The Kingsbury Manx are local talent for the most part. Bill and Ryan went to the University of North Carolina. “When we graduated in 1998 we moved to Wilington where Keneth was finishing up”. Kenneth would be prodigal son Kenneth SIngleton who once wrote half of the Man’s songs and is back for Saturday’s concert after leaving the band years ago. “Kenneth mailed off some tapes of four track stuff and we were lucky enough that Howard Greynolds who worked at Thrill Jockey at the time was starting Overcoat Recordings and wanted to record us. He was close to signing Iron And Wine”
The first Kingsbury Manx album was pretty successful but a decision was made to not push the second album “Though we toured a lot behind it” and leave the first album to play itself out, “We didn’t give the second album the press push the first one did” and by the time the third album came out the buzz was a little, er unbuzzed.
The third was a big change. Kenneth left Manx, Manx left Overcoat.Kenneth recorded three songs on the album but recently married in 2003 and living in Boston, he wasn’t there for all of the recording sessions. Ryan continues “At the time there was alot of question as to whether the band was even gonna continue to function or not. But once Kenneth moved back here… he quit and we made two more records as a four piece”.
“We recorded Ascenseur Ouvert in 07,” the album is the Manx’s dreamily beautiful fifth album and Odessa’s first release in April 2009, “but we didn’t have a label at the time, we didn’t have a big budget. We had a little bit of licensing money come in from some TV and movie stuff,. It’s really nice because otherwise I don’t know whay we would have done. We decided to use that to go into the studio and we did it just a week end here and there for several months.” Rocky NYC readers? This is how the business really works, commited craftsmen working in order to work some more.
“We spent all 08 shopping it around and had some nibbles here and there but it didn’t seem it was going anywhere. And in the meantime Paul (Finn, keyboard player)was palling the Odessa Records Label and he asked if we would be interested in doing it with him and it was a no brainer.I knew Paul had what it took to make it a real label and not just make a buncha CDs and store em in his closet.”
If you haven’t heard Kingsbury Manx they are completely outside fashion with a timeless sound that could’ve been recorded thirty years ago or could be recorded in thirty years time. “I guess that’s the best compliment you could give us,” Ryan says.
A couple of hours later I would see Ryan playing bass with Inspector 22 (a completely different sound than Manx) and watching him on stage was yet again by his naturalness and charisma.
An all American musician doing it the right way.