Drawing inspiration from a fascinating lifetime of musical experiences and the synergy of many of his talented longtime musical compadres, singer, songwriter and harmonica veteran Manuel Bruce (pronounced Broo-say) presents Manuel Is Back With Friends--an eclectic 13-track collection of vocals and instrumentals, originals and creatively arranged cover tunes that draws from numerous stylistic wells: folk/Americana, South American music and the classic rock he grew up on. 

While it is Manuel’s fifth album overall, it’s the first time he’s worked with this brilliant ensemble of musicians and marks the first recorded collaboration between him and 30 year musical veteran Alejandro Diaz, his frequent collaborator of the past five years who plays guitar, mandolin and other stringed instruments. 

While he currently divides his time between homes in Fairbanks, Alaska and Tucson, Arizona, Manuel has a colorful history of performing for several years in Peru and later Bolivia, where he became something of a minor celebrity in La Paz and became the warm up act for—and later contributed a song to—the famous Bolivian group Los Payas. He later toured the U.S. with internationally renowned Bolivian charango artist Ernesto Cavour. There’s no song that sounds like the typical Andean piece on Manuel Is Back With Friends, but Caraparicito and La Lechera are typical of the tropical Bolivian Taquirari. Returning to Fairbanks after an extended time in South America, he helped create the Fairbanks Folk Festival (which has run for over 20 years) and formed several Latin music groups, including a Bolivian style quartet called Toyos which recorded two albums of Bolivian and Peruvian music.