At a very early age Todd Mankin could be found belting out his parents favorites like Waylon Jennings, Bob Wills, The Oak Ridge Boys, Buddy Holly, Willie Nelson, and Townes Van Zandt. The son of an auto mechanics teacher and a stay at home mom, Todd still understood the power of music at an early age. He grew up in choir at school and singing at the Church of Christ that he attended. Many categorize Mankin as one of those artists that are simply natural born performers, but it is not wise limit him by category. Todd Mankin was born in Lubbock, Texas and after his adolescent years and during High School he worked odd jobs in local auto shops and figured that he would follow his father's footsteps and become some sort of mechanic. One day while working in the local Chevrolet dealership a friend of Todd's father came in to have his pick up truck worked on. Todd knowing that the guy was a local musician seized this opportunity and traded some labor and parts for a 1972 Takamine guitar. He always had a love and deep passion for music, but never really saw himself writing, playing an instrument, or especially performing live in front of an audience. After High School Todd began listening to some of the Texas Music greats like Jerry Jeff Walker, Joe Ely, Robert Earl Keen, and was a huge Jack Ingram fan. In 2000, Todd moved to the Fort Worth area where he befriended a small running crowd of rabid "Texas Music" fans. After spending a year in the Fort Worth area Todd transferred to Houston, TX with the job that he was working at the time. It seemed though that anywhere he went that this "Texas Music" thing had really caught on and people everywhere were talking about it. Finally one day in late 2001, Mankin decided to pull out that old guitar that he had traded work for and learn a few chords from a Mel Bay book that a friend had loaned him. He picked up guitar fairly quickly and within about three months was playing at local open mic jams. After spending a little over a year in Houston, he packed up and headed back to Fort Worth, where he was a regular at all of the live Texas Music venues. Mankin befriended The Mike Mancy Band and before he knew it was on the road acting as a road manager and selling merchandise. This gave Mankin the opportunity to be in front of the "who's who" in the Texas/Red Dirt scene and he found himself lost in the music, the life, and the ways of the road. Mankins younger brother, Jeff, also worked with bands such as Mike Mancy, Cooder Graw, Charlie Shafter and a few others before being tragically killed in a boating accident in June of 2005; and this is where Todd got his inspiration. His younger brother had many times pushed on him to start his own band. Jeff saw Todd's passion for the music and the business and believed that he could do it, not just do it, but put his heart in it and soul into it and pour it out onto the people that would listen. Todd soon formed what was to be called Todd Mankin & El Guapo. The name stemmed from a nickname that Todd was given by the guys in the band Cooder Graw. It has since evolved to just plainly the Todd Mankin Band and they are electrifying audiences all over Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. From Bruce Springsteen to Johnny Cash, to Tom Petty and Kris Kristofferson, Mankin's emerging style blends diverse elements of blues, country, and soulful rock into cohesive, vocal driven performances. His abilities earned the immediate respect of then "up and coming" peers and other cohorts of the revitalizing Texas and Red Dirt circuits. In 2008, both fans and industry took good notice of the Todd Mankin Band after they completed the debut album "June Time," which was recorded and mixed in Dallas, TX. This is just the beginning, as the debut cement's Mankin's following with the single "The Sail". The 2009 touring schedule is filling up and the single "The Sail" hit radio in January. Armed with a good ear, amazingly diverse and unusual vocal range and charismatic wit Mankin's soulful shows are infused with a high energy and uplifting quality with brand of heavy emotion. You can't help but be moved by the lyrics and melodic riffs. Mankin's soulful vocals can draw a crowd to an open mouth level of mezmorization and have them hanging on the edge wandering what's next. At 32 years old, Todd Mankin now performs at top festivals and venues across Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma sharing bills with renowned acts like Bruce Robison, Cooder Graw, Kevin Fowler, Roger Creager, Tommy Alverson, The Bellamy Brothers, Reckless Kelly, Cory Morrow and others. With a band that includes Matt Bashore (drums), Chris Kofnovek (bass), Chris Stuart (guitar) and Danny Najvar (pedal steel, mandolin, dobro); Mankin and crew are poised for what is on the horizon to come. The music is undeniably inside of Todd Mankin, but he's the type of artist that doesn't have to point it out to you, his belief in the music is strong enough that it just powers through transparently and his passion, burning sincerity, and love of the music is evident when it overtakes you as a listener. Stay tuned as the Todd Mankin Band journeys on sharing their "Music from Texas".... Kevin "Rock" Williams - former DJ - 95.9 The Ranch/Cooder Graw Instrumentation Todd Mankin - Lead Vocals, Rythm Guitar Chris Stuart - Guitars, Vocals Danny Najvar - Pedal Steel, Mandolin, Dobro Matt Bashore - Drums, Percussion Chris Kofnovek - Bass Guitar Discography The Todd Mankin band recently released(January 27th, 2009) their freshman effort, debut CD titled "June Time" and is currently on a radio tour to promote the first single off of the album which is titled "The Sail". The band has also been featured on 95.9 The Ranch in Fort Worth, TX, where they appeared on two of the station's artist spotlight shows and Chuck Taylor's Ranch Roadhouse live show from Billy Bobs. Also, most recently they have been spotlighted on the TMTR Internet radio stations Texas Music Show, which is syndicated on 72 different AM/FM stations across the United States.