Born back in the '50s in Andalusia in southern Spain, Manolo has never been far from his guitar since he taught himself to play it when he was very young, though it was later on, in Barcelona, that he discovered 'his' instrument: the banjo, which he also taught himself. It started with the American five-string banjo, and the Irish tenor banjo came along after that. Hence his two areas of musical interest: Old-Time and Bluegrass from one side of the Atlantic, and Irish traditional music from the other. The bold, straight-out style is a strong musical voice both in American music circles and in Irish traditional circles here.