Hastings, England-born John Wesley Harding's biting social commentary and outrageous humor blend seamlessly with his warm, personal songs. Wes taught himself by listening to the likes of Bert Jansch and John Prine, fashioning his own style as an amalgam of his favorites. In the mid-1990s he released two albums that demonstrated his uniquely versatile and enduring quality as a performing songwriter. On Awake, he delivers clever, irony-laden lyrics in "gangsta" folk style that features fascinating bi-tonal and polytonal figures and percussion loop samples. On Trad Arr Jones, he showcases eleven traditional pieces that were originally arranged by Nic Jones, who helped revive the British ballad tradition in the 1960s. Wes released his ninth album, an eclectic collection including some of his "folkier" songs titled D4: Swings and Roundabouts (Plangent Visions Music), earlier this autumn.