Craig R. Manning’s album of guitar-focused tuneage & vocals
I’m a multi-genre acoustic and electric guitarist with a sweet tooth for tasteful accompaniment in duo or band environments. I’m also looking for touring gigs for 2025. I mean, we need to get out there and make some music, y’all. Yes, I do studio stuff as well, using Logic Pro on Apple.
It’s not all twangy stuff. Other adjectives include: acoustic, electric, jazz, finger-style, open tuning, slide-y, traditional, filmic, studio and sessions, chromatic, composition. Lots of styles from a versatile guitarist. And twangful, too.
Original, instrumental
Things Are Getting Better (Instrumental) Strong melodic lines on electric guitar, with a tip of the hat to Larry Carlton, from whom I’ve learned so much over the years. The melody is almost sing-able. The final solo, of three solos, is pretty soaring, in keeping with the idea of finally exiting a difficult period into far better days. Gratitude, openness, and that place where music says it far better than words. We’re all needing a bit of that. Great mixing and mastering by pal Larry Clyman out in Denver. (2:45, opens in Soundcloud)
Instrumental cover
In My Room (Instrumental) A great song accommodates new iterations, variation, and reharmonizings of melodies. Played here finger-style in open tuning, its message still points to the West Coast, with its layered harmonies, and the ‘space outro’ is languid, wet, closing with the sound of the ocean, which is where it all began anyway. With love to Brian Wilson, and Jacob Collier, for finding, and then riding, that wave. (3:24, opens in Soundcloud)
Original, vocal
Are You Sure You’re Not Me? (Vocal) Title tune of the album. Big message: we are not that separate. John Douglas of Atlanta wrote the lyrics and nailed the vocal. Without John’s voice and lyrics, the chords and groove are plenty good. And with John’s lyrics and voice, you could change your life. The first person we played it for said that she cried and found it very moving. It still gives me goosebumps. Truly, we all add up to one. (2:57, opens in Soundcloud)
Vocal cover
I’m on Fire (Vocal) The ‘twangful’ version of a beautiful song. This version accentuates the haunting, mournful aspects of the original song. Canadian musician and vocalist Dave Romano brings it home with a vocal that is so revealing and deep. (Seriously talented guy, that Dave!) You’ll hear the chimed harmonics combined with that pedal steel-like string bend that somehow evokes a cold winter night in some remote location. The Telecaster solo starts around the mid-point and stretches out almost to the end. No big licks, just some notes to deepen the sense of an expanse both musical and experiencial. (3:30 opens in Soundcloud)
Original, vocal
Making You Laugh (Vocal) Acoustic guitar, plucked and strummed simultaneously, opens a door to the tenderness, and hilarity, of an evolving relationship between two individuals. Is stepping in poo all that funny? For the partner witnessing that mis-step, it is evidently wildly funny, even years later. And then the words quickly go deeper, the music adds further colors, and we realize we’re seeing all this in ourselves. Some Vince Gill influences here. (3:41, opens in Soundcloud)
Original, vocal
Our Night in Ibiza (Vocal) A Latin-flavored original composition, with duet acoustic guitar lines, hints of Wes Montgomery jazz phrasing, and unexpected key changes. Atlanta singer John Douglas delivers a warm, intimate, personal vocal, describing the space between memories of deep connection between hearts and that bumpy transition to life back in the city. (2:33, opens in Soundcloud)
Instrumental cover
Will You Love Me Tomorrow (Instrumental) A softly-twangy instrumental retake on the gorgeous Carole King & Gerry Goffin song. The melody is still so evocative — even without a vocal and its being in a genre quite different from the original — and the piece does not need much orchestration. If you follow the work of guitarist/arranger John Leventhal, you’ll note his influences here. (2:20, opens in Soundcloud)
Original, instrumental
Kiss Under Northern Lights (Instrumental) A flowing guitar instrumental recalling an unexpectedly romantic evening under shimmering Northern Lights. The background slide guitar creates an arc of emotion that intensifies and deepens during the piece. In the cold of the evening, there is both excitement and repose; color as well as silhouette; tenderness in an inhospitable but beautiful place. (3:08, opens in Soundcloud)
Original, instrumental
Out the Door and Down the Road (Instrumental) Twangy country instrumental with trio acoustic guitar lines, lap steel, and using the Lydian scale. What!? In country music?? Bluesy with an altered IV chord. Pretentious, maybe. But it tears along just fine. Think Spinal Tap — unplugged — after a year at Berklee. (2:57, opens in Soundcloud)
Solrar-powered recording in my garage
ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE NOT ME? 