ABOUT SEAN COSTELLO
What can you say about Sean Costello? That he was a brilliantly talented, inspirational bluesman who died WAY too soon on April 15, 2008, the eve of his 29th birthday. that he seemed destined to carry the blues torch gloriously into the middle of the 21st century. that he possessed a profound wealth of knowledge, love and respect for the giants of blues, jazz, gospel and soul, along with enough inner fire and passion to keep personalizing and reinventing the music, pushing its boundaries while always keeping it vibrant, keeping it true. that he was a sweet, shy kid who felt most at home with a guitar in his hands. a generous spirit, always quick to reach out a hand to someone in need, who meant the world to the family, friends and fans who loved him so much.
Yes, you could say all that about Sean Costello, and of course you’d be right, although any description seems nearly as incomplete as his life.
As a guitarist he was simply astounding, but he never let his technique become an end in itself. For Sean it was never about showing off monstrous chops or stroking his own ego. His playing always fit the song; he would work the tone and phrasing, sometimes with an economy of notes that let the empty spaces hang achingly for what seemed like hours. And when he did take off on the occasional blazing run, he was the ultimate net-less tightrope walker, throwing caution to the wind, flirting fearlessly with danger at the very edge of the abyss before bringing it all back home with the unlikeliest of phrases that was still, somehow, perfect.
Sean began hitting the stages of Atlanta and Memphis as a very young teenager, so it wasn’t until a few years later that he really came into his own as a vocalist. But it wasn’t long before he really began to nail it, putting all the passion and intensity of his guitar work into his singing and becoming a thoroughly soulful, expressive singer. Soon his songwriting caught up with his other talents. Whether he was playing one of his own songs or covering a classic, Sean poured the truest, rawest of emotions into his performances, which were never less than thrilling.
Those of us who were lucky enough to share space and time with Sean Costello during his short life will have powerful memories to hold and revisit for years to come. For the rest of the world, Sean leaves a rich legacy of recorded work.
And man, we sure do miss him.
– Richard Rosenblatt, April 21 2008
SEAN COSTELLO BIO
Over the last dozen years, Sean Costello has become one of the most exciting singer-songwriters and guitarists on the blues scene, putting a deeply personal imprint on classic soul, blues, and roots rock sounds. With his gold top Les Paul itself an iconic link to postwar blues heroes like Muddy Waters and Guitar Slim, and the signatures it bears - from Jody Williams and Robert Lockwood Jr., two of the preeminent stylists of electric blues - direct evidence of the passing of the torch, Sean Costello is unshakably grounded in tradition, even as he brings the music into the future, just as his soul heroes of the 1960s and 1970s did.
Born in 1979 in Philadelphia, Costello began playing guitar at age nine, about the time his family moved to Atlanta. He came of age early, appearing regularly in clubs before he could drive, much less gain legal admission, to them. At age 14, his winning performance in the finals of the Memphis Blues Society’s talent competition had career-changing effects. First, it netted him studio time to record his debut album, Call The Cops, a collection of 1940s and 1950s-style Chicago blues. The Memphis trip also marked the beginning of an important association with another finalist, as Costello put his solo aspirations on hold long enough to contribute indelibly memorable guitar tracks to Susan Tedeschi’s career breakthrough gold album, Just Won’t Burn and, with his band, to back her on the high-profile national tour in support of that record.
Although Cops was well-received (Real Blues deemed it “explosive”), Costello went hard to the woodshed before his next recording, Cuttin’ In (2000). The results were immediately apparent in a more mature, fully realized vocal delivery, and in a broader range of material that touched on Texas influences (Johnny “Guitar” Watson), darkly exotic Caribbean sounds (“Goombay Rock”, a track discovered by accident), and second-generation postwar Chicago artists (the worldly, tour-de-force cover of “Double Trouble” marks Costello’s first attempt at recording a song by Otis Rush, who continues as a wellspring of inspiration).
The release of Moanin’ For Molasses in 2002 included increasingly confident originals in the Chicago and New Orleans traditions, and reasserted Costello’s established strengths with powerful interpretations of material originally recorded by Jimmy Rogers, Buddy Guy, Jody Williams, J.B. Lenoir, with two songs from the Otis Rush canon. The inclusion of James Brown’s intense 1959 ballad “I Want You So Bad” and Johnnie Taylor’s slamming Stax side “You Can’t Win With A Losing Hand” pointed to a growing interest in soul music first evidenced in live performances of songs by Tyrone Davis and Clarence Carter, and marked an ongoing evolution as interpreter and artist that would come to fruition on Costello’s next project.
2005’s inspiredSean Costello ventured further into vintage funk and soul sounds, including gems from Johnnie Taylor, Robert Ward, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, and Al Green, and the superb, genre-approved originals “She Changed My Mind” and “No Half Steppin’”. His longtime interest in Bob Dylan shone through in a very personal reading of “Simple Twist of Fate” and in his own “Father”, which sounds like a lost outtake from the Desire sessions. Costello’s affecting delivery on the gorgeous ballads “All I Can Do” and “Don’t Pass Me By” proved him to be among our premier singers of torch songs and standards while revealing new aspects of his songcraft. Tommy Johnson’s “Big Road Blues” and the original “I’ve Got To Ride” looked back to the blues roots underpinning all Costello’s work.
Costello cites four individuals as having directly affected his development as artist and performer. Early direction came from Texas-born guitarist Felix Reyes, whose Cats have provided fertile onstage proving grounds for generations of younger bluesmen in Dallas, Austin, Atlanta, Florida, and now Chicago. “He was a great teacher to me. I still think about the way he plays. He’s the guy that taught me to listen, not to play so many notes, and chill out, and don’t do everything you know all at once. He’s a really good player, a good friend to me.” Costello calls his apprenticeship with Ronnie Earl, conducted over several National Guitar Workshops, “a huge, huge influence” in developing a soulful, personal voice on his instrument. Later, Americana music icon Levon Helm made a tremendous impression on Costello, who gained valuable perspective on performing and life while working with him. Most recently, drummer Donnie McCormick, a veteran of the storied ‘70s rock and soul rhythm section The Dixie Flyers and longtime fixture on the Atlanta music scene, has acted as Costello’s mentor. “He’s a great singer-songwriter and performer. I’ve been soaking up his vocal style, which is unique, and learning about songwriting through him.”
Along the way, Costello has had the opportunity to brush elbows with musical legends. He has shared bandstands with the likes of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin, Elvis Costello, Dr. John, Kim Wilson, Johnnie Johnson, Pinetop Perkins, Luther Allison, Anson Funderburgh and Sam Myers, Lynwood Slim, Steve Jordan, Willie Weeks, and Jimmy Vivino . In addition to Susan Tedeschi, he has recorded with Helm, Jody Williams and Tinsley Ellis, and his band was hand-picked to record backing tracks for gospel greats The Five Blind Boys. Most recently, Costello received acclaim as the primary guitarist on Long Time Coming, the Blues Music Award-nominated comeback album by blues shouter Nappy Brown.
Not content to remain at rest, Costello’s growth never sacrifices the feeling he values. As he says, “Whatever I do is going to be very rooted in blues or rhythm and blues. Everthing that I play is just jumping off from that point.” Just as soul and rock grew from the blues, fresh sounds enter Costello’s repertoire as a natural development of his listening habits. A musical discussion with Costello is as likely to touch on Otis Clay, O. V. Wright, Eddie Hinton, Otis Redding, Bobby Womack, and Johnnie Taylor (his all-time favorite singer) as Otis Rush, Robert Lockwood Jr., Freddy King, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Jimmie Vaughan, or Lurrie Bell (his favorite contemporary guitarist), with Bob Dylan’s work never far from the forefront. Heavy sessions listening to rock ‘n’ roll – which, for Costello, means Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and Jerry Lee Lewis – played a part in developing the sound of his newest recordings.
Forgoing the comfort of his long-time band (a full complement that featured organ and harmonica or piano), Costello has for the past two years been playing in a trio format with Aaron Trubic (electric bass) and, most recently, Paul Campanella Jr. (drums), a rhythm section of deadly precision and efficiency. The stripped-down configuration not only forces Costello to work harder - “I am playing a lot of guitar, man!” - it lends sharp focus and an aggressive edge to the music, a set of raw blues (“Anytime You Want”), impassioned gospel (“Going Home”), solid soul (“Can’t Let Go”), idiosyncratic pop (“You Told Me A Lie” filters The Beatles through the Chess studio), exposed-nerve ballads (McCormick’s “Have You No Shame” is one highlight) that crackles with energy and a deep groove.
