In anticipation of my new album coming out this Thursday, I dropped the title track today. It's a road trip song about friendship, adventure and life in a van with nowhere to be... nothing but time and the open road.

click image to Listen on spotify

Big thanks to all the DJs and Radio Stations for Playing my new batch of Songs!

Running Blind Album out 3/23/23!

1 week pre-release Running Blind Album hits #15 on the Alt. Country Specialty Chart 

https://daily.plaympe.com/triple-a-top-20-download-march-17th-2023/

Happy Valentine's Day!

XOXO

It's been a few years.  Strange ones indeed.

I'm still alive and well and making a joyful noise.

So without further ado.

Here's the first taste from the the new album - Running Blind.  

It comes out 3/23/23

Till then, here's a little tune.

Singer/Songwriter JJ McManus’s fifth White Owl Red studio album, Running Blind is set for release March 23, 2023.  Fourteen new songs that cover more ground than a road trip down Route 66. 

https://whiteowlred.com/single/23624/2am-christmas-eve (full version) 

https://whiteowlred.com/single/23874/2am-christmas-eve-radio-edit  (short) 

White Owl Red 
2am Christmas Eve 

Impacting 
November 16th, 2020 

Format(s): Americana, Non-Commercial, NPR 

Time for holiday music! 

A new song that pierces your heart with that dreamy Christmas feeling. 

Timeless and memorable as John Prine or Charles Dickens. 

Put this on your holiday playlists now!

Also Available in a Radio Edit short version for shorter attention spans!

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/music/newmusicMay282020.html 

Country  

White Owl Red  
Afterglow (Independent)  

J.J. McManus (a.k.a. White Owl Red) is now four albums into his musical recordings career and it’s worth explaining why his work has been credited for being "better alt-country music.  

Afterglow has heart and it has power. McManus delivers the kind of songs that resonate of a thoughtful life, and those feelings are crafted into songs with meaning and even playfulness. There is no forcing of the moods here, either. The musicianship is of the highest quality and the group McManus has engaged for his albums (Kyle Caprista, drums, Gawain Mathews, guitars, and backing vocals by Leah Tysee, Tonia Smith and Sage Gray) are outstanding.  

The opening title track is essentially horrific in its subject matter, a sombre tale of abuse and death, yet in the hands of McManus and crew, the leisurely rhythm and sweet musical hooks draw you in. I Walk The Line For You is an idiosyncratic homage to Johnny Cash’s love for his wife, June Carter, and here McManus modulates his own appealing vocals just enough to sound like the Man In Black.  

The rollicking Out on the Waters offers a country and Celtic swagger that rolls along, buoyed by a snappy beat, accordion and mandolin. There’s some humour shot through the organ-charged Tip Top Bob’s, wherein one regular patron of the titular, off-the-beaten-track watering hole advises another "don’t bring a knife to a gunfight" and "don’t piss off Red when he’s feeling blue."  

The drifting country/folk of The Way I Feel would have been a perfect fit for Gregg Allman to sing on his way to the great gig in the sky. Always the worker’s union supporter, McManus delivers a worthy partner to Union Fight Song from his 2019 album, Existential Frontiers, with the dutiful and insightful Working Class Heroes.  

Afterglow proves once again that McManus can create beauty from the residue of his life experiences and supply the kind of emotional immediacy that makes for a cool listen. ★★★★ out of five  

STREAM THESE: Through is Through, Tip Top Bob’s  

— Jeff Monk

Thank You! Now over 135+ Radio Stations are broadcasting the songs of Afterglow!

Undercurrents Radion (Syndicated), Out Of The Woods Radio (Syndicated),WYAP 101.7 FM (West Virginia), WXPR-FM, 40 Up Radio(Netherlands), 920 WON The Apple, Alternative Roots, B.R.U.M. FM (UK), Americana Boogie Radio (Santa Rosa), Americana Garage – WRFG 89.3 FM (Atlanta), Blow Up Radio (New Jersey), Blueprint, RTV 1 FM (Dutch), Blues & Friends RTV Baarn FM, (Dutch), Blues'N'Roots Corner Radio Duivenstraat (Dutch), Bonanza Midtfjord FM (Danish), Boston Free Radio (Bumps Radio), Boudin Barndance (WRIU), CJMP 90.1 FM (British Columbia), Country & Co Radio Aria 99.6 (France), Daz In The Hat (UK), Delta Rhythm Havenstad FM (Dutch radio), Eine Kleine Weltmusik Radio ZuSa, (Germany), Folkal Point (UK syndicated radio), Gonzo's Return 40UP FM (Dutch), Harky In English (Dutch syndicated radio), Highway 61 Radio Voce Spazio FM (Italy), Hillbilly Jukebox Radio Rheinwelle (German), Homelands Radio, KAFM, KALH 90.5 FM (New Mexico), KAXE-FM, KBFT, KBOG 97.9 FM (Oregon), KCAW, KCHW 102.7 FM (Washington), KDHX-FM (Interstate), KDWS, KEBF, KFAI, KFAI, KFCF, KGIG 104.9 FM (California), KGLP, KGLT, KHNS-FM, KHOI 89.1 FM (Iowa), KMUD, KMUN, KNON, KNSJ, KOWS, Blue Moon Americana KOWS 92.5, KPHD 93.3 FM (California), KRCB-FM, KRVM, KSJD, KSMF-FM Jefferson Pub Radio, KSQD, KUMD, KUPR, KUWR-FM (HD3), KVMR-FM, KVNF-FM, KVRF, KVRZ  88.9 FM (Montana), KXCR 90.7 FM (Oregon), KYUK, KZFR, KZMU, KZRJ, Landslide RTV Purmerend FM (Dutch), lta Rhythm Havenstad FM (Dutch), Mojo Alt 94.1 FM Radio 2 (Macedonia), Mystery Train Ascolta P.N.R. FM (Italy), NOLA County Radio (WHIV), Ocean Beach Radio (Orgegon), Paul van Gelder (Dutch syndicated radio), Planete Indie (Belgium syndicated radio), PT's Roadhouse (BC Canada), Radio Djerdan, Radio ZuSa FM 95.5, 89.7 and 88.0 and www.zusa.de (Northern Germany), Roots Revival Radio FM Goud, (Belgium), Shout Radio, Songriver RTB ijsselmond FM (Netherlands), Sugar Country Radio, Sword Radio (UK), The Global Community Radio (stream service for radio stations), The Global Voice, The Overflow, (UK syndicated radio/website), WATD-FM, WCNI, WCNI-FM Twisted Roots, WEJP 107.1 FM (West Virginia), WERU-FM, WESU, WFCS, WFPK-FM Roots N Boots, WGXC 90.7 FM (New York), WHAY-FM, WHIV-FM (Nola County - New Orleans), WHPW 97.3 FM (Maine), WICN, WIIT, WITR, WITR 89.7, WLSL 92.7 FM (Florida), WLUW Razor & Di Show, WLVR-FM, WMNB 107.1 (Massachusetts), WMNF, WMOT-FM, WNCI-FM, WNCW-FM, WNEC 91.7FM New Hampshire, WNHN 94.7 FM (New Hampshire), WNPA 102.5 FM (Ohio), WNRN-FM Country Feedback, WODU, WOMR, WOTR 96.3 FM (West Virginia), WQRR, WRAQ 92.7 FM (New York), WRIR Lost Saloon Music, WRRG, WRST (Wisconsin), WSCA, WSCS 90.9 FM (New Hampshire), WSOE, WSSE Online, WTIP, WUKY-FM, WVTF-FM, WXDR 98.9 FM (Louisiana), WXHR 103.5 FM (Michigan), WXOU, WXPR-FM, You Haven't Heart this Music Podcast