Born and raised in New York, Jono Manson began his professional career in the 1970s as a teenager in the city’s dirty dive bars, where six-hour sets were the norm. 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 become a cult favorite in Italy, record on Blues Traveler’s multi-platinum selling Four, open his own studio in New Mexico (where he’d collaborate with the likes of Amanda Palmer, T Bone Burnett, and Ray Wylie Hubbard, among countless others), contribute songs to major motion pictures, produce as far afield as Pakistan, and even perform at Madison Square Garden alongside Bruce Springsteen, Taj Mahal, Emmylou Harris, and Joan Baez in honor of Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday. While it would be easy for Manson to rest on his laurels at this point in his career, his newest album 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.
A gifted writer, producer, and performer, Manson weaves the threads of his remarkable life and career into a captivating whole on his dazzling new album. 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. One listen and you know this guy’s been at it a long time. The songs on Stars Enough To Guide Me 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.
Today Glide is offering an exclusive premiere of the video for the standout track “On The Downlow,” which was filed on location in Italy. The laid back folk brings to mind 70s artists like James Taylor and Jackson Browne, with Manson conveying a sense camaraderie both through the lyrics and the visuals. Indeed, this is an easygoing track that finds the songwriter in a reflective and peaceful state. Musically, he keeps it sparse with little more than a simple acoustic guitar and the subtle touch of a keyboard, but we get treated towards the end with the flourish of an electric solo.
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