Vinnie McManus Debuts Solo Show At StoCo Provision

Some of you readers who have been around for a while may remember my interview with Dominic McManus. Fast forward a few years and now his 18 year old son, Vinnie, is stepping into the music spotlight. After a few stints as an opening act, we got to see Vinnie McManus debut his first solo show at StoCo Provision over the weekend. Before his set, Eat Play Rock was able to chat with him about his music goals, who he is listening to now, his hobbies and where he envisions his career taking him.

Vinnie McManus Debuts Solo Show At StoCo Provision

EPR: If I were to get into your CD player, what are you listening to now?

Vinnie: Mainly a lot of alternative rock. Very little bits of country. Just really the country I’ll be playing on the stage. Some of my favorite artists are Arctic Monkeys, Briston Maroney, Backseat Lovers. I listen to a lot of old, psychedelic rock and stuff like that.

EPR: I like Arctic Monkeys a lot.

Vinnie: They are very good. I love their style, everything about them.

EPR: Are you still in school? Or have you graduated?

Vinnie: I’m about to graduate in June.

EPR: I bet you are excited? So what are your plans afterwards?

Vinnie: Just music and work, really.

EPR: So, is music a hobby for you or is it a long term goal?

Vinnie: It started out just as fun. But the more I got into it, the more I started thinking I really could make this like a profession. And now music is the goal.

EPR: Do you want to continue playing country music? Or do you want to more focus more towards the alternative route?

Vinnie: Definitely more towards the alternative. But you know, living in Stokes County, country is one of the main targets you got to hit when you’re playing at a gig.

EPR: That’s true. Personally, I like all kinds of music. I worked in radio for 10 years at a country station, but I like to listen to everything. So when I left there, I started my own thing. Then I could focus on more types of music than country. So you know – there’s Raleigh. There’s Charlotte. How do you feel about driving around to other towns and venues so you can play more of what you love? Or do you want to just kind of keep it local for a while?

Vinnie: I definitely want to keep it for local for a while. But, you know, the more it takes off, the more I’m willing to venture out. At least for the next few weeks, I’ll still be in school. And if I plan on working a job in Greensboro that might restrict me a lot, to plan out [venues] and everything. But I’d definitely say I’ll be staying local for at least maybe another year.

EPR: So this is your first solo gig. Who have you been opening for recently?

Editor’s Note: Dom, Vinnie’s dad, let me know that Vinnie has opened for Billy Creason twice and that Creason is known as the “Hardest Working Man In Country Music” around here. I also got to see Vinnie perform some songs, both solo and with his dad, during a set of Dom’s and Chad Belton’s at StoCo Provision last month.

EPR: If you want to take your focus more to alternative music, who would be your dream collaboration? Local or national act?

Vinnie: It’s kind of a difficult question, honestly. Maybe Briston Maroney. I say this all the time, I’m not a fan of Taylor Swift, but if I was, he would be like the male version of Taylor Swift to me. I love his music and everything he puts out. Either him, or honestly, I’ve been seeing Post Malone get into the alternative scene, and the country scene. He can create various types of music. I heard that new song he worked on with Morgan Wallen.

EPR: So have you ever seen Post Malone?

Vinnie: No, I actually have never been to a concert unless it’s…

EPR: *gasp* You’ve never been to a concert at all?!

Vinnie: Never.

Editor’s Note: Vinnie, tell your dad to get you to a concert. Now. As many concerts as he has played in, there is no excuse for this. *shaking my head*

EPR: I saw Post Malone at Firefly festival a few years ago. He was better in real life. What do you like to do in your free time besides playing music?

Vinnie: I skate[board] a lot. It’s one of my favorite things to do. It’s like a type of workout. You know what I mean? It just makes me feel like a kid again, because you can do really whatever with it. You know what I mean? So skating is definitely my top, top hobby. Other than that, really just playing music and hanging out with some buddies.

EPR: Besides a few weeks ago when I saw you play with your dad, do you guys play together often?

Vinnie: Not a lot. mainly because, after him playing music for so long, it’s something he kind of doesn’t like to do in his free time, which I understand. You get a little burnt out. Whenever I get the chance I have my buddies over and we jam at the house. We got a little jam room set up situation and sometimes when he hears something he really, really likes, he’ll just run downstairs and jump at it.

EPR: You were talking about finding a full time job, as well. What do you think you would like to do?

Vinnie: Just following in my dad’s footsteps. He does environmental testing. And it’s nothing fun, but it’s stable.

EPR: Yeah. It definitely needs to be done. Every job isn’t fun. I mean, if it was fun, we wouldn’t have to be paid to be there. Right? Do you create any of your own music? If so, are you going to play any of that tonight?

Vinnie: I do have one original lined up for tonight. I don’t have a name for it or anything. But you can tell it’s very alternative. And you can see, when I say I like alternative, like Arctic Monkeys, Briston Maroney and Backseat Lovers, you can see that in the music I write. And I wrote dozens of songs. The only problem is, I’ve written so many I forgot most of them.

EPR: You need voice notes or something.

Vinnie: Yeah. That’s what I put mine on. And I really like this song a lot. Particularly, it’s about growing old and realizing everything’s not really as fun as it seems as when you’re a kid.

EPR: I think when we’re kids, we want to be adults so much. Then when we get to be adults, we realize that sometimes adulting really sucks.

Vinnie: And then you want to be a kid again.

EPR: Exactly. How long have you been playing and what inspired you to start?

Vinnie: I think it’s kind of funny that I’m at my first solo gig now. Because the only reason I started playing [guitar], I’ve been singing my whole life…not in front of anybody, but just singing in the shower, when I’m alone, to the radio, my entire life. And the only reason I started playing guitar was because of COVID, really. [I was] at home, bored and went on YouTube and looked up how to play guitar.

EPR: So you didn’t play before that at all? You play pretty well for someone that’s only been playing a couple of years. I mean, I’m definitely not the guitar expert, but it sounds good to me.

Vinnie: You know, it comes from a lot of practice, a lot of practice.

EPR: What do you like better? Do you prefer singing or playing guitar? Or do you prefer both of them together?

Vinnie: I like singing definitely more. But like you said, it’s not the same with out guitar. Because singing is such an intimate thing. It’s very difficult for people to go up in front of a crowd and sing, which it still is difficult for me.

EPR: Are you nervous?

Vinnie: I’m very nervous.

EPR: Well, I’ll share with you a little something. I told you a minute ago I worked as a radio personality for 10 years. I was nervous every single time I got on the air and that never went away. But I just kind of forced myself to do it because I liked the benefits. I like to be in the music community. But I can’t play any instrument, nor do I care to learn. I can’t sing…

Vinnie: But you want to be a part of it.

EPR: Yes! I want to be a part of it. I love going to concerts all the time. I love interviewing artists. I enjoy writing. So this is my way into it. But yeah, like being on the air, made me nervous. Interviewing people makes me nervous. All of it, but I like it. So sometimes you just have to deal with being uncomfortable.

Vinnie: Exactly. It’s for the greater good.

EPR: But hopefully you won’t stay nervous all the time. LeAnn Rimes, if you’re familiar with her, she was especially popular in the 90s and early 2000s, a huge female country artist. She said she was always nervous every time she got onstage. And, to me, she is a phenomenal singer. I would never know it by looking at her.

Vinnie: I believe that. I was speaking to Billy Creason and his band, his drummer Kenny. I was talking to him about it, about my first time opening up for Billy, and he said, “Well, you know what, if you’re nervous, that means you love it.”

EPR: Yeah. Because you’re willing to work through that, to do that thing that you love.

Vinnie: The second you stop being nervous is the second you know, the spark is leaving.

EPR: I think we all have those fears to some extent. I always think that I am going to ask people stupid stuff that they always hear everywhere else. Maybe since I’m one of your first interviews…

Vinnie: Very first.

EPR: Oooh nice. Then I definitely didn’t ask you everything you have already been asked. Perhaps then everyone else can ask you the “stupid stuff.” Not me. Do you think you’ll have your own material, like maybe a physical CD or anything people can purchase in the near future?

Vinnie: I’m definitely hoping so. That is a very, very big goal.

EPR: Well, you have the one song already that you feel strongly about. You’re young, so you have plenty of time. It’s not like you’re 60 and you’re like, let’s start this now. But you can still do that even at 60.

Vinnie: You know, until I can’t pick up a guitar, I plan on playing.

EPR: And the good thing about it is that, in this era that you decided to come into the industry, you don’t have to worry so much about trying to get your music on to a radio station. You’ve got YouTube, you’ve got Spotify. You don’t have to deal so much with one man at a label or a station telling you whether your music is good or not. You can just put it out there and let the audience decide.

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