Tony McManus

Hailed by John Renbourn as ‘the best Celtic guitarist in the world”, Tony McManus has also been listed as one of the 50 transcendent guitarists of all time by Guitar Player Magazine.Tony has both extended and transcended the parameters of contemporary Celtic music. Ranked by peers and predecessors alike alongside the guitar world’s all-time greats, his fiendishly dexterous, dazzlingly original playing draws on traditions from the entire Celtic world, along with still further-ranging flavours such as jazz and eastern European music.
Long applauded for his uncanny ability to transpose the delicate, complex ornamentation characteristic of traditional bagpipe or fiddle tunes – even the phrasing of a Gaelic song – onto his own six strings, McManus is increasingly being acknowledged also as a pioneering figure in bridging the realms of Celtic music and other genres, accompanying folks such as Natalie McMaster, Alasdair Fraser, Dougie MacLean, Kevin Burke, and Phil Cunningham.
He represents Celtic music in the guitar world, teaching at Swannanoa and Richard Thompson’s music camp, among others; making regular appearances at folk and guitar specific festivals such as the Chet Atkins Festival in Nashville; the Ellnora Guitar Festival in one of Illinois’s most prestigious venues, the Krannert Center, with the likes of Pat Metheny, Kaki King, Molly Tuttle, and Steve Dawson; has appeared at Guitar Festivals in Soave and Pescantina, Italy; Frankston, Australia; Issoudun, France; Kirkmichael, Scotland; Bath and Kent, England; Bachum and Osnabruck, Germany.
He performed at the famous Ryman Auditorium inn 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. His ability to reach audiences unfamiliar with trad 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.)
$25 suggested donation all paid to musician