Chris Manners
Song-maker, singer and guitarist
Chris Manners is a Yorkshire-based singer, song-maker and guitarist who’s been honing his craft for over forty years. His work’s deeply rooted in the English folk tradition.
Find Chris on bandcamp using the button below.
New album – Bar the Doors and Bang the Shutters Down
Bar the doors and bang the shutters down, the long-promised fourth album, was released into the wild on September 1st 2024, full of sharp observation and word play combined with a take-no-prisoners delivery.
Subjects include being ice-bound with Franklin in the Arctic; gazing enviously at super yachts in Portofino harbour; being overrun by Spaniards on shore leave; or trembling in the kitchen with the lights off and the blinds drawn. It celebrates the simplest of joys: tall trees, wild garlic, and taking off your suit trousers for the very last time, with a nod to the perils and pratfalls of working from home.
No navels were scrutinised in the making of this record.
“Cracking song, characterful vocals, lovely guitar playing. What more do you need when it’s done as well as that? — Mark Radcliffe, The Folk Show, Radio 2
“In the tradition of 20th century folk club masters like John Tams and Bill Caddick” — Ian A Anderson, Podwireless
“It’s witty, it’s clever, it’s funny” — Tim Walker, Tim Walker’s Folk, BBC Radio Lincolnshire
“Clever lyrics with catchy tunes — genius . . . each and every song is amazing” — Folk Roundabout
Latest From the Blog…
Moving Hearts – Forgotten favourites #5
I do like a big band. Nothing quite like one for rousing the blood, when the brass section kicks in and the fiddles all march in time. Home Service, Eliza Carthy’s Wayward Band, Salsa Celtica, Bellowhead. And the Irish one, Moving Hearts. The Hearts came together in...
Battle of the Field — Forgotten favourites #4
An occasional series on rediscovered treasures Recorded in 1973 -- but the band broke up as soon as it was finished, the members going separate ways to new projects. It was eventually released (slightly modified) three years later, by which time it had acquired Lost...
Hand of Kindness – Forgotten favourites #3
An occasional series on rediscovered treasures 1983’s Hand of Kindness is the second of Richard Thompson’s first solo albums; Henry the Human Fly after he left Fairport, this one after the break-up with wife Linda. It’s hard to pick a favourite RT — so many mean so...