![\"Wesley](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PAC-L-SMITHEREENS-01.jpg\")
Wesley Stace with Jim Babjak, Mike Mesaros and Dennis Diken of The Smithereens. (The Smithereens)\nFinding the right voice<\/p>\n
When drummer Dennis Diken called Wesley Stace with an invitation to become the latest guest vocalist for The Smithereens, the English songwriter\u2019s first instinct was to say yes.<\/p>\n
His second was to make the band earn it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was, I thought, a great pleasure and an honor just to be asked,\u201d Stace said from his home in Philadelphia. \u201cI haven\u2019t done a large outdoor show in a long time, and it sounded like a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rather than accepting immediately, Stace proposed an audition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told Dennis, \u2018Let\u2019s just let some of our fans decide this,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The experiment took place during one of Stace\u2019s live \u201cCabinet of Wonders\u201d shows in New York, where he joined The Smithereens onstage without rehearsal. After three songs, the audience rendered its verdict.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe audience (got) to vote me on or off the island; in or out of the band,\u201d Stace said. \u201cWe played three songs during the show, and the audience liked what they heard. So, I joined The Smithereens.\u201d<\/p>\n
That decision brings Stace to the 19th annual Petaluma Music Festival on Saturday, July 25, where he will front the veteran New Jersey power-pop band as part of a rotating cast of guest vocalists that has helped carry The Smithereens forward since the death of founding singer Pat DiNizio in 2017.<\/p>\n
The festival, a fundraiser for music education in Petaluma public schools, runs from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Petaluma Fairgrounds. Along with The Smithereens, the lineup includes 10,000 Maniacs, Cherry Poppin\u2019 Daddies, Alejandro Escovedo, Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express and a slate of local performers.<\/p>\n
Wesley Stace with Jim Babjak, Mike Mesaros and Dennis Diken of The Smithereens. (The Smithereens)
\nFinding the right voice<\/p>\n
Founded in 1980, The Smithereens built a devoted following with radio favorites including \u201cOnly a Memory,\u201d \u201cA Girl Like You\u201d and \u201cToo Much Passion.\u201d Since DiNizio\u2019s death at age 62, the band has continued touring with a succession of guest singers, among them Marshall Crenshaw, John Cowsill and Robin Wilson of Gin Blossoms.<\/p>\n
Stace, who performed for years under the Dylanesque stage name John Wesley Harding, may seem an unlikely fit. His own career has spanned alternative-rock radio success in the early 1990s, acclaimed novels and the long-running \u201cCabinet of Wonders\u201d variety series, where musicians, writers and comedians share the stage.<\/p>\n
But once rehearsals began, he understood why Diken had called.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs it turns out, Pat\u2019s songs are all right in my range,\u201d Stace said. \u201cThere are many other bands; if they asked me to sing with them, I might very well want to, but probably shouldn\u2019t. I might want to be the lead singer of Queen or Yes or AC\/DC, but I just don\u2019t have that kind of voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Learning another songwriter\u2019s catalog has proved more demanding than he expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really interesting because, no matter how well you might know another writer\u2019s songs, they can\u2019t be as natural to you as the lyrics you write for yourself,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve probably put more time and effort into this than any musical project I\u2019ve ever been involved with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stace knows some audience members in Petaluma will be familiar with his own work, but they shouldn\u2019t expect to hear it during The Smithereens\u2019 set.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Marshall Crenshaw sings with them, they don\u2019t do any Marshall Crenshaw songs,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen Robin Wilson sang with them, they didn\u2019t do any Gin Blossoms songs. The audience is coming to see The Smithereens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch as I\u2019d like to have The Smithereens back me up someday, that would be a very different project,\u201d he said. \u201cBut who knows? Maybe someday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schedule and ticket information<\/p>\n