GUIDED BY THE STARS
Santa Fe-based musician Jono Manson talks life on the road, benefit concert in Placitas
Jono Manson is ready for the holidays. Not only because he will have time to spend with his family, but he will be off the road where he’s been touring with Blues Traveler as part of the band’s fall tour.
“I’m on my way to Montgomery, Alabama, and it’s the last night of the tour,” Manson says. “I’ve driven 7,600 miles so far and I have yet to return home to Santa Fe. I’ve been opening up for Blues Traveler and it’s been really fun. This gives me an opportunity to perform with them without doing a separate tour.”
Manson will perform a benefit concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3, at La Estrella Event Center in Placitas.
Manson worked with Blues Traveler vocalist John Popper on his solo album and has remained friends with them.
“Blues Traveler was playing nice 2,0000-seat venues,” he says. “It’s been good for me because I’m getting myself out there. This is the first time I’ve done anything like this.”
Manson had a busy year both as a solo musician and as a producer with his The Kitchen Sink Recording Studio in Santa Fe.
He released his Blue Rose Records debut, “Stars Enough To Guide Me” on March 31.
On the album, Manson is joined by Popper, “American Idol” finalist Crystal Bowersox and folk/Americana stalwart Eliza Gilkyson.
Manson says 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.
In his solo shows, he’s playing a good amount of music from the new record.
“There’s a different set each night,” he says. “With the solo gigs, I can play for hours and whatever songs I wish to. I keep changing it up. The new songs are the most exciting for me to play. I get a sense of what people are * responding to and I continue to go in that direction. Being a solo artist, I can flip the script and I don’t have to notify anyone else on stage because it’s usually only me.”
Manson has been working steadily in music for more than three decades.
Along the way, he’s learned some lessons.
“I know that residual fatigue does catch up with you,” Manson says. “I do my best to take care of myself on the road. I’m 62 now and I’m not going out to the all-night rave. I’m more comfortable taking a back seat to all of that.”
Looking back at his journey in music, he’s more grateful as he gets older.
“I don’t ever feel like I’m resting on my laurels,” he says. “The quality of my writing continues to evolve and improve. I’m going to new places with my music. I don’t feel at all stagnant and my love for writing and performance continues to grow. I’m continuing to learn each day, and that makes everything I do exciting.”