Germannu Germannu

Manoel Germano Filho (better known as Germannu) was born into a family of cocoa farm owners on January 11th, 1955 in Linhares, Espirito Santo, Brazil. He was the second born of three children, but refusing to buy into the stereotype of the forgotten middle child, it took just a few guitar chords, learnt at the age of 15, to start him on his musical path. (The chords were taught to Manoel by his much-revered older sister, Germana, which she, in turn, had learned playing religious songs at Catholic school).

Manoel started his foray into education by following in his family’s footsteps, earning his agronomy degree at the Federal University of Viçosa in the state of Minas Gerais. Yet it was music rather than soil that held his heart, and after a chance meeting with Milton Nascimento, one of Brazil’s biggest musical icons — both back then and today — he threw himself into the Minas music scene, burgeoned as it was by student movements and local music festivals.

Manoel’s attempts to bring his music to the general public were abruptly derailed by the death of his father. Shortly after graduating, his dreams were put on hold and he found himself back in his hometown of Espirito Santo taking care of the family’s business affairs. It didn’t take long for though for the music to win over, and soon after he invested a considerable sum of his earnings in musical instruments and sound equipment, as well as a mobile trailer which he used as a tour bus, setting out to perform in towns in the region.