Roger Joseph Manning, Jr.

Vocalist, songwriter, and keyboard player Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. became a cult hero as a member of the bands Jellyfish and Imperial Drag, and later moved on to a celebrated solo career and an impressive resumé as a sideman. Manning's music is lovingly steeped in sounds of the past, particularly psychedelic pop of the 1960s and power pop and glam rock of the '70s, building songs from those ingredients that sound fresh and exciting. His albums with Jellyfish (1990's Bellybutton and 1993's Spilt Milk) impressed critics and fans with their canny blend of classic sounds and modern outlooks, and he continued to conjure past-is-present tunes on solo efforts like 2006's The Land of Pure Imagination and 2023's Radio Daze & Glamping (the latter combined newly recorded songs with tracks from the independently released 2020 EP Glamping).