June 2008. It was preceded by an EP and the lead single "My Own Worst Enemy" which was featured on VH1's "You Oughta Know" program.

After his departure from the label, he formed his own independent label gbones Music and released the EP Roll Away in 2010 which featured his biggest single to date, "Meet Me in L.A." which garnered considerable airplay. He followed it up with the Las Palmas EP in 2012 and an artist residency at The Piano Bar in Hollywood. His second studio album, Something Better was released in 2014, and featured the track "Happy As You Are" which was featured on Amazon.com's "Artists on the Rise" series.^[3]

In 2015, he worked on the soundtrack to the feature film "The Grace of Jake" starring Jordin Sparks and Michael Beck.^[4] He released his new single "Pressure Makes Diamonds" in October 2015, and premiered it on Pat Monahan's show on SiriusXM's The Pulse.^[5]

He premiered a new song "I Got Famous" on his official Soundcloud/YouTube accounts in May.^[6]

In August 2016, he announced he had scored two original songs for the upcoming J.K. Simmons film "The Bachelors" set for release in 2017.^[7] The following month, he announced he had signed with Round Hill Music^[8][9] as a songwriter.

In a September 2016 e-blast, he announced a new single release for November titled "Starring You"^[10] in addition to confirming his placement of two songs in an upcoming J.K. Simmons film now titled The Whole New Everything.

Personal life

He's married to his wife Nikole,^[11] and they welcomed their first child, a son named River in March 2013.^[12] Their second son, Arrow, was born on March 24, 2015.^[13]

Discography

Albums

With Townhall

Year	Album
2001	Live at the Point Live album Released: September 1, 2011 Formats: CD Label: Home Grown
2003	New Song 1st studio album Released: February 25, 2003 Formats: CD, Digital Label: Townhall
2005	American Dreams 2nd studio album Released: June 28, 2005 Formats: CD Label: 33rd Street

Solo career

Year	Album
2008	Big Drop 1st studio album Released: June 3, 2008 Formats: CD, Digital Label: Mercury Records
2014	Something Better[14] 2nd studio album Released: August 29, 2014 Formats: CD, Digital Label: George Stanford

EPs

Year	Album
2007	The EP EP Released: 2007 Formats: CD Label: Smash Records
2010	Roll Away EP Released: March 12, 2010 Formats: CD, Digital Label: Gbones Music
2012	Las Palmas EP Released: July 21, 2012 Formats: CD, Digital Label: Gbones Music

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions	Album
		U.S.
2008	"My Own Worst Enemy"	—	Big Drop
2009	"Meet Me In L.A."	—	Roll Away - EP
2010	"Lemonade"	—	Lemonade - Single
2012	"Things I Don't Need"	—	Las Palmas - EP
	"Christmas For Two"	—	Christmas For Two - Single
2013	"It's So Easy"	—	It's So Easy - Single
	"You'll Never Know"	—	You'll Never Know - Single
2014	"It's Christmas Time (Midnight Ridin')"	—	It's Christmas Time (Midnight Ridin') - Single
2015	"Pressure Makes Diamonds"	—	Pressure Makes Diamonds - Single
2016	"I Got Famous"	—	I Got Famous - Single

Videos

• My Own Worst Enemy (2008)
• Meet Me in L.A. (2009)
• Roll Away (2010)
• Lemonade (2011)
• Cardboard Baby (Acoustic) (2012)
• Natural Girls (2011)
• Things I Don't Need (2012)
• Christmas For Two (2012)
• Downriver (2013)

References

1. "Twitter / ea_greene: Happy birthday to @georgestanford". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
2. "George Stanford - this is shaping up to be a great Birthday!!". Facebook. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
3. https://twitter.com/TrainCruise/status/522839881353928704
4. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3091258/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_2
5. http://georgestanford.blogspot.com/2015/10/i-wanted-to-share-bit-of-exciting-news.html
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkPmomWb_mk
7. https://www.facebook.com/georgestanford/posts/10153987825677739
8. https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeStanfordMusic/posts/10154474705213476
9. http://roundhillmusic.com/writers/george-stanford/
10. https://www.hotelcafe.com/tickets/?s=events_view&id=5653
11. https://soundsofthecityblog.com/2013/10/15/george-stanford-live-the-foundry-on-melrose/
12. http://georgestanford.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-for-two.html
13. https://www.instagram.com/p/BDbeCRuOUp7//
14. "Twitter / georgestanford: Printing final mixes of my". Twitter.com. 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2014-08-10.

External links

• Stanford, George, Official Site
• Dye, David, George Stanford: Pop Meets Soul, World Cafe, National Public Radio, February 29, 2008