The Kingsbury Manx

Chapel Hill, NC's own crazy diamonds, The Kingsbury Manx, made a splash with their seemingly out-of-nowhere eponymous debut in 2000. The original members of The Kingsbury Manx met in middle school, but attended different colleges. They reunited during the summer months to play and record together. One of their demos caught the ear of Chicago-based label Overcoat Recordings, who issued their debut self-titled album in 2000. Despite very little promotional effort from the label, the album became a cult success, including recognition in UK music magazine NME's Top 50 of 2000. A second LP (Let You Down) followed in 2001 and a third album and EP (Aztec Discipline,Afternoon Owls) in 2003. The band has toured with many indie bands of note including The Sea and Cake, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Iron And Wine, The Pernice Brothers, The New Pornographers, Calexico, Steven Malkmus, Clinic, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, and Brightblack Morning Light. Over the last few years, there have been a couple lineup changes with original members Kenneth Stephenson and Scott Myers leaving while adding Clarque Blomquist and Paul Finn. In 2005, the group split with Overcoat and signed to Yep Roc, who released The Fast Rise and Fall of the South. The Kingsbury Manx are currently finishing up the recording of their fifth full-length album, which will be available in 2008. Current members * Bill Taylor (guitar/vocals/various) * Ryan Richardson (drums/vocals/bass/various) * Clarque Blomquist (bass/drums/various/vocals) * Paul Finn (keys/vocals/various) Former members * Kenneth Stephenson (guitar/vocals) * Scott Myers (bass/keyboards)