TONY MCMANUS

Tony McManus in concert

Biography

Born in Scotland and self taught from childhood, Tony McManus abandoned academia in his twenties to pursue music full time. The session scene in Glasgow and Edinburgh provided the springboard for gigs around Scotland and a studio set for BBC Radio, frequently rebroadcast, began to spread the word.

In a relatively short time Tony’s music has come to define a new role for the guitar in Celtic music. He has come to represent Celtic music in the guitar world, making regular appearances at guitar specific events where just a few years ago jigs and reels would be unheard of. He is now invited annually to the Chet Atkins Festival in Nashville, has appeared at Guitar Festivals in Soave and Pescantina, Italy; Frankston, Australia; Issoudun, France; Kirkmichael, Scotland; Bath and Kent, England; Bochum and Osnabruck, Germany and has taught at five of Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamps in Maryville, Tennessee. He recently appeared at the famous Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in the “All Star Guitar Night” featuring Steve Morse, Bryan Sutton, Muriel Anderson, Béla Fleck and Victor Wooten and headlined by the legendary Les Paul.

Tony's ability to reach audiences unfamiliar with traditional music is remarkable- he is quite comfortable at predominantly classical events such as the Dundee and Derry Guitar Festivals (appearing six times between the two) and even The Bogotá International Guitar Festival where he followed virtuoso Eduardo Fernandez.

Discography

  • The Maker's Mark (2008)
  • Singing Sands - with Alain Genty (2005)
  • Ceol More (2002)
  • Pourquoi Quebec? (1998)
  • Tony McManus (1995)

Performance Highlights

In little over ten years as a professional musician, Tony McManus has come to be recognised throughout the world as the leading guitarist in Celtic Music. In 2002 he was nominated as Musician of the Year by both the BBC Folk Awards and The Scottish Traditonal Music awards and hit the Critic’s Album of the year list in Acoustic Guitar magazine and named “Live Ireland Awards” Album of the Year. In January of 2009, Tony was the Acoustic Guitar Readers Choice Gold Medal Winner. Tony’s current CD, The Maker's Mark, was nominated for album of the year by the MG Alba Scottish Trad Music Awards and he was nominated as “Solo Instrumental Artist” of the year for the Canadian Folk Awards.

Tony McManus web site
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