Larry Mangum

October, 2012 - "I highly recommend that you book and embrace this gifted, talented, genuine, singer songwriter into your home! Each of my guests were forever touched by the House Concert experience with Larry. His songs speak to your heart, some with reflection and others with welcomed humor! Larry has set the bar for my hosting. I appreciated his communications before, during and after the show! Don't miss a chance with the real deal..."
(T. Dugan) - On-line

"“For a guy who writes quite a bit, including a weekly column in a newspaper, I find myself at a loss for words, at least for adequate ones. Last night was ...insert words here...Spectacular, Extraordinary, Fantastic, Singularly Unique, an evening that will be long remembered by aficionados of folk music, Americana sung and played the way it is "supposed to be". And I could go on and on but still, the words are inadequate. You had to be there. Suffice it to say that I've been to more than a few gigs in the past 68 years and last night was as pure and sweet as an evening of music can be. Larry, wanna trade voices? Sir, you could sing the phone book and it would sound so good! When you add your music, songwriting, the powers of observation, the timeless yet topical subject matter and that pure, southern comfort voice together....Wow! And when you come to town, you bring the most amazing talent with you. May the circle be unbroken! " - Walter Mckenzie, WHITE SPRINGS FOLK CLUB-EMAIL (Sep 21, 2010) - Walter Mckenzie, WHITE SPRINGS FOLK CLUB-EMAIL (Sep 21, 2010)

FOLIO WEEKLY SEPT 1ST, 2009 CD REVIEW BY TAYLOR BRIGHT
GOING OLD SCHOOL
If Nashville still made country music, rather than over-produced tripe, the songs of Jacksonville-native Larry Mangum would sound more familiar. Nashville may not make the music id did 20, 30, even 40 years ago, but fortunately, Mangum still does.
Mangum, now 60, knows the evolution of country music better than most, and on his eight album, “Brand New Honkytonk”, he offers a virtual history of classic country, embracing the sound that gave country music soul-a sound last heard in Nashville around 1987. On “Brand New Honkytonk””, Mangum reveals his influences, from Hank Williams SR. to John Prine, and even a little Jimmy Buffett.
Mangum, who would be fiercely cheered at Bob’s Country Bunker, says the death of traditional country music began with the arrival and subsequent superstardom of Garth Brooks in the late ’80. (One could rightly say the release of Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart” in 1992 put a handful of nails in that coffin) They’ve abandoned the whole meaning of country music,” says Mangum, referring to the host of pop-country artist on the radio these days.
In defense of the old style, “Brand New Honkytonk” opens with “ We Won’t Make It”, which could have been a hit in 1958, then travels into the mid-‘80s with songs like “Category V”, a tune about a girl who blows in like a hurricane to destroy the singer’s life. Mangum returns the country jezebel to her rightful watering hole, running around on her boyfriend at the titular “brand new honkytonk”.
Mangum also brings back the love triangle theme, and weaves stories that involve prison and trucks too. Tales of infidelity, being poor and hating your job is what Nashville used to sing about (“Take This Job and Shove it”,” anyone?) And that’s where Mangum lives and works-in the heart of heartbreak.
Mangum says he sometimes wishes he had made it big in Nashville-he used to shop his songs there-but he’s content working on and off as an engineer and playing his music around Jacksonville. His closest brush with Nashville success was a co-writing credit for a Lee Greenwood song. I feel like Nashville will always be important to me, “Mangum says, “but I will never be important to Nashville.”

- FOLIO WEEKLY JACKSONVILLE FL

An Interview with Larry Mangum and Jamie Defrates
By:Rick Grant
From: EU Magazine, Jacksonville Florida
WHAT: Songwriting Circle WHERE: European Street Café in San Marco WHEN: Thursday, June 21st at 8 pm
Songwriting is an individualistic art that involves many creative disciplines. More significantly, songwriting is a rare talent that many people attempt, but only a few manage to write quality songs over a long period of time. There are many famous examples of prolific, long-term, quality songwriters such as Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Elvis Costello.
While I was considering this short list of famous songwriters, I remembered the unsung quality songwriters I know and respect–Larry Mangum and Jamie DeFrates. They may not be household words, but they have written many great songs during their careers. These two regional stalwarts have made their mark as important songwriters in a limited milieu. One of these songwriters, Larry Mangum, is hosting the Songwriting Circle at the European Street Café in San Marco on June 21st, to support local songwriters. I called Larry and Jamie to find out how they create songs, specifically their respective creative processes. I asked Larry about his songwriting process. His answer was intriguing.
“When I do get an idea, I use a small digital recorder which I carry with me. I like to get the idea down–the melody, which is the most important thing to me. Sometimes the melody and lyrics come to me at once. I write down song ideas in my little calendar and make sure I record the melody. I play the chord progression on my guitar so I can get back to it. Some songs came to me quickly and others took many years to write. I get ideas from all sources –even out of the air, so to speak, then, the ideas just come to me.”
“Years ago, when I had the studio, I was trying to break into the Nashville scene by writing commercially slanted songs. I wrote from the heart, but arranged the songs in a commercial way that might solicit interest in the Nashville market. But now I just write from my heart and sometimes it comes out like a commercial song. In 1991, after Gamble died, I started to write a song about Gamble, but it was too emotional for me to continue. Then in 2004, I finally finished the song. That was the longest time it ever took me to finish a song, but it was worth it. It came out great,” Larry said.
Jamie DeFrates works as a television producer in his own production studio in the Channel 4 building as his day job. In his spare time, Jamie writes stunning music that he performs with a distinctly original voice. Indeed, he is undeniably one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard. Like Larry, Jamie has many methods to writing songs. Today, he needs inspiration to get the juices flowing.
“To me, there are many different ways that songwriting happens. These days, the inspiration comes first. But sometimes songs just come to me in dreams or thoughts. So I go to the piano or guitar looking for structure. I get melodies in my head that I work on to see if it’s worth continuing. I used to write songs on a daily basis, but now I really have to want to write a song about something that has inspired me. My songs have become a quasi-biography.”
“Sometimes I’m consciously thinking about structure and I think that the story can best be told in the third-person, instead of what’s happening to me. In other words, I’ll be the observer. Or, if something significant happens to someone else, that may inspire me to write a song. My approach is eclectic, musically and lyrically. I see things that are trivial that I don’t want to mess with.”
“Amazingly, I have hundreds of songs that I haven’t recorded. Occasionally, I pull one out and polish it and decide whether it is worthy or not. You know, I work in my own studio and by the time the day is done, I’m burned out. So, I have to be driven by inspiration to stay over or spend a weekend back in my studio recording my own stuff. But I’m at peace with that. However, I do enjoy playing out and I do get inspired to write new material–just not every day,” Jamie said.
That concluded our chat. Both Jamie and Larry are creative artists who work outside the mainstream, but that does not diminish their accomplishments. It’s the creative process that is important. If it inspires millions of people or just hundreds of people; it’s making a mark in the music world. By Larry staging a Songwriter’s Circle at European Street Café on June 21st, it takes the music of truly talented people directly to a small, but enthusiastic audience.


- EU Magazine, Jacksonville Florida