Jono Manson - 1973

Jono Manson is a prolific singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, producer and an engaging performer. During a storied career spanning over five decades he has played everywhere from the local dive to Madison Square Garden and has amassed an impressive discography that includes major label and indie releases on three continents. His songs have been recorded by numerous artists and have been featured in major motion pictures on network television, and in national advertising campaigns. Jono has produced albums for Grammy winners and local heroes alike.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT JONO'S NEW ALBUM:


“It’s an instant Americana Classic, with tracks so deep in lyrical profundity and A-List musicianship, you might even say it’s his masterpiece.” Mike Greenblatt, Goldmine (May 2023)

"....exquisitely beautiful, predictably well-produced, with a sound that captures every nuance of these beautiful songs, sung with impeccable skill" - Buscadero Magazine (February 2023)


"This is an album that wriggles and twists whenever an attempt is made to pigeonhole the genres covered. It's a genuinely wonderful offering featuring blues, country, soul, funk, rock and Americana. For my money, it's probably going to be one of the best albums of 2023 - it really is that good!" - Blues Matters Magazine (April 2023)


​"Listening to Jono Manson's stories is really like sitting next to a friend, and sharing moments of closeness and positivity in music. Listening to his record, moreover, is rejoicing in a sincere creation, sung with soul and played by authentic artists." - Mescalina (March 2023)


"Legendary producer, Jono Manson steps out from behind the soundboards for his latest release, Stars Enough To Guide Me. Drawing on his four decades in the music business, Manson creates a multilayered Americana album that draws from Piedmont blues, folk, bluegrass, soul and honky-tonk country. His dusty, Guy Clark meets Aaron Lee Tasjan voice adds a sense of gravitas to the songs which range from playful to somber....From poignant poet to playful prankster, Jono Manson is a shining star in his own right."

- Turnstyled, Junkpile Roots Music Magazine (March 2023)


"Manson is a fine songwriter and almost seamlessly makes couplets or verses rhyme. He surrounds himself with some empathetic musicians, most of whom are old friends, and some excellent vocalists including Eliza Gilkyson on the last track, the really excellent ‘Late Bloomer’" - AmericanaUK (March 2023)


"From the very first bars of the energetic Lights Go Out, a Southern Rock jewel, the listener finds themself immersed in the world of Manson, who, to use an overused term, makes resilience his trademark...A real hymn to those who may have felt knocked out in recent years, but have been able to find the strength not to turn off the light on hope; all sprinkled with an energetic dose of rhythm and with a voice that improves with each record..."

​- Mescalina (March 2023)


​"In any other business but the notoriously unfair music biz, singer-songwriter, producer, and sideman Jono Manson would have a higher profile....He is a master of his craft and deserving of far more recognition."

 - Glide Magazine (March 2023)


"His songs have that poetic luminosity which is like lighting from stars on a clear night in Alaska.  Jono Manson's album is just like the Northern Lights, telling stories to listen to by the glow from the campfire. A beautiful collection of songs, whose spirit is the very story in its purest feeling."

- Blaskans Vänner, Sweden (March 2023)


​"The songs on the album are very different from each other and challenge the boundaries between musical genres, drawing on roots, rock, soul and country traditions to draw vivid portraits of resilient characters who proudly resist the inexorable advance of time. Manson's performances also benefit from a similar determination, conveying a passion and conviction that are as sincere as they are empathetic" - Ezio Guaitamacchi / Jam TV (April 2023)



A profoundly gifted writer, producer, and performer, Jono Manson weaves the threads of his remarkable life and career into a captivating, cohesive whole on his new album, Stars Enough To Guide Me, released March 31 , 2023 on Nashville's Blue Rose Music. Recorded at Manson’s own The Kitchen Sink studio in Santa Fe, NM, the album brings together a slew of special guests—from GRAMMY-winner John Popper and American Idol finalist Crystal Bowersox to folk/Americana stalwart Eliza Gilkyson—to craft an organic, eclectic sound that manages to look to the future and honor the past all at once.


The songs here are diverse and genre-bending, drawing on roots, rock, soul, and country traditions as they paint vivid portraits of resilient characters standing tall in the face of time’s relentless march, and Manson’s performances are similarly determined, delivered with a passion and conviction that’s as honest as it is empathetic. While it would be easy for Manson to rest on his laurels at this point in his career, Stars Enough To Guide Me is anything but a trip down memory lane; rather, it’s the start of a brand-new chapter, the work of an artist determined to continue forging his legacy one song at a time.


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Born and raised in New York, Manson began his professional career in the 1970s as a teenager in the city’s dirty dive bars, where six-hour gigs were the norm and nights out rarely ended before sunrise. By the early ’80s, Manson was a highly respected figure on the club circuit, and his band, Joey Miserable and The Worms, were a force to be reckoned with. The New York Times called the group “local heroes” and credited them with influencing “countless” other acts, including the likes of Joan Osborne, who hailed them as “master entertainers” who “always had the crowds eating out of their hands.” 


In the decades to come, Manson would go on to develop a career as a recording artist and producer in Italy, continue to perform his own music far and wide, and compose for major motion pictures. His credits as producer include Grammy-winner John Popper, American Idol finalist Crystal Bowersox, Italian rockers The Gang, Italian rock icon Edoardo Bennato, and Pakistani sufi/rock stars The Sketches, to name just a few. He has performed alongside the likes of Bo Diddley, Pete Seeger, Warren Haynes and Brice Springsteen.

He currently makes his home in Santa Fe, NM, where he has put down deep roots in the local community, as a performer, educator, organizer and producer. He is the founder and chief engineer of “The Kitchen Sink” recording studio where he has nurtured creative projects for countless artists, emergent and established alike and has collaborated with the likes of Amanda Palmer, T Bone Burnett, and Ray Wylie Hubbard, Terry Allen, Eliza Gilkyson, Tom Russell and The Mother Hips, to name just a few. Jono has six times been named “Producer of the Year” by the New Mexico Music Awards.


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