No band would be complete without the guitar, and for Manda and the Marbles it is Joe A. Damage who provides that rich, bar-chordy goodness that makes their music such a revolution….
The du Mage family has an extensive history in Medieval France. It is thought by many that the name du Mage derives from the fact that the early members of this family were alchemists and dealers in the esoteric arts of necromancy and magics. Unfortunately, except for vague references in historical treatises of the late 18th century, this history was lost in the Reign of Terror after the French Revolution.
Alexandre du Prix du Mage was a proponent of Robespierre during this troubled time and abhorred the illustrious history of his family. As such, he destroyed as many records he could find through directives issued in his capacity as Generale de la Records Nationales. The du Mages are, however, mentioned often in later histories. Homunculus du Mage was instrumental at the Battle of Austerlitz during Napoleon’s campaign across Europe.
Revolutionary Alexadre Du Mage
As a Major in the XVI Artillery Corps, Homunculus was instrumental in destroying the 4th Hussars Regiment of Moscow. Later, he helped to loot and plunder that famous city in Napoleon’s later campaign into Russia. Homunculus lost his life at the Battle of Borodino, where a severe case of the gout disabled him, allowing the overrun of his position by Russian forces. Homunculus’ great-grandson, Pierre du Mage left France to find his fortune in the tropics. Entering French Guiana at the age of 23, Pierre started a successful luthier business, cementing the du Mage’s place in music history. du Mage lutes, guitars and violins were in use across the settled New World and after ten years, Pierre opened a branch office in New Orleans, where his son Balthiel took over in the late 19th century.
Balthiel was a great family man and business owner, but suffered from a severe case of clumsiness. He died falling off of a bridge after tripping on a frog. Records of the family are dim after this, but it seems that the du Mage’s changed their name to avoid any salacious comparisons to their forebear.
Outlaw Steven Damage
Henceforth, in America, the family was known as Damage, which as we shall see, was quite appropriate. Balthiel’s grandson, Steven Damage, escaped the Southern draft by dint of his age and his flight to the Western territories, where he amassed a small fortune robbing brothels with his infamous “Gang of Three.” Steven later settled down in the Ohio River Valley and died a quiet death in his bed. His son, another Alexandre, was a noted missionary to the family’s ancestral homelands in South America, where he later changed his name back to du Mage and lived a life of piety, but not before siring a son by Bertha Wright du Mage, a sister of famed pioneering aviators, Orville and Wilbur Wright.
Simon Damage testifies before Congress
Bertha and Alexandre’s son was none other than Simon Damage, the Ohio union leader and sometime politician, known as “The Kingmaker of Ohio.” He got several governors, senators and congressmen elected before an early death by trampling. No one ever said organizing was a safe profession. And so, after not many years, came the scion to bring the family back to its greatest roots in music and leadership, Joseph Augustus Damage, guitarist, scion, son, brother and sometime contraband smuggler.
Joe Damage, as he is known, paid for his first guitar with the bounties he received hunting escaped nutria on the Ohio River. He spent an entire year in a woodshed, practicing the guitar and standing awkwardly for photos. His prowess grew until he caught they eye of the Marbles in a roller rink in downtown Columbus.