Todd Mankin, born in Lubbock, Texas to an auto mechanic’s teacher and a stay at home mom understood the power of music at an early age. As a child he would be heard belting out his parent’s favorites like Waylon Jennings, Bob Wills, The Oak Ridge Boys, Buddy Holly, Willie Nelson and so on. He grew up singing in the school choir and at the Church of Christ his family attended. Many categorize Mankin as one of those artists that are simply natural born performers, but should not be limited to that label.
After his adolescent years and during High School Todd worked odd jobs in local auto shops and figured that he would follow his father’s footsteps and become some sort of auto mechanic. One day, while working at a local car dealership a friend of his father came in to have his car worked on. Knowing that his father's friend was a local musician Mankin seized this opportunity and traded some labor and parts for a 1972 Takamine guitar. He had a love and deep passion for music that started at birth, but never really saw himself playing guitar, writing or especially performing live in front of an audience. After High School he began listening to some of the Texas Music greats like Jerry Jeff Walker, Joe Ely and Robert Earl Keen. In 2000 Mankin 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 he 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 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. That’s where he 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.
Mankin's 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; 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 the Todd Mankin Band.
From Bruce Springsteen to Johnny Cash, to Tom Petty and Kris Kristofferson, Mankin’s emerging style blends elements of blues, country, and soulful rock into cohesive, vocal driven performances. The band’s abilities have earned the immediate respect of other “up and coming” peers and other cohorts of the revitalizing Texas and Red Dirt circuits. On February 10, 2009 fans and industry took note at the official release of the debut album, ”June Time”. This is just the beginning, as the debut cement’s Mankin’s following with the single “The Sail”.
Armed with a good ear, amazingly diverse and unusual vocal range and charismatic wit the Todd Mankin Band’s soulful shows are infused with a high energy and uplifting quality with a 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 memorization and have them hanging on the edge curious to see and hear what is next.
Todd Mankin Band now performs at top festivals and venues across Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma sharing bills with renowned acts like Bruce Robison, Cooder Graw, Kevin Fowler, Bleu Edmondson, Roger Creager, Charlie Robison, Jason Boland, Tommy Alverson, The Bellamy Brothers, Reckless Kelly, Cory Morrow and others.

With a band that includes Sparky Sorenson (drums), Chris Kofnovic (bass), Chris Stuart (guitar, vocals) and Danny Najvar (pedal steel, mandolin, dobro); The Todd Mankin Band is poised for what is on the horizon to come.
Stay tuned as the Todd Mankin Band journeys on sharing their "Music from Texas"