As he progressed from aspiring to professional musician, whether playing country rock with Newground, punk with Trueheart, or modern rock with Gecko, the Ringo influence was always there. Even as music became his avocation rather than his primary vocation, the passion never wavered, the Beatle-mania never subsided.

If anything, it grew stronger, so strong, in fact, that in 1999 Stan decided to make a pilgrimage of sorts to the Beatles' hometown of Liverpool, England. The occasion was the annual Mathew Street Festival, a weeklong music fest that attracts 10,000 or so fans from around the globe to hear an assortment of 30 to 35 bands play — what else? — Beatles music.

It so happened that one of the groups at that year's festival had just lost its drummer and Stan picked up an impromptu gig. He returned the next year as an observer and this time sat in with an acoustic guitarist. The following year, however, he didn’t leave it to chance — he took his own band. The band, Clonefarm, played at several venues around Liverpool, including the famed Cavern Club and the Adelphi Hotel. But by last year the members had gone their separate ways, and Stan sat out the festival. One song Clonefarm did, however, "Sour Milk Sea," would indirectly lead to Stan’s return to Liverpool, only this time as part of one of the headlining bands.

"I ran across the Web site of Jackie Lomax and, on a whim, just decided to e-mail him," said Stan. "He was a contemporary of the Beatles, from Liverpool, and had recorded 'Sour Milk Sea', a song George wrote. Jackie recorded on the Apple label and George produced and arranged his album. All the Beatles except John played on it, and George brought in Clapton and a bunch of other top session men for it. So there's a real connection there.

"Jackie lives in L.A. now and hasn't done much musically lately, but I asked him if he'd be interested in going to the Mathew Street Festival. It so happened that he's done an album recently, called Liverpool Slim, primarily a blues album, and he seemed very interested in the idea. So I told Cavern City Tours (which produces the festival) about it and they said run with it. I ended up doing all the negotiations and actually closed the deal."

Meet Wonderwall

Of course, part of the deal was that Stan provide Lomax's backup band, which gave him the impetus to shift from high gear into overdrive. Bass player Marc Diffendal, who’d been a part of Clonefarm and had played off and on with Bullock for over 20 years, quickly came aboard. Marc is co-owner of a local record label, Neon Pie Records, and his partner is one Brad Newell. Guitarist/singer/songwriter Newell has credentials dating back to Treva Spontaine and the Graphic and currently plays with no fewer than three groups — 8 Eyes, Workbook and Orchestra 8 — as well as teaching music at the Music Loft in Greensboro.

Getting Newell excited about the idea was a major coup, but the piece that completed the puzzle came in the form of local legend Chuck Martin. Martin has been a heavyweight on the Triad scene since the late-60's, playing with such answers to trivia questions as the Villagers, Paragan Took, and Bandit, all of which flirted with national acclaim. He made the trek to Nashville, where he toured with, played behind and wrote songs for Country Music Hall of Famer Ray Stevens.

Lately Martin has been putting together theatrical productions for the Barn Dinner Theatre, Centennial Station and the Broach Theatre, among others. His recent credits include two runs with the Patsy Cline show; the Hank Williams tribute, "Lost Highway"; "An Evening with the Stars" legends show; and "The Sanders Family Christmas" (featured on the cover of ESP last December).

"It seems we've all come full circle," said Martin. "My dad (Slim Martin) used to have a country show at the old WGBG and I'd hang out there and they'd give me all the records they didn’t want. Then the Beatles hit and we all fell in love with them, and that's the music we all grew up with."

By February the quartet was in rehearsal, choosing the name Wonderwall. Soon afterward, the arrangements were in place with Cavern City Tours and the deal struck to play with Jackie Lomax.

The Liverpool trip

Visas and passports in place, Wonderwall will depart their native shores on Monday, August 18 for merry old England. Their itinerary has them playing 10 shows between the 21st and 26th, eight as Wonderwall and two backing up Jackie Lomax.

"We won'’t actually rehearse with him until we get to Liverpool," disclosed Stan. "He sent us a CD, chord charts and the set list, so we've been rehearsing his show as well as ours. The show with him on the 26th is actually the highlight of the whole festival, so that should be fun."

But before they head across the big pond, local buffs will get a chance to give Wonderwall a big sendoff. They will play two special shows at The Barn Dinner Theatre on Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 11-12. Doors open at 7 p.m. for hors d'oeuvres (the full Barn menu will not be available) and the music starts at 8.

Oldies 93 DJ Jack Armstrong, who actually toured with the Beatles, will emcee both nights, and Tuesday will feature another special guest. Gary Peterson, drummer for the Guess Who (who now resides in Greensboro), will sit in for a few tunes.