About Stanton

The best introduction to Stanton Lanier is to first listen to his music before you listen to his story. Stanton’s stated mission, to offer “peace and rest in a hurried world,” is accomplished through storytelling, but not in words. His stories are told through instrumental melodies on the piano, transporting a global listening audience to that unique interior place that brings peace to each person’s life and circumstances. Many of his live performances are coupled with exquisite pictures of nature that create a powerful sensory experience.

Stanton LanierStanton’s unlikely beginnings as a chemist and then a financial planner beg for a fuller understanding of how he came to create six albums as of November 2009. Stanton began piano lessons when he was six years old growing up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He wanted to quit the piano in middle school because of basketball and baseball, but his parents wouldn’t let him. Stanton wrote his first song at age fourteen in Milton, Florida and continued to play and write songs while completing a chemistry degree at Georgia Tech and an MBA at the University of Georgia. Five years into seemingly successful consulting and sales jobs, “career surrender” is the self-described state that found the thirty-year old artist in 1994 struggling to find his purpose. This led to a sense of calling to work as a financial planner, while also intensifying his longing to hear God’s voice.

This desire ultimately became Stanton’s inspiration for his music, which is based on his artistic interpretation of ancient scriptures. The melodies are evidence of the human ability to communicate without words and transport without physical energy. Stanton wrote thirty songs while employed full-time as a financial planner. It is a testament to the essence of his music. We live ordinary lives yet each moment holds extraordinary potential to touch the lives of others. It is this expression that Stanton believes brings the most joy and inspires us to live our lives with passion.

The first three self-produced recordings gave rise to a deeper and more urgent calling to completely let go of the practical direction his career was taking. Oddly, Stanton’s first keyboard purchase did not take place until 2000. His first piano purchase was in 2006. Up until then, he had been playing on a 1950 spinet piano, but his musical genius may have been sharpened by what some might consider an impediment. Walk in the Light, Still Waters and Draw Near were produced between 2001 and 2004 using his keyboard and computer. In 2003 two tracks from Still Waters were played on The Weather Channel’s “Local on the 8s,” leading to CD orders from thirty states and listener testimonies from hospitals, homes and businesses.

Later in 2004, as Stanton began writing the songs for his fourth CD, he stretched himself by sending an email to the legendary Will Ackerman, Grammy Award winning guitarist and Founder of Windham Hill Records, asking him if he would produce the project. Will accepted and brought Stanton to the George Lucas Skywalker Sound Studio in California to record The Voice. This simple exchange of emails began a friendship and professional relationship between these two great artists that has spanned five years and three albums. 2004 marked the beginning of Stanton’s journey to full time artistry in his music writing. 2005 was a year of ‘firsts’ when Stanton’s composing was produced for the first time in a studio with Will Ackerman at the helm. It was the first concert grand piano that had ever played Stanton’s music and the first CD produced with Stanton as a full-time artist and musician. The Voice is signature Lanier and asks each listener to interpret the Voice and its source. Is it the piano? Is it yours? Is it spiritual?

Unveiled was released in 2008, another collaborative effort between Lanier and Ackerman, which once again combined Lanier’s beautiful melodies with other instruments and vocals performed by an award winning cast of guest artists. Widely acclaimed and recommended, these newer albums expanded the reach of the music across across radio, television and the internet, including Music Choice’s “Soundscapes” cable channel, XM Radio’s “Spa” channel, Lifetime TV’s highest rated show “Army Wives,” NPR, Delilah and Solo Piano Radio.

Stanton’s sixth album December Peace is a holiday album offering listeners its theme during one of the most stressful times of year. It was a new challenge for Stanton to create a unique collection by arranging traditional pieces, interweaving original writing and composing all new melodies. While the songs clearly represent the Christian celebration of the birth of Christ, you do not need to understand, follow or believe Stanton’s faith to lose yourself in this musical invitation.

Music to Light the World is the non-profit organization Stanton founded in 2004 with a vision to offer “peace to the soul” through scripture inspired piano. This organization brings peace, hope and healing to many who need it most through donating CDs and performances to groups such as cancer patients, families who have lost children to cancer, hospitals and inner city ministries. Get Music, Give Hope is an initiative where, for every album purchased, Music to Light the World donates one album to a cancer center or hospital. Music to Light the World is gaining strength and support from prominent philanthropists in Atlanta and beyond who are equally dedicated to touching lives with a message of hope.

Stanton Lanier lives in Atlanta with his wife and two children. He enjoys time with family and friends, sports, travel and cooking. One of Stanton’s favorite quotes is “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive” (from the book “Wild at Heart” by John Eldredge).