Manafest frustrated by tour cancellation

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Chris Greenwood, aka  Toronto based rap-rocker Manafest is a fighter.
 His fourth CD “Fighter,” says as much.
He was to play the Slice, June 6, unfortunately his entire Canadian tour got canceled, May 30.


“Our whole Canadian tour got cancelled. It’s pretty frustrating,” he said en route to the Los Angles airport to catch a plane  to Washington. He added thManafest is disappointed by the cancellation of his tour. Photo Submittedere were a number of issues related to the cancelation.


“Several of the promoters backed out,” he said, listing just the one reason.


“ And three days ago everything was 100 per cent, now it’s not. It’s the first tour I’ve had to cancel in eight years. So it’s really frustrating,” he said.


“I just got back from Singapore where I was at the Music Matters Conference, then the Los Angeles show, then the Washington show and now I guess I’m going to go home and write,” he said. He said he is working on rescheduling the canceled dates.


 He was looking forward to playing the Slice.
“It’s live music and you can get pizza there, it doesn’t get any better than that,” he said.


At age five, Greenwood’s father committed suicide. Years of childhood insecurity gave way to a promising skateboarding career before an injury once again left Greenwood with a mountain to climb. When he started writing music his life began to change, for the better. He’s sold over 150,000 albums and over 300,000 singles worldwide, has had his music featured in "CSI: Miami" and “One Tree Hill” and is known worldwide for his energetic live show.


He is currently working on a book about the music industry, though he doesn’t know if he will incorporate this latest tour snafu in it.


“It’s about the music business. It’s about all the pitfalls and failures and overcoming them,” he described.


“ All of the chapters have been written. It just needs to be edited and I’m working on layout and design,” he said.
 He is pleased with the response to his latest CD “Fighter.”


“ This is my second rock record. I come from a  really strong hip hop background,” he said adding the songs come from a  very real place.


“This is the first of my CDs with an actual theme.  The first song, ‘Fighter’ is about my dad. I lost him to suicide when I was five. There is a lot of emotional things in it,” he said.


“I remember an interview with Dave Grohl talking about Kurt Cobain’s suicide. Dave said ‘I’m not done yet.’ I’ve got more to do,’” he said.


“It’s about not giving up. it’s about having the perseverance to keep going,” he continued adding he was inspired by the troubles of his friends as well, who were going through divorces.


“So saying it is optimistic is a little steep,” he said.


 So far he has shot four videos for the CD, but  expects to release the fourth single in July.
“In Canada it will probably be ‘Human,’” he said.
 He hasn’t been to Lethbridge for three or four years.


“I think the last time I was there , it was at the Blarney Stone with Moka Only and Choclair,” he continued.

— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 05 June 2012 09:48 )