Tony McManus (musician)

In 1988, McManus substituted for guitarist Soig Siberil in the supergroup Celtic Fiddle Festival, which consisted of fiddlers Johnny Cunningham, Kevin Burke, and Christian Lemaitre. He has worked as accompanist for Catriona MacDonald and for singer, guitarist, and fiddler Brian McNeill. McManus's album Return to Kintail was a duet with Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser.[2]

In addition to traditional Celtic music, McManus plays classical music and other genres. He performed a piece by Erik Satie for the soundtrack of a movie by Neil Jordan.[1] Mandolinist Mike Marshall prodded him to learn Bach's E Major Prelude.[1] He performed a chaconne by J.S. Bach at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City with jazz fusion guitarist John McLaughlin.[1]

He released his first album, Tony McManus, in 1996 on Greentrax Recordings. He recorded his second album, Pourquoi Quebec?, in Quebec, Canada and released it on the same label in 1998. His third album, Ceol More, was released in 2002 and achieved widespread critical acclaim.

Christina Roden wrote on AllMusic: "As usual, his command of acoustic guitar technique is flawless, with a chesty, rounded, gorgeous tone and a knack for well-marked rhythms and singing phrases."[3] Gordon Potter wrote in Living Tradition, "Here is a musician demonstrating talent by making it seem understated. This is good, this is very good indeed, and there's not much else that can be said."[4]

The album includes a version of Charles Mingus's Goodbye Porkpie Hat.[3] He recorded an album with bassist Alain Genty, titled Singing Sands.[5]

In 2017, McManus was named one of "50 Transcendent Acoustic Guitarists" in Guitar Player magazine.[6]

In 2011, PRS Guitars created a McManus signature model guitar, a distinction he shares with jazz guitarist Al Di Meola, folk guitarist Martin Simpson—and rock guitarists Carlos Santana, John Mayer, Mark Lettieri, Ted Nugent, and Orianthi Panagaris. The custom model, designed by Paul Reed Smith, went into development after McManus visited bluegrass musician Ricky Skaggs in Nashville, Tennessee while on tour in America.[1][7]

• Tony McManus (Greentrax, 1996)[8]
• Pourquoi Quebec? (Greentrax, 1998)[8]
• Return to Kintail with Alasdair Fraser (Culburnie, 1999)[8]
• Ceol More (Compass, 2002)[8]
• Singing Sands with Alain Gentry (Compass, 2005)[8]
• The Maker's Mark (Compass, 2008)[8]
• Mysterious Boundaries (Compass, 2013)[8]
• Round Trip with Beppe Gambetta (Borealis, 2015)[8]
• Live In Concert with Julia Toaspern (Greentrax, 2019)[8]

• Tomy McManus official website
• "Tony McManus: Reinventing the Guitar" Rambles, October 2004