It’s Never Too Late

Beaver Creek, CO resident Jim Stanard grew up listening to, loving, and absorbing the music of all the greats. He grew up in an era when he could watch first hand entertainers like Tom Rush, Doc Watson, Bruce Springsteen, hanging out at the legendary Main Point Coffeehouse in Bryn Mawr, PA. He even attended Woodstock in 1969 although his perspective is less than glorious. “We basically escaped,” he mused. “It was raining, there was no food.” But the heart for music came to mean so much to him that he sold his childhood coin collection to buy his first guitar, a Martin D-28, one he still plays today.

As the story goes for many young performers, life gets in the way, things don’t add up like you hoped, and you’re faced with the decision to back burner your music career. Such is the story for Jim too. He stopped playing to pursue a career in the world of finance and insurance. But the music never left his heart. His early exposure to it remained a guiding force all through his professional career. “I’ve always carried around a Dylan line, ‘he not busy being born is busy dying’,” he said.

And so in the early 2000s, his wife of 42 years encouraged him to brush off the music chops and return to his first passion. With an opportunity to take guitar lessons noted guitarist Jon Skibic, and voice lessons from front man Kip Winger of the band Winger, Jim began to deepen his understanding of writing, and singing songs too. It became the foundation for his debut CD, Bucket List. “For me, this album is already a roaring success,” he adds, acknowledging the teamwork effort that went into his debut CD, and the good luck of finding that team, “because the great musicians and songwriters who have participated and mentored me have made it sound great, in my opinion.”

Jim abides by a philosophy of, “Most people overestimate what they can do in six months and underestimate what they can do in six years,” he said. “I’ve learned to set attainable short term goals, but shoot high on long term goals. Be stubborn
as gravity.”

To find out more, visit
www.jimstanardmusic.com