“‘I’ve been very lucky.’”
Sean Costello was reminiscing—in what would be his last-ever interview—about his life as a Blues musician and the many occasions he had rubbed shoulders with his heroes.
B.B. King. Buddy Guy. Luther Thomas. Dr. John. Levon Helm. Donald Fagin. James Cotton. Pinetop Perkins. Hubert Sumlin. Jody Williams. Nappy Brown. Tinsley Ellis.
Sean sure was lucky.
Born in Philadelphia in 1979, he started to walk, talk and read from a surprisingly young age.
In a way, he was a child of music.
This was plain to see from about the time he was two.
At nine, the Costello family moved to Atlanta, where he began to play the guitar.
After an initial infatuation with hard rock, Sean discovered Blues music.
A local Atlantan blues guitarist, Felix Reyes, soon took Sean under his wing.
Sean's first album, Call the Cops, would years later be hailed by The Guardian newspaper as 'a flawless command of 1950s blues guitar'.
The Real Blues Magazine acclaimed the album as 'an explosive debut'.
After touring as a lead guitarist with fellow blues musician Susan Tedeschi and accompanying her as such on her gold album, Just Won't Burn, Sean ventured out on his own with the Jivebombers.
Their first album together, Cuttin' In (2000), was nominated for the W. C. Handy 'Best New Artist - Debut' recognition.
'Costello the guitarist has snatched the key to the blues kingdom. His playing is shockingly deep for a 20-year old. And his vocal work is nearly a match for his guitar chops; given time, that too will become very real. Of all the young blues lions out there brandishing their electric guitars, Costello is the one who’s got his head and heart into the deep blues,' wrote Philip Van Vleck in the All Music Guide.
The next album, Moanin' for Molasses (2002), presented Sean in a more mature & confidently soulful light.
A Blues Revue cover story proclaimed Sean as 'the top contender to be the next blues star—and soon'.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called Sean's guitar playing 'Masterful' and of 'remarkable maturity', while comparing him to guitar legends B.B. King, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
With the eponymously titled album, Sean Costello (2005), Sean explored soul, funk, and hard rock, covering the likes of Johnny Taylor, Al Green, and Bob Dylan.
The result was, however, as original as the artist Sean had evolved into.
One of the seven tracks Sean wrote for the album is No Half Steppin', which lays bare not only his personal struggles but also an undeniable strength of character.
“Wake me in the morning
Don’t let me sleep too late I’ve got to get up
I got to get out and make my way
I got a feeling
It tells me that I just can’t wait, I got to push on
I got to keep pushing every day
I’ve come so far, I ain’t gonna turn back now
Come so far, but I’ve got to keep movin’ it out
There’ll be no half-steppin’
I got to keep on pushin’
There’ll be no half-steppin’
I’ve got to keep on pushin’ all the time
I’ve been criticized
And in my life I’ve made a few mistakes
But don’t write me off
I got such a long, long way to go
And I’ve been talked about
And in my life I’ve had a few bad days
But don’t count me out
Because there is one thing you should know
I got a light that keeps on shinin’ in my mind
Day and night, it just keeps burnin’ all the time
And there’ll be no half steppin’
I got to keep on pushin’
There’ll be no half steppin’
I got to keep on pushin’ all the time
(solo)
You might see me stumble
And you might even see me fall
But I’m on my way
And can’t nobody turn me around
You might think that I’m slippin’
But I won’t lose no ground at all
’Cause I got that feeling
And I won’t let no one bring me down
’Cause I’ve got a light that keeps on shinin’ in my mind
Day and night, it just keeps burning all the time
There’ll be no half steppin’
I got to keep on pushin’
There’ll be no half steppin’
I got to just keep pushin’ all the time”
Mojo Magazine described Sean's last album, We Can Get Together (2008), as 'bluesy original songs arranged in classic soul style and delivered with a ravaged intensity'.
We Can Get Together bagged the 2009 Blues Music Awards' 'Contemporary Blues Album of the Year' nomination, with Sean himself among the 'Contemporary Blues Male Artist' contenders.
The posthumous anthology, Sean’s Blues: A Memorial Retrospective, was nominated for the BMA's 'Best Historical Album' as well as the Blues Blast Music Awards' 'Best Contemporary Blues Recording' recognitions.
Sean sure was lucky.
But he was also troubled, right from early childhood.
Some things were painfully hard to master.
He rarely felt he belonged.
His adolescent years were unusually tough.
He attended the North Atlanta High Center for the Arts.
He battled bouts of depression and anxiety.
But he didn't know why.
Like many others who don't know they are bipolar, Sean hit the bottle.
Eventually, he added drugs to the mix.
What people saw was a talented blues musician who also happened to be an intelligent, charming and self-deprecating young man.
What Sean was, was a disturbed soul trying to come to grips with a side of him he didn’t fully understand.
Sean would be diagnosed as being bipolar too late in what would be a very brief life.
He tried to cope in the only way he thought he could.
But alcohol and drugs are never the answer.
One day, Sean succumbed to an accidental overdose.
It was the eve of his birthday.
The Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research is dedicated to him and every person who lives with bipolar disorder.