Jack Mancor: Press

"Jack Mancor is the quintessential 'one man band'...a troubadour who plays a plethora of instruments, writes in an earhty blend of folk/roots styles and sings in a voice made for the genre..."

" Jack is very much in the tradition of Woody Guthrie, very political songs, great lyrics and great sentiments..."

Jack Mancor- Looking For Something,
Matthew Hirtes Jun 4 2006, 07:19 PM Post #1


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Jack Mancor
Looking For Something...

Our Rating: 88 out of 100

A mechanical fitter by day, night-time sees Jack Mancor metamorphose into an Antipodean version of Billy Bragg. Currently he´s travelling his native Australia with his wife and young daughter, performing at, in his own words, "folk festivals, pubs, folk clubs and camp fires along the way." It´s no great surprise then to discover that Mancor´s debut album Looking for Something recalls the Bard of Barking´s collaboration with Wilco on [i]Mermaid Avenue which saw Bragg and Jeff Tweedy join forces to write music to lyrics left by Woody Guthrie.

A Melbourne-born self-taught songwriter and folk musician Jack plays acoustic guitar, steel guitar, mandolin, harmonica, spoons and foot percussion. As well as resembling Bragg interpretating Guthrie, he sounds like what the Handsome Family´s Brett Sparks would do if he embarked on a solo project. When Mancor puts his trusty, old harmonica to his lips, though, he´s Bob Dylan.

Along with his expert musicianship, what impresses is Jack´s lyrics. Like Bragg, he´s an artist with a conscience. Witness the lines from ´Fisherman´s Boy: "They got us boys from the Phillipines and we work the ships like slaves of the seven seas" and from ´One Step Forward´: "If they were smart bombs they wouldn´t fall at all and if they did they´d turn into schools and hospitals." Looks like the protest singers´ union just got itself another member.

Matthew Hirtes

For more information: http://www.jackmancor.com/

JACK MANCOR

Melbourne-born Jack Mancor is the quintessential one-man band; a self-taught troubadour who plays a plethora of instruments, stopping his endless travel only to write and record his earthy blend of contemporary folk/roots styles.



“I am drawn to write songs about things that move me, that affect what I am, what we are - that affect people in this big brown land that is becoming more like America,” Mancor says of his inspirations.

“I am inspired by real people, by real stories, by the living, not the longing. The people that have inspired me are first and foremost Woody Guthrie, but also Bruce Springsteen, Townes Van Zandt, Billy Bragg, Guy Clarke, Rory McLeod… and many others along the road, from the gypsy poets to campfire pickers.”

But life on the road as a lone ranger ain’t always what it’s cracked up to be.

“I would love to put together a band, but the logistics and economics…” Mancor laments. “See, we live on the road: my wife, my three-year-old girl… we travel, work and play music. This is our life. We stay somewhere and cash-up for a few months, line up our own gigs down the road and then hit the road and follow the calendar that we have made for ourselves.

“This time around we have been on the road 10 months and [have] travelled through Victoria, ACT, New South Wales and Queensland. Now [we’re] on the return trip south. Over the next few weeks I will be playing in the Brisbane area.

“I’m looking forward to performing at some cool venues, as apposed to pubs where the only time people clap is when their horse wins in race five! The pubs do pay the bills, though, and you definitely get something out of it that you don’t get any other way.”

Jack Mancor plays The Alley Bar Wednesday Sep 20, Mad Ass Folk Club, Woolloongabba Thursday Sep 21, and the Tongue & Groove Friday Sep 22.