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…
Past, Present & Future — Forgotten favourites #1
An occasional series on rediscovered treasuresSomehow the old favourites fell short; too familiar for unfamiliar times. Crown of horn (Martin Carthy); Penguin eggs (Nic Jones); Handful of earth (Dick Gaughan); Led Zeppelin’s Four symbols. Not even Sergeant Pepper or...
My first folk club
Originally printed in Tykes’ News, Spring 2019 Folk music discovered me just before The Sex Pistols; by the time they arrived, I was lost in a world of angular tunes and collarless shirts. I started to go to folk clubs while at university, so there are three that I...
Vital vinyl
First printed in Keighley News, on behalf of Airedale Writers’ Circle, August 2018 Highlight of a busy Saturday at Bradford Literary Festival was a talk by the music journalist David Hepworth, long-time familiar face from the much-missedThe Old Grey Whistle Test. OGWT...