Blow the Man Down

How I Navigated the Sailboats and Station Wagons of the Music Business

By: Mark E. Johnson

Narrated by: Mark E. Johnson

In the 1970s, Mark Johnson was a gangly North Carolina farm boy with a big imagination. An avid reader of Doc Savage pulp novels and Hardy Boys mysteries, Johnson knew he wanted adventure in his life. He just had no idea where to get it or how to escape the Christmas tree fields of the Appalachians. As a teenager, Johnson discovered music. Then, girls. These epiphanies would lead to an adventure even Johnson’s wild imagination couldn’t have predicted.

Follow along as Johnson navigates a heart-pounding and often hilarious odyssey through the 1980s and ‘90s music industry as a songwriter and club musician, both in fickle Nashville and the mysterious Caribbean island of ill repute St. Croix. Johnson reveals both the seductions and the hard truths of life in the world of entertainment.

©2019 Mark Ernest Johnson (P)2020 Mark Ernest Johnson

The book kept me entertained from start to finish!

What a great story about life and all the experiences that come in our short time on earth. Even though I do not sing or play an instrument, I could relate to all of Mark’s Life Stories. I honestly loved listening to the book and was dug in deep for all the chapters.

Great Job! I loved it!!! I give “Blow the Man Down”, my personal highest recommendation for a listen on Audible! 5 out of 6 STARS.

couldn't stop listening

love this author and all his writings! I have read all of them and his pod casts are great as well!

Great story!

Mark has a great way of telling a story. He is engaging, and charming. Very fun listen!

Awesome story of self discovery, music & St. Croix

This book resonated with me on many levels. First, I know Mark and his family well, having grown up in the same NC mountain community. My family has always valued music, and I have always been inspired by the music and lyrics of James Taylor, Jim Croce and the like. I should have learned to play the guitar, as my brother did. Acoustical guitar and folk music of the 70s and 80s brings back so many memories in many of us. Mark became very accomplished in playing these songs. Amazing what he pulled off without the ability to read music and before the internet made deciphering the lyrics easier!

Although Mark was a couple of years younger than me, our paths crossed again when he was in college at East Carolina University where I was studying medicine. Many of my classmates would join me in listening to his performances at several of Greenville’s nightlife spots. I even got employed by his family at a Greenville tree lot during the Christmas season selling Fraser Firs and witnessing the excited shoppers as they left with their start to the holiday festivities.

But I lost track of Mark after that. This fills in much of that lost time. This book gives insight into the struggles a young musician faced in trying to break into the Nashville scene in the 1990s. It is very well written with lots of humor and relatable metaphors.
I spent a brief vacation in St Croix in the late 1980’s, and through Mark’s writing I enjoyed seeing the island again through another set of eyes. This time from the entertainer’s perspective. Mark faced lots of choices, one could say temptations, as the universal love language of a well-crafted acoustical guitar song played on the heartstrings of the female tourists as well as the locals.
Those 2 months in St. Croix during Mark’s formative years helped shape him in his next career that did not include music. “Blow the Man Down” is essentially about the journey of self discovery told from the vantage point of a talented musician as he hones his craft in search of that big break.
Both this book, as well as his first book “Duffus Dad does Everest Base Camp”, are enjoyable reads that not only are true stories, but ones that will give you fits of laughter, and some unexpected surprises. Well done Mark!

Enjoyed it!

An entertaining account of trying to make it in the music business. Mark’s witty, self deprecating humor makes for an enjoyable quick read. I really appreciated the epilogue - I felt like I shared in the experience with all of the characters and the epilogue brought things around full circle completing the story.