Mediocre Juggler

 Michael David McManis has been knockin’ around a long long time. He once chased his brother on horseback alongside a freight train on a cobblestone road. He may or may not have saved his brother’s life, depending on who you ask. His music is made out of rocks and gravel and dirt. The Earth. He played in a band called Ghost October the eighties. Played bass guitar for another band called The Rooks in the early 90's, sang a little bit too. Wrote a lot of poetry over the years. Took a stab at leading a normal life and came to the conclusion that there is nothing normal about it.

     Listened. Played music as a kid. Introduced to folk music at an early age. Tried magic tricks and ventriloquism. Rock and roll too.  Listened to religious radio dramas late night on the radio. Found and fell in love with record collections and books from various relatives especially his uncle Ted.

    Those early records consisted of Chuck Berry, The Shirelles, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Doors.  

   Played trombone for a while and listened to a lot of marching band music and Sousa. Jazz too. Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller. Sang a lot of songs too. Gospel Hymns. Sinatra, Cole, Elvis. Lou Reed and Louis Armstrong.

   Thought he discovered the source of life when he first heard Talking Heads. Midnight Oil. The Police. The Pogues. REM.  Wrote a few songs stories and poems. Had a girlfriend. Got married. That didn’t work out. Got married again. That didn’t work out either.  Realized Bob Dylan was right. Keep on keepin’ on.

     Tried everything else but making music for a long time.  That didn’t work out either. Thought about it again. Yep, Bob Dylan was right.  So was Woody Guthrie. So was Cisco Houston, Leadbelly too. Joan Baez. Judy and Jim and Joni and Hank.

    Studied up on guitar and harmonica.  Will pick up the odd banjo or bass guitar or piano when suitable.  Still walking on rocks and gravel. Any mountain, beach or highway will do.