Roger Manning

• Genre: Urban Folk
• Hometown: New York

About

Roger Manning's raw, agitated songs probably wouldn't sit well over lattes and cheesecake at Starbucks, but Manning plays the part of urban folkie well. Strumming loudly in torn-up jeans and a dirty, sleeveless t-shirt Manning professes, "I ain't from the peace movement...I'm from the anti-bullsh*t movement," then almost conversationally recalls a time when people "took to the street to speak with feet." Manning's songs don't spoon-feed sensitivity the way artists such as like Jewel or Natalie Merchant do; rather, they offer a refreshing, charismatic approach to the socially-charged, old-fashioned storytelling of artists like Bob Dylan and, more recently, P.W. Long.

- Kelly Bauman