In Pittsburgh 10/98

(Preview of show with two female punk bands at Chatham College)
But the odd man out -literally- in these proceedings is the xy chromosomed Roger Manning, who's been described as "Ani DiFranco as an shaggy older boy." A longtime denizen of the New York scene, Manning can be counted on for several things: all of his albums are titled Roger Manning;all of his intelligently acerbic, lyrically intense songs are "blues" (e.g. "Pearly Blues No. 6", "Hitch- hiker BLues"); and his guitar will emit more room-throbbing bass and louder volume than any carbon-copy folksinger spewed forth by the corporate Adult Album Alternative industry. Manning isn't so much a folk-rocker as a guy who is always ready to rock out for the folks.

      -Manny Theiner

Tucson Weekly 6/98

at: Club Congress
Friday with The chrome Addicts
and Oslo B.

Poet, raconteur and punk- folk hero Roger Manning returns to the Old Pueblo et the end of a lengthy national tour. If you missed his show here last winter, don't make the same mistake twice. Manning mesmerized a mostly uninitiated crowd during his November performance, playing an emotive, intimate set deftly delivering a balance of new material as well as older favorites, to the delight of longtime fans. He's a stunning performer, and even as a soloist commands the stage with the magnitude of his message and the intensity of his delivery.

      -Lisa Weeks

Weekly Alibi (Albuquerque) 6/98

Tuesday, June 9; Launch Pad: if you were one of the people in attendance the last time punk-coustic master Roger Manning played the Launchy, then you are likely a lifetime fan and therefore a luckier person than the other 522,321 people estimated to live in Bernadillo county.

Manning is not a folk musician. He isn't a singer-songwriter. He's an artist of rare caliber who's points are made with brash clarity, obtuse insight and powerful dynamic guitar work. Think Ani DiFranco with a penis. Think spoken-word artist without the pretension orstylisticc concern. Think punk rock without the "hip" vintage gear. Manning is unplugged, living-on-the-edge fury lassoed by melodies that shove their way through purposefully complex acoustic guitar passages without regard to traditional song structure. At times his lyrics hemorrhage from the major arteries of his music; at others, Manning simply pounds his square peg words through oddly shaped lapses in strumming. The fact that he does both with equal ease and credibility makes him a one man band of magnificent proportion.

Manning writes the blues, literally, giving his songs fill-in-the-blank names ("The Pearly Blues No.6"), and then numbering them as he moves through variations on deliciously scattered themes. Manning is a rarity in a world rife with bad folk music. A breath of fresh air for people who aren't content to be force-fed market- able music. Breathe deeply.

      -Michael Henningsen