Tony McManus

[vchizzle]

Haven't heard much about him recently. He's ridiculous and needs a thread or 10.

edit: Holy hell, just found this one...

 

[alantig]

Great player, great sense of humor. If he's doing a clinic at Experience, it's pretty much a must for me.

 

[bodia]

Sublime!

 

[vchizzle]

Great player, great sense of humor. If he's doing a clinic at Experience, it's pretty much a must for me.

Yup. I'd love to see him do a show on a tour in an auditorium sometime.

 

[AP515]

I have great respect for Mr. McManus. I've been working on Gnossiennes for a while now. If I take out a lot of the "unimportant notes" I can muddle through...

 

[veinbuster]

Great player, great sense of humor. If he's doing a clinic at Experience, it's pretty much a must for me.

Definitely. I lost count of how many times I saw him at Experience

 

[Buildermike]

Killer player and a must attendance at the Experience.

 

[vchizzle]

Not enough times is my vote. Saw him at Dave's with Paul once too. Was trying to hold back tears and not look like a baby after he was done.

 

[László]

He is the pinnacle of awesomeness for steel string players, IMHO. I completely agree with you guys.

 

[Sonic Blue 55]

A dozen years ago, I brought Tony to play a gig in Bakersfield. With a small audience of 35 or so, he was superb. After the show, I rode shotgun in his rental car on the way to meet friends for Mexican food and beers. On the way, I saw a car at an intersection and thought that it wasn’t goung to stop.

It didn’t. Her car hit us just in front of Tony’s driver side door. The car was totaled. Tony was covered with glass and bleeding from a myriad of tiny glass shards that hit him. I asked if he was ok. In shock, he replied yes. I ran to the other car. She was alive, crying, and barely coherent with no seat belt on.

After the police and EMTs were done, we got a ride to the restaurant. Tony was beat up, bruised, sore, but not bleeding anymore. No broken bones, but he spent the next week dealing with the rental car company.

A few years later, I was in Munich with my brothers to visit Oktoberfest. We found a well reviewed German restaurant. Waiting outside, I saw a poster reading: Tony McManus, Celtic Guitarist.
It was in half an hour at a small venue next door. I ran over, walked in, and asked for Tony. His people looked at me with bewilderment.
“ I am a friend from California.”
He came out, looked confused, shook my hand and asked what I was doing in Munich.
We exchanged info, and I brought him back to Bakersfield for many shows.

He is a great singer and storyteller in addition to being one of the greatest steel string players alive.