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by Chank Diesel June 18, 1998
Roger Manning was one of my inspirations for becoming the Travelling Font Salesman. A big advocate of the rental car, Roger just throws his guitar in the back seat and tours the country. And since rental cars are just as nice as any old motel, you can just pull over and sleep on the side of the road when you're tired. Roger's advice to me was to take earplugs along so that when I'm near the highway, I can still sleep. I tried it. It works. But it's kind of weird sleeping with earplugs.
Roger is Joe Folk, the anti-folk musician whose roots are grounded in the subways of New York City.
Anti-folk. What does it mean? It's punk blues with an acoustic guitar. And it's not all gushy-mushy, save-the-world crap; rather, anti-folk music displays more selfish tendencies. In fact, I would say Roger Manning is arguably the most self-indulgent artist I have ever met. To perform with a full band would only dilute the Roger-ness of it all.
Roger is unique. He's a true iconoclast.
The road is Roger's home as he drives himself around the country, singing his punk blues in alterna-bars, coffee shops, and probably some laundromats, too. He hocks his CDs and poetry books on the road so that he can eat a burrito once in a while.
After a long haul on the highway, Roger parks it and straps on his rollerskates. He says it's a relief after being cramped up in the car and a great way to see a city. From Munich to Missoula, Roger has skated them all. On his Web site, Roger rates cities he's toured according to their rollerblade-friendliness.
Roger says rollerblading is all he thinks about. But he's lying. He also thinks about cops and girls and playing his guitar. Streetwise but kinda spacy, Roger sings brutally honest stories about his renegade ways: Driving Blues #3, East 5th Street Blues #5, The Rear View Mirror Blues.
Although his trip is pretty self-absorbed, Roger doesn't seem so hung up on rockstardom. He mostly wants to make lousy art and have a good time as is evident in his messy scrawl. Not too flashy or artsy, he writes the alphabet pretty much like a regular Joe. And like most guys, Roger makes better capital than lower case letters.
I once saw Roger blow out an amp while playing his acoustic guitar. I think that says a lot. Roger is very special. Enjoy this font and use it often...
click here to download Truetype Joe Folk for the Mac
click here to download Truetype Joe Folk for Windows
Questions about downloading and installing fonts?
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Want to make your own handwriting font?
Use the Soopersecret Alphabetician Fontmaking Technique.
Roger's Home on Tripod
Check out the newly updated "skating on tour" piece.
Write to Roger
Be careful though, cuz he might write a song about you.
Another Time, Another Roger
He's not a rock star, but Roger Lootine has excellent handwriting.
*EXCLUSIVE* More Free Rockstar Fonts
Chank Diesel, Travelling Font Salesman Extraordinaire, is a regular contributor to Computers/Internet, and to font art world wide. His handiwork has graced your Taco Bell wrappers. Ask him about laminated pancakes.
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