Born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico and raised in Corpus Christi by his music-loving parents on an eclectic diet of 60s-era songwriters, traditional Mexican music and the Everly brothers, Mando began playing guitar at the age of 11. But the realization that he could write and perform music for a living didn’t hit until he had done the ‘responsible thing’ and earned an MBA, if only to stick it in his back pocket.

He began playing live full-time and the response was encouragement enough to officially launch his career. Soon, he joined the line of notable singer-songwriters to chronicle their lives in Texas via Watertown – originally self-released until landing in the hands of Carnival Music’s Frank Liddell, who signed Mando as an artist and a writer.