Jonathan Maness Archives - Bluegrass Today

Matching funds available for Richard Cifersky

We received a note from Slovak banjo player Richard Cifersky, asking us to share a message about his indiegogo campaign to help him raise the funds necessary to obtain a VISA to live in the United States as a working musician. Filing and attorney fees are estimated to run $5000, and Richard is hoping that his many friends in the US will chip in enough to crowdsource these costs.

The reason he asked us to share this note today is the fact that matching funds are available until September 25 for anyone who makes a donation.

“Hey everybody, I’ve been working hard raising money for my Musician’s Working Visa. I just got back from a great tour in Ireland, with my band Bill Faster. I spent two weeks with a good friend and colleague (from Bill Faster) painting his house. I also have been playing with Natural Fusion (a duet project with amazing guitarist Peter Luha).

But I don’t want to let my indiegogo campaign fall by the wayside. I have raised only 1/4th of the funds needed to renew my O-1 VISA for three years. To give this campaign a jumpstart, my dear friend and VISA sponsor, Jonathan Maness (of WestWend and Anteflow Records, Inc.), has agreed to match, dollar for dollar, any contributions made for a week, up to $500! This means, with your help, we can raise an additional $1000 for my indiegogo campaign this week!

If you are considering making a donation, now is the time to do it, because for this week only, any funds you contribute will be doubled. This opportunity began on Tuesday, September 15th and will end on Friday September 25th. Please consider helping me realize my dream of playing music professionally in the United States. Great artists like WestWend, and businesses like Jonathan’s Anteflow Records, are waiting to put my talents to good use in the American music industry, and you can help!”

Help make a humble banjo pickers dream come true… if you can. Richard will surely be deeply appreciative of donations of any size.

Congratulations Jonathan and Wendy Maness

A family that sings together, stays together. Isn’t that what they say?

Well that’s how newlyweds Jonathan Maness and Wendy Crowe met and became close – through music. The pair sing and play together as WestWend, and were married earlier this month. Maness is a seasoned grasser, having worked previously worked with Dixie Bee-Liners, Mountain Soul and Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike. Now, he’s working as a duo with Wendy, and bringing her into the bluegrass way.

Jonathan and Wendy were married on August 7, 2013 in a simple rustic ceremony at the historic Primitive Baptist Church in Cades Cove, located within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in East Tennessee. They exchanged vows they had written themselves, surrounded by family and close friends.

Congratulations to both of you from Bluegrass Today!

Introducing WestWend

A pair of East Tennessee grassers, Wendy Crowe and Jonathan Maness, have joined forces in a new group called WestWend.

The two met by chance at a radio show in 2011, just as Wendy was set to start work on a debut recording. Discussions led to Jonathan signing on to produce, and they enjoyed working together so well in the studio that plans were quickly hatched to start performing together as a duo.

Maness has a long history in bluegrass, while Crowe is a more recent convert. Jonathan grew up the son of a mixed marriage; one of his parents was a classical pianist, the other a bluegrass banjo player. After earning a degree in guitar performance and recording arts, he began touring with groups like Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, Mountain Soul and Dixie Bee-Liners.

Wendy got started in music as an acoustic country artist, writing and performing her own music in and around Knoxville. She and Jonathan clicked instantly as collaborative musicians, and they plan to tour now as a band, including many of the sessions players who worked on her 2012 release, The Way I Am.

Maness has a new CD of his own, Time, Love, and Money, and these two projects will serve as the band’s repertoire moving forward, both working duet shows, and in a full ensemble with stellar sidemen like Bryn Davies, Andy Wood, Matt Leadbetter, and Richard Cifersky.

Here are a couple of samples from Crowe’s album. First up is Muddy River, written by Wendy with Amanda Thomas.

This one is Let Me Be the One, written by Susan Rose.

A WestWend album is in the works for 2013, featuring songs Maness and Crowe have written together. You can keep track of their endeavors online.