Music career of Alex Mantiev

Alex started playing guitar when he was 17 and progressed slowly until
he began to listen to blues players including B.B. King, Muddy Waters and
Eric Clapton. From 1969 through 1972 he became one of the best lead guitarists
in New England. During that time he had an opportunity to sit in and fill in for
the famous Paul Butterfield Blues Band. However with the Viet Nam war still going on he was drafted into the Navy. He led a band called Mantiev ( Viet Nam backwards) which became the one of the best & most popular band in western Massachusetts.

Alex served in the US Navy from 1972-1975 and formed the Miss Judy’d Blues
Band with the some of best players in southern Maine. The band was featured on local radio shows and filled clubs. After the Navy, Alex spent 4 years in college to earn a
B.S. in Physics. During that time he played in various bands and spent 2 summers
in Nashville playing spots in the Broadway Honky Tonks!

After college, he quit playing for a while to work as an engineer in New Jersey.
When he came back to Massachusetts he formed the band American Tradition which is still together today (without Alex) under the name Shut up and Dance.

In the last 5 years, Alex spent time as a sit in guitarist for local bands, performing
solo acoustic gigs and writing songs in Ohio. His long experience has provided him with
repeat performances by popular demand throughout Ohio.