Mike Mangione, born near Chicago, creates music that speaks to the masses in a brutally honest tone. His constant dedication to the audience and the art of live performance has been the underlying impetus behind his latest release, Tenebrae, and the subsequent, ongoing tour.
Much of Tenebrae was recorded live to give it a dynamic, organic air. Mangione is concerned as much with composition as he is with sonic textures. As a result, there is a beautiful, yet haunting undertone throughout the record that balances content with form
Mangione and his band have received favorable press from all corners of the country, including the cover of M Magazine in Milwaukee and Pick of the Week from New York Magazine. Some other highlights
“a phenomenally great album” - Indie Launchpa
One of the best local releases of 2007 – Illinois Entertaine
“a definite must have for any fan of folk and Indie music genres.”
-Indie Music Sto
“’You Don’t Wanna Leave’ could be the perfect tune for the impending autumn weather. Its honey richness sticks in your head, and made me smile from the moment I first heard the opening melody.
– I Am Fuel, You Are Friend
Mangione and his band average over 150 shows per year including such notable performances as Summerfest, SXSW, Folk Alliance, Midwest Music Summit, Folk Allience and Chicago’s Mobfest. Recently, the band has been invited to perform at World Youth Day Festival (the largest youth festival in the world) in Sydney, Australia in July 2008.
In November, the band appeared for a full hour performance on Sirius
Satellite’s Busted Halo. In addition, the band has performed on Chicago’s nationally syndicated WGN News at Noon and is a recurring guest on Milwaukee’s NBC affiliate, Today’s TMJ4
Mangione recently teamed up with animation artist Grey Gerling to produce the award winning music video for It’s Me, Not You – the #1 video on Newgrounds, racking in 50,000 views.
The entire album has been licensed for use in upcoming seasons of multiple MTV shows such as Road Rules, Human Giant, My Super Sweet 16, and The Hills. The Oxygen Network licensed the entire album for use in their upcoming season of Bad Girls Club, as well as the Lifetime Network for use in their brand new show American Psychic
Burger King recently licensed the track It’s Me, Not You for their new late night drive-thru campaign beginning at the conclusion of this year.
After the release of his first album, There and Back, which charted at an astounding #16 on CMJ, Mangione was awarded the prestigious ASCAP Plus Award for the 2nd year in a row. With Tenebrae already enjoying a soft release on the internet, and reaching #9 on the Euro Americana Charts for January, Mangione has his sights set to top these achievements in 2008.