@chrismannersmusic.bsky.social
Dreamer, scribbler, singer. Loves wrestling semi-colons and steel-strung guitars. Latest release 'Bar the Doors and Bang the Shutters Down' now available.
chrismannersmusic.co.uk
chrismannersmusic.co.uk
Got the Christmas music on, at last. Just loving Jackie Oates & John Spiers album A Midwinter's Night: really well chosen songs, and a lovely restrained swing to the playing. Halsway Carol's a particular gem.
December 20, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Got the Christmas music on, at last. Just loving Jackie Oates & John Spiers album A Midwinter's Night: really well chosen songs, and a lovely restrained swing to the playing. Halsway Carol's a particular gem.
Sad to learn we've lost Joe Ely. His Lord of the Highway is still high up in my list of all-time favourite albums . . . and me and my great friend Tim used to sing Me & Billy the Kid back in the dawning days of Clogiron.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9hW...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9hW...
Joe Ely - Me and Billy the Kid (Live at Farm Aid 1990)
YouTube video by Farm Aid
www.youtube.com
December 17, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Sad to learn we've lost Joe Ely. His Lord of the Highway is still high up in my list of all-time favourite albums . . . and me and my great friend Tim used to sing Me & Billy the Kid back in the dawning days of Clogiron.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9hW...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9hW...
Managed to break two fingernails last weekend. Wouldn't usually worry too much, but on Sunday 14th I'll be at The Horse & Farrier in Otley, supporting Janice Burns and Jon Doran, 7pm start. Quick trip into town yesterday and now I have some surprisingly discreet emergency acrylics.
December 10, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Managed to break two fingernails last weekend. Wouldn't usually worry too much, but on Sunday 14th I'll be at The Horse & Farrier in Otley, supporting Janice Burns and Jon Doran, 7pm start. Quick trip into town yesterday and now I have some surprisingly discreet emergency acrylics.
Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas
December 8, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Up betimes, cocking eager ears at Radio 5 Sports Extra, after the excitement of yesterday in Perth at the first Ashes test. Could our merry band of Bazballers carry on where they left off? Alas, hope's brief candle has already guttered & gone out . . . at least until Brisbane, week after next.
November 22, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Up betimes, cocking eager ears at Radio 5 Sports Extra, after the excitement of yesterday in Perth at the first Ashes test. Could our merry band of Bazballers carry on where they left off? Alas, hope's brief candle has already guttered & gone out . . . at least until Brisbane, week after next.
It's gig day and I am feeling GOOD
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 AM
It's gig day and I am feeling GOOD
The estimable Riley Baugus at Ryburn Folk Club last evening. Marvellous old-timey banjo playing, some very droll chat, and a powerful sense of carried tradition, as if the American Civil War was only the day before yesterday.
November 10, 2025 at 7:21 PM
The estimable Riley Baugus at Ryburn Folk Club last evening. Marvellous old-timey banjo playing, some very droll chat, and a powerful sense of carried tradition, as if the American Civil War was only the day before yesterday.
CHANGE OF VENUE: This Thursday's Topic Folk Club double header with Reuben and The Bridge has been moved: It'll now be at The Castle, Grattan Rd, BD1. Should be a cracking good night -- treat yourself to an evening out.
November 9, 2025 at 12:24 PM
CHANGE OF VENUE: This Thursday's Topic Folk Club double header with Reuben and The Bridge has been moved: It'll now be at The Castle, Grattan Rd, BD1. Should be a cracking good night -- treat yourself to an evening out.
Thea Gilmore at Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre yesterday evening. Poetic, personal, funny without being comic; amazingly inventive. One of the most thoughtful, imaginative writers on the circuit just now. Sublime. Got home and sat up till all hours listening to her Afterlight album.
November 2, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Thea Gilmore at Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre yesterday evening. Poetic, personal, funny without being comic; amazingly inventive. One of the most thoughtful, imaginative writers on the circuit just now. Sublime. Got home and sat up till all hours listening to her Afterlight album.
It was my pleasure & privilege to visit Chirk Marina in May to record 3 songs for The Narrowboat Sessions. Lovely people, and all in support of a better cause than simply raising my own profile. This is the second of them, Don't Ever Say Goodbye.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbts...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbts...
2025 Narrowboat Sessions. Chris Manners, 'Don't Ever Say Goodbye'.
YouTube video by The Narrowboat Sessions.
www.youtube.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:30 PM
It was my pleasure & privilege to visit Chirk Marina in May to record 3 songs for The Narrowboat Sessions. Lovely people, and all in support of a better cause than simply raising my own profile. This is the second of them, Don't Ever Say Goodbye.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbts...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbts...
Oh great. A new song, one I'm quite pleased with . . . but once again the key that suits the voice doesn't suit the fingers. I strive for economy of effort, but keep having to go off down tuning rabbit holes. This one might have to be DADGAD de-tuned 2 steps . . . which makes gigging it tricky.
October 29, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Oh great. A new song, one I'm quite pleased with . . . but once again the key that suits the voice doesn't suit the fingers. I strive for economy of effort, but keep having to go off down tuning rabbit holes. This one might have to be DADGAD de-tuned 2 steps . . . which makes gigging it tricky.
Of all the turning year I love wild garlic time the best. But a sunny afternoon on October runs it close.
October 12, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Of all the turning year I love wild garlic time the best. But a sunny afternoon on October runs it close.
Fabulous Costa Portugal: sun, music, chums. Spookies, Wilson & Wakeman brilliant & hilarious; Miranda Sykes sublime. Excellent Rum Ragged, Hannah Scott; Melrose Quartet. Ralph McTell a national treasure. And here's me strutting & fretting my 5 mins on the garden stage - thanks Nigel Plant for photo.
October 11, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Fabulous Costa Portugal: sun, music, chums. Spookies, Wilson & Wakeman brilliant & hilarious; Miranda Sykes sublime. Excellent Rum Ragged, Hannah Scott; Melrose Quartet. Ralph McTell a national treasure. And here's me strutting & fretting my 5 mins on the garden stage - thanks Nigel Plant for photo.
Scarborough yesterday for Earth Angel, the new Alan Ayckbourn. Beautifully structured, building to great jokes & a big bust up. As ever, clever, funny & nuanced commentary on reality, rumour, on-line amplification & distortion.
Fish & Chips, & a sunny walk on the front afterwards. Grand day.
Fish & Chips, & a sunny walk on the front afterwards. Grand day.
September 18, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Scarborough yesterday for Earth Angel, the new Alan Ayckbourn. Beautifully structured, building to great jokes & a big bust up. As ever, clever, funny & nuanced commentary on reality, rumour, on-line amplification & distortion.
Fish & Chips, & a sunny walk on the front afterwards. Grand day.
Fish & Chips, & a sunny walk on the front afterwards. Grand day.
John 'Fiddlers Green' Connolly, last of the deep sea librarians, at Ryburn 3 Step Folk Club last evening. Marvellous blend of thoughtfulness & humour, a masterclass in how to charm an audience: between-song patter that was carefully planned & judged, then delivered easy and off-hand. Just terrific.
September 15, 2025 at 8:16 AM
John 'Fiddlers Green' Connolly, last of the deep sea librarians, at Ryburn 3 Step Folk Club last evening. Marvellous blend of thoughtfulness & humour, a masterclass in how to charm an audience: between-song patter that was carefully planned & judged, then delivered easy and off-hand. Just terrific.
September rolls in. Tomorrow - Friday 5th - is Bandcamp Friday, when the lovely people who provide independent artists with a shop window waive royalties & every sale goes to the maker. Browse my humble offering at chrismanners.bandcamp.com If another indie takes your fancy, check them out too.
Chris Manners
Song-maker, singer and guitarist, Yorkshire-based, resident with Ryburn 3 Step.
Cracking song, characterful vocals and lovely guitar playing. What more do you need? — Mark Radcliffe, The Folk Show, ...
chrismanners.bandcamp.com
September 4, 2025 at 11:35 AM
September rolls in. Tomorrow - Friday 5th - is Bandcamp Friday, when the lovely people who provide independent artists with a shop window waive royalties & every sale goes to the maker. Browse my humble offering at chrismanners.bandcamp.com If another indie takes your fancy, check them out too.
I'm part of the playlist again for Roy Wetton's Folk Show on Bourne Community Radio, starting at noon today. All the best in traditional and contemporary folk music. And me. Thanks Roy.
www.bournecommunityradio.com
www.bournecommunityradio.com
Bourne Community Radio | Your Voice, Your Community
Tune into Bourne Community Radio (BCR) for local music, live shows, sports commentary, and community voices from the heart of Lincolnshire.
www.bournecommunityradio.com
August 31, 2025 at 9:37 AM
I'm part of the playlist again for Roy Wetton's Folk Show on Bourne Community Radio, starting at noon today. All the best in traditional and contemporary folk music. And me. Thanks Roy.
www.bournecommunityradio.com
www.bournecommunityradio.com
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
August 23, 2025 at 10:31 AM
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Tomorrow evening (Wednesday 20th August), Otley Folk Club upstairs at The Black Horse Hotel. Guitars restrung, set list written and rehearsed, shirt ironed, merch gathered. Hope everyone enjoys it as much as I will . . . and everybody at Whitby Festival wishes they'd chosen Otley instead.
August 19, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Tomorrow evening (Wednesday 20th August), Otley Folk Club upstairs at The Black Horse Hotel. Guitars restrung, set list written and rehearsed, shirt ironed, merch gathered. Hope everyone enjoys it as much as I will . . . and everybody at Whitby Festival wishes they'd chosen Otley instead.
'What country, friends, is this?'
'This is Illyria lady. Next to the River Aire, just off the Bradford Road.'
'This is Illyria lady. Next to the River Aire, just off the Bradford Road.'
August 14, 2025 at 7:31 AM
'What country, friends, is this?'
'This is Illyria lady. Next to the River Aire, just off the Bradford Road.'
'This is Illyria lady. Next to the River Aire, just off the Bradford Road.'
Open air Shakespeare i'the park this evening, and for once I might not need layers of Arctic clothing.
August 13, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Open air Shakespeare i'the park this evening, and for once I might not need layers of Arctic clothing.
Welsh bluegrass from Taff Rapids at the wonderful Barnoldswick Music and Arts centre last evening. Furiously deft, great harmonies . . . but so introverted on stage. Come on lads, look at the punters and not your fingers all the time.
August 9, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Welsh bluegrass from Taff Rapids at the wonderful Barnoldswick Music and Arts centre last evening. Furiously deft, great harmonies . . . but so introverted on stage. Come on lads, look at the punters and not your fingers all the time.
Excited by yesterday's news of millions of unclaimed Premium Bond prizes. My dad bought me a bond when I was less than a fortnight old. Riches would be mine! Rooted around, found it, all the rigmarole of registering & logging in & checking. Nothing. Not a penny. Ever. Would've been too easy, really.
August 6, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Excited by yesterday's news of millions of unclaimed Premium Bond prizes. My dad bought me a bond when I was less than a fortnight old. Riches would be mine! Rooted around, found it, all the rigmarole of registering & logging in & checking. Nothing. Not a penny. Ever. Would've been too easy, really.
Not so high profile as Ozzie or the much-lamented Tom Lehrer, we also recently lost George Kooymans, guitarist with Golden Earring. Remembered in UK for Radar Love and an iffy concept album, purveyors of splendidly doomy Euro-rock and a lot less naff than most.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXeJ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXeJ...
Golden Earring - She Flies On Strange Wings (Video)
YouTube video by Red Bullet
www.youtube.com
July 30, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Not so high profile as Ozzie or the much-lamented Tom Lehrer, we also recently lost George Kooymans, guitarist with Golden Earring. Remembered in UK for Radar Love and an iffy concept album, purveyors of splendidly doomy Euro-rock and a lot less naff than most.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXeJ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXeJ...
I'm part of the playlist for Roy Wetton's folk show this week - starting just less than half an hour (and presumably on catch-up). Thanks Roy.
broadcast.shoutstream.co.uk/public/8096
broadcast.shoutstream.co.uk/public/8096
Bourne Community Radio
broadcast.shoutstream.co.uk
July 27, 2025 at 10:37 AM
I'm part of the playlist for Roy Wetton's folk show this week - starting just less than half an hour (and presumably on catch-up). Thanks Roy.
broadcast.shoutstream.co.uk/public/8096
broadcast.shoutstream.co.uk/public/8096