Musician Mike Mangione returned to Milwaukee after living in L.A., Chicago — and in a Dodge Ram van with his dog, Daisy.

Mike Mangione is the "M" man. Note the initials of his name, of course.

But he’s also a musician, a Milwaukeean and a graduate of Marquette University.

The 28-year-old guitarist is also always on the move, doing around 150 shows a year. His monster gigs range from close-in Summerfest to far-flung Austin.

Mangione’s performance circle is Duluth to Des Moines, with large fan bases in Memphis, Louisville and Cleveland. "That’s what you want to build up," he says. "It’s bad business to travel to a town and not come back."

Heading toward the Windy City for a session with 13 other artists recording a new disc, "Acoustic Chicago," Mangione relates how he qualified for a slot on the CD because he was originally from Glenview, Ill. He still performs a great deal in Chi-town and several members of his band still live there, although others are in the Milwaukee area.

Mangione prefers to do most of his recordings outside the Milwaukee area because of the freedom that comes from moving in a different setting. "For me, it’s hard to be creative at home, where you aren’t that artist, but the guy you went to grade school with," he says.

The youngest of three boys, Mangione started out on his musical path with drums at age 7 while in the first grade, influenced as a youngster by U2, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and the two Bobs (Dylan and Marley), as well as Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon and the Seattle Sound. These days, he’s a great fan of French Canadian singer Daniel Lanois. He eventually switched to guitar, initially absconding with his older brother Tom’s instrument.

Currently an East Sider, Mangione graduated from Marquette in 2002 with a degree in urban and environmental affairs, a major that doesn’t exist any more, he chuckles. Of the six students in the program, only Mangione and one other person eventually made it through with that degree. However, at the time, being professionally Green was not in his future. It was the delicious combination of tempo, score, vibes and riffs that lured him.

"Music strikes a chord in my heart, especially the writing and arranging. Once the muse hit back in school, I stepped fully into the musical world. I was captured and assimilated," he recalls.

Mangione began that musical march in earnest while still in college, forming the Aces & Eights, a.k.a. The Deadman’s Hand Band, to play in the MU Union and nearby hot hangouts. He also played with several other "confused rock bands," he laughs about the era.

"It took us a lot of whiskey to come up with that name," he says of the Aces. "We’d laugh a lot about what we’d call ourselves and when the humor wore off, the name would be changed again. We were lucky if some lasted more than a couple of nights."

Mangione did his own bookings at the time, which he considered "quite an accomplishment."

But Marquette also gained him his wife, Stacy, whom he met in school there. She currently works in the Newman Center campus ministry program at the UW-Milwaukee.

"I had been living in Chicago and L.A. and in my van," Mangione chuckles about his earliest road years after college, adding, "I decided to come back to Milwaukee to get married. Besides, the city is centrally located and the price of living here is right."

Stacy rarely travels with her husband these days, although he emphasizes she really cares about what he does. Yet, as he points out, "Things are often too out of control on the road, which always presents a challenge. I’m more loose, needing to able to roll with whatever happens while I’m out there."

The couple’s new dog, Romano Lisa, a 60-pound mixed breed from the humane society, isn’t much for traveling either, and "throws up at the sight of our car," he confides, ruefully.

Mangione travels light, luggage contents consisting of underclothes, a couple of button-down shirts, one pair each of walking and show shoes, one pair of dark pants, a few socks. Thusly prepared, off he goes. He gets his exercise on stage, as well as by moving equipment ... and no fast food nor late night drinking.

Rolling across the countryside with him is the band, whose members fluctuate depending on the show or a musician’s availability. Mangione’s core includes his brother, Tom, on electric guitar. For a time, Tom’s actress daughter, Gabrielle, also toured with them. Brother Pete also occasionally performed with his siblings for high school shows but now works in a plumbing distributing company with their dad, Pete Sr.

The elder Mangione and their boys’ mom, Patricia, were "big into music and enjoyed listening," says Mangione, although his parents didn’t perform themselves. Mangione jokes his parental units wanted their youngsters to do something constructive and artistic, so they "locked us down in the basement," where their sons could practice music as loud as they wanted. Now, as big fans, they regularly attend his shows.

Mangione’s music has moved eons beyond his Aces days, with his subtle musical strokes now being called "audible incense." Personally, he considers his signature to be "melodic, soulful music."

Mangione’s guitar is complemented by a compact string section that includes Kristina Priceman on violin, cellist Patrick Hoctor and Chicagoan John Collins on the upright bass. Various drummers fill in, including the talented George Lawler or Robby Cosenza. Lodewijk Broekhuizen also steps in with violin at times and similar creative souls have also shared the stage with Mangione’s group. The team plays so much together, there isn’t the need for regular, rigorous practice anymore, unless Mangione comes up with a new song. "We’re very orchestrated," he explains.

Mangione’s latest album "Tenebrae," created live while in Lexington, Ken., was released this past August. The new work came on the heels of his well-received 2005 disc, "There and Back," which earned a No. 16 place on CMJ Radio’s highly desired charts that year. "Tenebrae," Latin for "shadows," captures Mangione’s vitality as he performs. Reviewers note it is obvious that he loves what he’s doing, citing tunes that dig "into a slow dark beat and stays true to the words." His voice is described as having a "haunting quality," one that "just chills the skin."

"Tom and I wrote the 12 songs on ‘Tenebrae,’" Mangione says. "We both have our strengths and weaknesses in writing, so we complement each other. I’m better as a lyricist. It’s worked out well for us."

He points out that he liked his songs to tell stories, much as those of the fabled Bruce Springsteen.