Jacquie Manning: Vocals, guitar, tin whistle, flute, bodhran, percussion, mandolin

Jacquie grew up in North Aurora, IL. She will tell you her real musical training began singing around Girl Scout campfires.   She bumped into the Chicago folk scene in 1976 and got hooked, becoming a regular performer at legendary (and now defunct) Chicago clubs like The Earl of Old Town, Somebody Else's Troubles, and Holsteins, and opening shows for folk legends like Steve Goodman and Bob Gibson.  She's played Celtic music, rock and roll, and country.  She was a stage performer at Renaissance Faires for ten years, where her influence can still be seen on newer performers. She is one of only a handful of singers who possesses both technique and a tremendous range of emotion, she sings a song. Her voice is uniquely her own, strong and deeply expressive. "I think of my voice as my favorite instrument...(though I kind of like the nose flute, too)."

 
Rich grew up in Fort Lee, NJ., he believes he may be the only person in his home town who can yodel.  He says he wore out a lot of records and a few turntables listening and learning anything from Bill Monroe to the Allman Brothers.  He has played blues, country, folk, and rock in no particular order as a solo and in both acoustic and electric bands.  He studied classical guitar and composition, and worked for five years as a jingle writer in Chicago, writing music for Cap'n Crunch Cereal, Gatorade, and Domino's Pizza,  among others. He has gained a reputation as a songwriter and as a "guitar whiz" for his multi-styled approach to the instrument (a label he says he'll only accept when the endorsements start rolling in) and has participated in workshops with players like Steve Kaufmann and Pat Kirtley, and Stephen Bennett. 
 

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