Crib Notes

Levon Helm was a hero and a friend to Sean Costello, the subject of last week’s CL cover story, Sean Costello, 1979-2008. During the making of the Sean Costello CD, which was released in 2005 by Artemis Records, Costello spent time some time entrenched in the singer/songwriter scene in New York where he performed with Helm’s daughter Amy in the band Ollabelle.

Costello also spent some time recording at Levon Helm Studio in Woodstock, New York. Some of that session work appeared on his self-tiled CD. The following phone interview with Helm was conducted on Friday, June 6 at 7:45 p.m.

Over the phone, Helm talks with a warm, grandfatherly rasp punctuated with a deep, Southern accent. The Memphis native’s slow, articulate tone stands out when he emphasizes every syllable in words like “thee ate er.” His personable and down home demeanor hardly come across like the air of a man who, after a 25 year hiatus, received a Grammy for his ‘07 release, Dirt Farmer.

How did you first get to know Sean Costello?
Sean had worked with my daughter Amy in the band, Ollabelle. Atlanta was Sean’s hometown, but he was also a hometown hero around Memphis. He won awards there and a lot of my friends thought he was the biggest and best thing since Stevie Ray and a lot of my friends really thought that he was going to inherit that crown. That’s the kind of music maker he was. Sean came here and did some recording with Olabelle. That’s how he and I got acquainted. He was good enough to come up here and help me do some recording of my own as well. I got to play with him on a couple of things and he even leant his voice for my recordings, when I was trying to get mine to a better singing position. He was a great singer.

Did you sing on some songs for Sean’s self-titled CD?
I tried to. It was during a time when I was trying to start singing again. We were trying to sing harmony parts for each other. Sean was a real good background singer. He was just a natural born music maker and never played a bad song yet. I haven’t had the heart to do it yet, but after a while I’m going to go downstairs and start to review some of the stuff that he did when he was up here.

(more…)

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Today’s Air Loaf features CL’s Chanté LaGon and Chad Radford discussing this week’s cover story about the late Sean Costello.

Air Loaf is broadcast weekdays on 1690 WMLB-AM at approximately 8:10 a.m., 12:20 p.m. and 6:20 p.m.

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On Tuesday, June 3, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office released its autopsy report on Atlanta bluesman Sean Costello, the subject of this week’s Creative Loafing cover story: Sean Costello, 1979-2008.

Sadly, it was a drug overdose that killed him. The report states that the cause of death was “toxicity of heroin, chlordiazepoxide, ephedrine and amphetamine.”

The report also notes recent cocaine use by Costello. The medical examiner who completed the autopsy, Dr. Geoffrey Smith, says that it is impossible to determine exactly which drug or drug interaction caused Costello’s death, but it was most likely the result of the combination of the drugs in his system. (more…)

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Atlanta blues guitarist and singer/songwriter Sean Costello was found dead Tues., April 15, on the eve of his 29th birthday in a local hotel. The cause of death is unknown.

From an early age, his guitar playing drew major accolades. Before he could graduate from high school, he was recording with Susan Tedeschi and eventually earning the respect of legends like B.B. King.

“All I ever wanted to do was play the guitar well and I’ve been fortunate to be able to make a good living doing it,” Costello reportedly said in one of his last interviews.

In a statement, Costello’s label president, Robert Fitzpatrick of Delta Groove said:

“Losing someone as young, talented and vibrant as Sean, who has accomplished so much in just a few short years and still had so much potential is a terribly difficult blow.

“Sean had friends and fans around the world and was unanimously praised, by critics and fans alike, as one of the main torch bearers of the blues flame.

“Now that potential will go sadly unfulfilled.”

On his MySpace page, the first song posted is Costello’s version of “Going Home,” from his ‘08 release We Can Get Together. It’s a poignant reminder of the old soul Costello contained within his young body during his short time on Earth.

(Delta Groove)

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