07/31/2023
The Mighty Manatees played their first show on Halloween 1985. Today they have played over 4500 shows.
For the first five years, co-founders Ray Adkins and Will Hodgson performed as a duo simply called The Manatees w/ two acoustic guitars, two drum machines, and a sequencer. They played around Philadelphia and it's suburbs, the Jersey Shore, with forays into New York City and Key West, Florida. In 1990, Ray and Will turned off the machines, purchased electric guitars, hired a live rhythm section (Myles Rothwell on drums and cousin Randy Wagner on bass). Their first studio album "High Water" was co-produced by Steve Bell and released on Shoreline Records. The band opened for The Spin Doctors, The Radiators, America, and many others, and they once played an exclusive private party for the band U2 and their entire touring crew. In 1992 Ray Adkins left the band and was replaced by French guitarist Eric Allal, and keyboardist/plumber Jim Sergovic.
In 1993 the band's theme song, "Don't Go Straight, Go Forward" was included in Philly Rock Guide's Hello Philadelphia Vol. 2 compilation album. In 1994 the song was included in the MAPP's A&R Trip "In Your Ear" compilation album.
In 1995 they released their Live Medicine double CD live album. Their cover of "Franklin's Tower' on this album earned them a place on Relix Magazine's Top Ten List of Grateful Dead Song Versions.
The Mighty Manatees chartered magic bus trips to New York City where they played regularly at places like Kenny's Castaways and The Bitter End. In fact, they played The Bitter End so often they are mentioned in the The Bitter End's published biography. The band also received a favorable review in The Village Voice and played NYC shows with Beat musician David Amram and John Cassady (son of Neal Cassady). In 1996 the band flew to Key West to play a string of shows including a Save The Manatee benefit concert. The resulting live album called "Tees In The Keys" was released on the JefDam label.
As the group entered the 21st century they added guitarist Joe "Jozo" Rizzo and a Hammond playing organist/bassist by the named of Karl "K-Jo" Frick. Karl is an electronics wizard. In 2002 they added a three-piece horn section called The Rhino Horns, and began calling themselves Los Manatees for a few seasons. In 2003 they recorded The Good Friday Tracks live album for Karl's Lakestone Records. In 2005 they enlisted a female harmony singer named Kathleen Weber and in 2006 recorded four songs for the "No L" Christmas compilation album. In 2008 they released their second studio album called "The Mighty Manatees'. This album was produced by David Ivory and featured guest musicians Ritchie Hayward from Little Feat, and Earl "Chinna" Smith from Bob Marley & The Wailers. Also playing on this album was keyboardist Tim Hooper from Mike Guldin's and Rollin' & Tumblin' blues band. Tim would go on to play with the band on a semi-regular basis. Kathleen also started singing with guitarist David Bromberg.
The band started playing shows with keyboardist/violinist Jason Crosby and saxophonist Walter Tate Jr. and together they recorded the band's third live album "The Mighty Manatees - LIVE". In 2013, Jason produced their third studio album "The Mighty Manatees Medicine Show" for Fuzztone Records. Jason started playing with Phil Lesh & Friends, Jackson Browne, and The Mahavishnu Orchestra. In 2014 John RosaBion aka Johnny Machete began playing alto, tenor, and soprano sax with the band.
After drum machines and original drummer Myles Rothwell (who left the band in the mid-90s), many drummers have filled the position including Ritchie DeCarlo, Tim Campbell, Ras Mykl, and Jim Cavanaugh. Dean Gorfti is the current occupant of The Mighty Manatees drum throne.
In 2023 the band is still as busy as ever and playing upwards of 140 gigs a year. They recently returned from a series of shows on the island of Saint Marten, a new album called "Travelers".
