Johnny Mannion

Welcome to the official Johnny Mannion website.

Johnny began playing guitar at the age of 10, by the age of fourteen he was under the spell of
"The Blues" and began to take the guitar seriously.
His older brother Tommy brought home a T-Bone Walker album and gave it to him.
He was forever lost to the sounds he heard that night.
Johnny started playing guitar at church, and formed his first band "Cornerstone" with his brother
Tommy Mannion and his childhood friend John Hutter.
In 1985 he was introduced to Texas blues man, Tom Cat Courtney. Tom Cat invited Johnny down to
sit in with his band one Thursday night at the "Texas Teahouse".
That night after the gig Tom Cat asked him to join his band. He played with Tom Cat for six years.
Johnny left Tom Cat in August of 1991.
In 1994 he joined up with guitarist Joe Norwood and they formed "Delta Storm".
Delta Storm was a very artistically satisfying period . The band became known for the dual guitar
onslaught. Guitar harmonies and trading licks were a regular part of the show.
Issues outside the musical spectrum began to creep into the band
and Johnny decided he had enough. Delta Storm parted ways in 1996.
In January 1997, slide master Mike "Gonzo" Gonzales called Johnny up and asked him to start a band
with him. Gonzo had a name for the band..."Sweet Blue Onion" Onion, is Johnny's nickname, and he
took an instant liking to the thought of playing guitar with one of his hero's!
He played with Sweet Blue Onion for almost 9 years .
Johnnys current band features Greg Bach on guitars and vocals. When Johnny was introduced to
Greg Bach and they got together to play "Heaven" by The Los Lonely Boys... sparks flew and they
each knew this was something they needed to do. The rest of the band includes Guy Boccia on bass
guitar and Chris Lapacik on drums. They are all members of Eastlake Community Church and met
playing on the church music team.

In 2003 Johnny was inducted into the Blues Hall Of Fame®
and in 2006 he was inducted as Ambassador At Large to the Blues Hall Of Fame® .
Stay tuned for more from these guys!

Other alumni of the band are Kevin McPeak on bass guitar and Keithan Carroll on drums.

Johnny Mannion Band

Johnny