Biography
Since the early 1980s Barbara Manning has steadily expanded an expansive catalog that marks her as a cornerstone of independent music and one of its most durable, distinctive songwriters. Although she established herself as a solo performer during the 1990s, working with others has remained central to her output; she has belonged to several groups, among them 28th Day and World of Pooh, while also joining forces with fellow indie songwriters and artists oriented toward experimental approaches. Her material fuses the directness of folk with the unpredictability of punk, supplying a template that later influenced a generation of jagged indie acts including Elliott Smith and Liz Phair. Manning’s habit of moving among projects, bands, and pseudonyms sometimes rendered her path difficult to follow, yet she stayed productive after the prolific 1990s by leading the Go-Luckys! throughout the 2000s and continuing with assorted live appearances and recording ventures. Although the 1999 album In New Zealand remained her final full-length studio release issued under her own name, she periodically shared fresh songs online and, in 2023, issued the compilation Charm of Yesterday Convenience of Tomorrow, which gathered covers alongside assorted solo recordings.
Born in San Diego, California, in 1964, Manning was already playing guitar and rehearsing vocals with her sister during her early teenage years. While attending college in the early 1980s she joined 28th Day, a jangly outfit associated with the Paisley Underground; the band issued a self-titled EP before disbanding in 1986, the year Manning moved to San Francisco, although its complete recordings stayed unreleased while the members pursued separate paths. Soon after settling in the Bay Area she entered World of Pooh and simultaneously began writing and tracking her own material. The songs she captured quickly in 1986 became her 1988 solo debut, Lately I Keep Scissors, which she had originally viewed as lo-fi demo sketches. As the decade turned, World of Pooh adopted the name the San Francisco Seals; Manning divided her attention among the group, solo releases such as the 1991 album One Perfect Green Blanket, and more unconventional experiments with noise artist Seymour Glass in the duo Glands of External Secretion. The San Francisco Seals signed with Matador, issued two albums on the label, and dissolved in 1996. Manning persisted as a solo artist for the remainder of the 1990s, earning recognition for her skill in selecting striking covers, notably her version of the Verlaines’ “Joed Out,” which appeared on the 1993 major-label alternative-rock compilation No Alternative. Also in 1993 she released Barbara Manning Sings with the Original Artists, a collaboration with Young Marble Giants’ Stuart Moxham and the Mekons’ Jon Langford. By the middle and late 1990s she had become a familiar presence in indie circles, regularly sharing bills with kindred acts such as Pavement, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, and the Replacements. In 1995 she supplied lead vocals for “San Diego Zoo,” the opening track on Wasp’s Nest, the debut album by the 6ths, a project led by Magnetic Fields songwriter Stephin Merritt that featured a different vocalist on nearly every song. In 1997 she traveled to New Zealand and recorded extensively with members of the Bats, the Clean, Tall Dwarfs, the Verlaines, and other figures from the country’s close-knit indie-rock community, enlisting their input on new compositions. Those sessions eventually surfaced in 1999 as Barbara Manning in New Zealand, while her solo album 1212 appeared on Matador that same year. Manning relocated to Germany at the close of the 1990s and there formed the Go-Luckys!, who recorded several albums between 2000 and 2003. She returned to California before the decade ended and briefly performed with the Sleaze Tax while occasionally tracking solo material, portions of which surfaced for streaming in 2016 under the title Chico Daze. During a stretch when live performances grew less frequent, Manning assembled stray singles, miscellaneous tracks, and other scattered pieces into various compilations. Among them, the 2023 release Charm of Yesterday Convenience of Tomorrow arrived ahead of a tour with Codeine and combined selections from Chico Daze with covers she recorded early in the COVID-19 pandemic, including interpretations of songs by Galaxie 500, Bob Dylan, and additional artists. After moving to Los Angeles, Manning entered a fresh stage of activity, resuming live shows and resuming songwriting after several years away from the practice.
Born in San Diego, California, in 1964, Manning was already playing guitar and rehearsing vocals with her sister during her early teenage years. While attending college in the early 1980s she joined 28th Day, a jangly outfit associated with the Paisley Underground; the band issued a self-titled EP before disbanding in 1986, the year Manning moved to San Francisco, although its complete recordings stayed unreleased while the members pursued separate paths. Soon after settling in the Bay Area she entered World of Pooh and simultaneously began writing and tracking her own material. The songs she captured quickly in 1986 became her 1988 solo debut, Lately I Keep Scissors, which she had originally viewed as lo-fi demo sketches. As the decade turned, World of Pooh adopted the name the San Francisco Seals; Manning divided her attention among the group, solo releases such as the 1991 album One Perfect Green Blanket, and more unconventional experiments with noise artist Seymour Glass in the duo Glands of External Secretion. The San Francisco Seals signed with Matador, issued two albums on the label, and dissolved in 1996. Manning persisted as a solo artist for the remainder of the 1990s, earning recognition for her skill in selecting striking covers, notably her version of the Verlaines’ “Joed Out,” which appeared on the 1993 major-label alternative-rock compilation No Alternative. Also in 1993 she released Barbara Manning Sings with the Original Artists, a collaboration with Young Marble Giants’ Stuart Moxham and the Mekons’ Jon Langford. By the middle and late 1990s she had become a familiar presence in indie circles, regularly sharing bills with kindred acts such as Pavement, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, and the Replacements. In 1995 she supplied lead vocals for “San Diego Zoo,” the opening track on Wasp’s Nest, the debut album by the 6ths, a project led by Magnetic Fields songwriter Stephin Merritt that featured a different vocalist on nearly every song. In 1997 she traveled to New Zealand and recorded extensively with members of the Bats, the Clean, Tall Dwarfs, the Verlaines, and other figures from the country’s close-knit indie-rock community, enlisting their input on new compositions. Those sessions eventually surfaced in 1999 as Barbara Manning in New Zealand, while her solo album 1212 appeared on Matador that same year. Manning relocated to Germany at the close of the 1990s and there formed the Go-Luckys!, who recorded several albums between 2000 and 2003. She returned to California before the decade ended and briefly performed with the Sleaze Tax while occasionally tracking solo material, portions of which surfaced for streaming in 2016 under the title Chico Daze. During a stretch when live performances grew less frequent, Manning assembled stray singles, miscellaneous tracks, and other scattered pieces into various compilations. Among them, the 2023 release Charm of Yesterday Convenience of Tomorrow arrived ahead of a tour with Codeine and combined selections from Chico Daze with covers she recorded early in the COVID-19 pandemic, including interpretations of songs by Galaxie 500, Bob Dylan, and additional artists. After moving to Los Angeles, Manning entered a fresh stage of activity, resuming live shows and resuming songwriting after several years away from the practice.
Albums
Singles
