Bill Monroe was privileged to see and hear the impact his innovations had on generations of musicians in his 5 decades-long reign as the doyen of Bluegrass music. Legions of players have followed in his footsteps, many of whom have added new flavors to the original recipe by incorporating influences outside of the Appalachian roots from which this music flowered. More recently, others simply borrowed the basic instrumentation of the genre adding it to their own unique vision in order to produce a fresh combination of modern form with a traditional voice.

Modernist innovators who’ve followed in the footsteps of Bill Monroe include David Grisman, (and his many collaborators) Tony Rice, Bela Fleck, the Newgrass Revival, the 80’s Super-group “Strength in Numbers” and others too numerous to mention.

Picking up on this integration of “new forms, old voices”, is a fresh crop of ‘Newgrass’ musicians and San Francisco-based Fiddler, Chad Manning is among the most promising of these young talents. His debut album, In the Midst, makes a convincing argument for his place in the ever-growing pantheon of Newgrass talents. I am assured that the enlightened readers of NWBN will not want to miss out on this potential star, so I offer the following.

Chad began his San Francisco musical journey playing with local jug bands and pick-up Bluegrass acts. With his formidable skill and broader-than-Bluegrass reach he soon bubbled through the ranks and into the musical stable of Darol Anger, a charter member of the David Grisman Quintet. Darol and renowned producer/flatpicker Jim Nunnally have produced Chad’s first disc with remarkable results. Chad has penned 8 of the CD’s 11 songs proving that his talents go quite a ways beyond his imposing abilities with fiddle and bow. Darol Anger’s sponsorship of Chad has indeed bred a very tasty musical fruit.

The compositions here are solid throughout with examples of Celtic influence, a tango, traditional fiddle tunes, straight-ahead hard-driving Bluegrass and even electronic/new age music (performed with the award winning talents of Michael Manring). The album also features a surprisingly pleasant vocal track penned and sung by Chad’s brother, Chris Clouse: Living in the Wind explores lyric pop territory without straying into formulaic hooks. The CD closes with a melancholic take on the Hoagy Carmichael standard, Up the Lazy River.

The sidemen enlisted for this debut project is perhaps the album’s biggest surprise. With the assistance of Darol Anger, Chad has managed to garner the support of a veritable who’s-who of Bluegrass / Newgrass stalwarts. The supporting cast of characters includes the aforementioned Darol Anger with fellow DGQ alumni Mike Marshall (mandolin) and Todd Phillips (upright bass). On guitars Chad has obtained the services of Bay Area wunderkind Scott Nygaard as well as the illustrious David Grier (son of banjo picker Lamar Grier, who played with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys for several years). “Stealth” banjo picker Scott Vestal adds his signature 5 string tone and talent and rounding out this stellar cast is 1998 IBMA award winner Rob Ikeson resophonic guitar and electric bass wizard Michael Manring.

Chad shows he can hold his own while shoulder to shoulder with a formidable assortment of musical heavyweights. His compositional skills display a capacity to engage the listener and the arrangement and performances here make this both a record worth purchasing and a bit of a collector’s item as the disc is distributed independently and has not had the benefit of publicity or industry buzz. Chad Manning is a name you will no doubt be hearing more of in the near future.

Copyright © 1998, Ted Silverman, San Francisco.  Write to Ted

“In the Midst” is independently produced and distributed by Darol Anger and Jim Nunnaly, Stonehouse Records, 2219 Clement Street #198, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA. Tel: 001-415-831-1311. Available by mail order.

Chad Manning: Swingcat24@aol.com

Updated 1st March 1999