Tony McManus

In 2017, McManus was named one of “50 Transcendent Acoustic Guitarists” in Guitar Player magazine.

In 2011, PRS Guitars created a McManus signature model guitar, a distinction he shares with jazz guitarist Al Di Meola, folk guitarist Martin Simpson—and rock guitarists Carlos Santana, Ted Nugent, and Orianthi Panagaris. The custom model, designed by Paul Reed Smith, went into development after McManus visited bluegrass musician Ricky Skaggs in Nashville, Tennessee while on tour in America.

He released his first album, Tony McManus, in 1996 on Greentrax Recordings. He recorded his second album, Pourquoi Quebec?, in Quebec, Canada and released it on the same label in 1998. His third album, Ceol More, came in 2002, and achieved widespread critical acclaim. It includes a version of Charles Mingus’s Goodbye Porkpie Hat. He recorded an album with bassist Alain Genty, titled Singing Sands.

In 1988, McManus substituted for guitarist Soig Siberil in the supergroup Celtic Fiddle Festival, which consisted of fiddlers Johnny Cunningham, Kevin Burke, and Christian Lemaitre. He has worked as accompanist for Catriona MacDonald and for singer, guitarist, and fiddler Brian McNeill. McManus’s album Return to Kintail was a duet with Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser.

Tony McManus (born 1965) is a guitarist from Paisley, Scotland who plays finger-style acoustic guitar arrangements of tunes from Celtic music, classical music, and other genres.