MANSON
"John Popper is as true blue as he’s ever been on Bootlegger Days!!
The exclamation points are part of the album’s title, though the news is exciting.
The joint between the Blues Traveler frontman and producer/multi-instrumentalist Jono Manson covers all kinds of blues across its 12 tracks including blues-rock on “Before the Heat Rolls In,” country blues on the banjo-based dirge that is “Cabin Fever” and the grinding blues on “New Cocaine Blues,” on which the narrator sings: “When the sun comes up, I got to crawl down low.” His gun, meanwhile, is making its way from the floor of his car to the side of his head. Deep blue is that one. Popper spends the bulk of Bootlegger Days!! singing with dexterity he rarely favors while eschewing his favored harmonica sounds with the Traveler, opting instead for deeper tones – tones that illuminate his and Manson’s morbid and morose songs of lives of crime (“Heat”), lives mired in the genre (“The Same Old Blues”), lives in search of redemption (“Beneath the Blood Wolf Moon”) and lives of heartbreak as on the the languid and balladic “Your Crazy.” "
- Relix (11/10/23)
"At the risk of resorting to cliches, it’s clear that Manson has made his masterpiece, one that ought to assure that elevated level of acclaim he so decidedly deserves." —Relix Magazine
“ 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.”—Goldmine
"... 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
Artwork: Jason Lee Denton
Jono's latest! "Coney Island Serenade"
Photo: William Coupon
"Jono Manson is one of the most sincere, creative and original interpreters of American songwriting...the five tracks paint a Manson aware of the precariousness of life and time, but also of the permanence of memories and affections, when these are sincere and full of hope for the future. In fact, the song that closes these twenty minutes of confession and beautiful music, Happy Endings, contains a great truth, in its simplicity: "Happy endings only happen in the end". And we imagine the kind and smiling gaze of Jono Manson, in proposing this handful of songs to us with such passion and conviction, like a gift that comes from the heart." Mescalina Magazine (May 2024)
New EP - Coney Island Serenade
Released May 3, 2024
Produced by Eric "Roscoe" Ambel
NEWS!!!
"Bootlegger Days!!" is out:
In the winter of 2020, as the world grappled with the challenges of a pandemic lockdown, long-time friends and collaborators John Popper and Jono Manson embarked on a creative journey that led to the birth of their new LP, Bootlegger Days!!.
The album, steeped in classic Blues, R&B, and Americana, was released on Sept. 15 , 2023
Bootlegger Days!!
"Manson’s connection with Blues Traveler dates back to the inception of their career, and he has played an integral role in their musical journey. He appeared on their multi-platinum-selling album Four and was the front-man for the band High Plains Drifter, featuring Bobby Sheehan and Chan Kinchla from Blues Traveler. Manson also co-wrote and produced Popper’s side projects, including John Popper and the Duskray Troubadours (2011) and now Bootlegger Days!! (2023)."
- Jambands.com 9/18/23
"Manson attacks the high art of low-rent songcraft with a paid assassin’s precision.” - No Depression Magazine
JONO
"Stars Enough to Guide Me":
"Superb… It’s a mix of poetry and hooks that will rival any recording of this type… This is an early candidate for roots album of the year. These songs will stay with you for days, weeks, months, maybe even longer. It may become your 'go to' CD for the car and elsewhere. Everything you appreciate about roots rock n’ roll is right here."
- Glide Magazine
"Listening to Jono Manson’s 10th solo album—with its abundance of instant-grabber hooks and smartly constructed riffs, shiny melodies and warm harmonies, confident, seductive vocal performances and intelligent, relatable story lines—you have to wonder one thing. Why isn’t this guy famous? Manson has been at it for more than five decades, a denizen of the New York City club scene and beyond. His particular spin on Americana draws lines between glorious power-pop and tough-ass barroom rock, rootsy blues and twangy folk-rock...Self-produced, with all of the tunes written in whole or in part by Manson himself, the LP is full of imminently listenable music—as in, you can play it again and again without tiring of it. “Home Again to You,” the first track on Silver Moon, is Tom Petty-level hummable—the kind of upbeat tune The Lovin’ Spoonful would’ve called good-time music."
- Relix Magazine 07/20/20
"Every once in a while, artists and audiences, are given the gift of essential truth. Here is an example of a body of work which achieves palpable transformation of spirit. A huge stone thrown in the water of a man’s experience which causes immense ripples in the fabric of his life. May we all be moved a little bit too as we are touched by genuine attention given to our shared human experience." - Rise and Bloom (May 2024)