Roger Manning

Not to be confused with the Jellyfish member Roger Joseph Manning Jr. For other people named Roger Manning, see Roger Manning (disambiguation)..

Roger Manning is a New York City based singer-songwriter who plays an aggressive acoustic style of music. Manning, along with a small handful of other artists, composed the original New York City anti-folk scene.^[2]

Roger Manning
Born	Springville, New York[1]
Origin	New York City
Genres	Anti-folk
Instrument	Acoustic guitar
Years active	1989 – present
Labels	SST, Shimmy-Disc, Shanachie
Website	rogerm.net

On February 6, 1985, Manning was cited by New York City's MTA police for "entertain[ing] passengers by singing, dancing or playing any musical instrument" on a subway platform. Manning mounted a legal challenge to the long-standing ban on busking and in September 1985, Judge Diane Lebedeff ruled in People v. Manning that busking was constitutionally protected.^[3] The ruling led to the establishment of the Music Under New York program.^[4]

In December 1988, SST Records released Manning's first self-titled album, which he supported with a tour of North America, crossing the United States two and a half times.^[5][6] In 1990, he hosted the first season of the short-lived syndicated radio program "Soho Natural Sessions."^[7][8]

Since 2001, Manning has made a living as a web designer in New York.^[9] In the mid-2000s, Manning was involved with Pacifica station WBAI in New York City, eventually joining the Pacifica National Board in 2004.^[10]

Discography

• Roger Manning (1988), SST Records
• Missile Foundation (1989), 109 Records — as Joe Folk and the Soho Valley Boys
• Roger Manning (1992), Shimmy Disc
• Short, Sharp, Shook (1992) — "Lefty Bootlegs and Demos: Music, Words and Sounds"
• Roger Manning (1995), Moll-Selekta (Germany); (1997), Shanachie Records (U.S.)
• Chyeah (1998) — as Joe Folk and the Soho Valley Boys
• Roger Manning (2014), Roger Records
• Roger Manning (2015), Roger Records — "make-under" version of Roger Manning (1988)