I was happy to see that John Wesley Harding is about to release another album on October 11.

The album is called The Sound of His Own Voice, and it sounds like, from the song below, it features an entire band (not always the case with Harding).

John Wesley Harding’s real name is Wesley Stace – the name under which he has already penned three novels – Misfortune, by George and Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer.

But as John Wesley Harding, he’s a guitar-playing songwriter of the Elvis Costello mold. He started in the mid-80s and came up with that class of alternative musicians.

This is the first song I’ve heard from the new album – There’s a Starbuck (Where the Starbucks Used to Be), and I really like it. Hopefully, you will, too. And if you do, check him out live. His live show is one of the better, more intimate shows you will ever see.

This is what he had to say about making the video:

“This video is the simplest idea in the world: sing my song in front of as many Starbucks as possible, in as short a time as possible. (We managed to squeeze it in between the earthquake and the hurricane.) In one day, with a crew of one cameraman and one driver, we went to about 25 – and I believe there will be an interactive map provided, so you can follow along. At each location, the driver loitered in the car, while I pulled on a new shirt – though, if you notice, it’s the same pair of pants and the same shoes – waited until the camera was set up, jumped out of the car and performed the song. We had no playback, so at the beginning of the video you see me putting in my headphones and pressing play on my iPhone, which provides the playback to which I am miming. Sometimes I sang out loud, sometimes I didn’t, and we just let New York City and Brooklyn pass all around me.”

– My name is Jon Friesch, and I approve this message.