Costello is a kid with a mission

" Sean Costello's time has come. "

By Heather Gates

Sean Costello is definitely a man whose time has come. Trouble is, the kid's only 17.

The Atlanta-based musician still calls his mom and dad's place home and attends high school at Atlanta's High School for the Performing Arts. If you call his private line on any given weeknight, he's just as likely to be working on economics or Spanish homework as he is to be plucking a few of his favorite guitar chords.

But there's a soulful, mature underlining to this young musician who, within the last two years, has become one of the newest, hottest faces on Beale Street and in the blues music industry. "There are several striking things about Sean," said Jay Sheffield, Costello's manager and owner of Memphis-based Jay Sheffield Entertainment. "He's a bright boy and learns quick. He's also achieved an unbelievable level of sophistication in how he interprets his music."

Sheffield "discovered" Costello in early 1995 after listening to a Bobby Little CD on which Costello played guitar. (The CD was produced by Billy Gibson, a former bandmate of Costello's, who currently has his own music production company, the North Magnolia Music Co., in Oxford, Miss.).

Of course, Sheffield already had an inkling or two about Costello's talent before listening to Little's CD - after all, Memphis music lives in a tight-knit community. But afterward, Sheffield promptly told Gibson, "Man, if that's Sean Costello (playing guitar), he's special."

Special ain't the word. On his debut CD, Call the Cops, Costello and his band, Sean Costello and His Jivebombers, offer a gritty, heartfelt performance. They mix original recordings with the "old guys" like "Little" Walter Jacobs and Willie Dixon.

Costello himself delivers soulful renditions, particularly on a six-minute, 48-second version of R.L. McCullum's "Anna Lee."

Throughout, Costello captures the essence of each song so precisely, so fully, that it makes a person take a second look at their spinning CD player and wonder where that boy gets his talent.

When asked that question, Costello responds tentatively, as though the source of his talent still eludes him. Indeed, he says, after some thought, "some of it is innate."

Costello was introduced to the guitar on his ninth birthday, when his parents gave him an acoustic guitar. At first he was drawn more toward the classic rock of Led Zepplin and Jimi Hendrix.

It was inevitable, however, that the blues would find him. In fact, Costello still vividly recalls the day the blues awoke in him.

"The first guy I listened to was Howlin' Wolf. I found his tape in the bargain bin at one of those discount tape places. I remember listening to it. I got scared and excited all at the same time," he said. "It (Howlin' Wolf's music) was otherworldly, unlike anything else I'd ever heard. The guitar was strange. It was a big change from what I'd heard."

It was then, he says, that he felt a "drive that he'd only had before to a limited extent." He was curious about this new-found musical style and wanted to learn more.

Since then, he's honed his craft by listening to early and contemporary legends such as Robert Jr. Lockwood, Magic Sam and B.B. King. He's also strengthened his voice and guitar-playing skills through hours of practice. All have helped his sound evolve into a curious combination of rhythm and jazz, and Delta blues.

Costello's style, said Sheffield, is like Duke Robilard's, a man touted by Sheffield as, "one of the greatest guitar players ever alive," and like T-Bone Walker's, a West Coast bluesman whose music often held a lively hint of jazz.

"He (Costello) has a historical sense of music," Sheffield said, "and he plays with incredible virtuosity."

No doubt Costello has been busy since he got his break on Beale after winning the Beale Street Blues Society's Blues Talent Contest in 1994. He and his band have been putting thousands of miles on their Tahoe mini-van and rented U-haul trailer, which they use to travel from Atlanta to gigs around various Southern locals.

The Jivebombers have performed at such festivals as the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Ark., and at Memphis's own Beale Street Labor Day Music Fest. In addition, they've hit almost all the Beale Street locations, and visited spots such as Sonny Boy's Music Hall, in Helena, Ark., and the Hopson Commissary, in Clarksdale, Miss.

Life gets a little hectic at times, Costello admits. "Most weekends I flip schedules. Oftentimes, I'm up until 4 a.m. Then I have to be up at 5:30 or 6 a.m for school Monday morning."

He won't have to flip-flop for long, however. In May, he'll graduate from high school.

What then?

"I'm definitely not going to college this fall," Costello said. Instead, he's opting to see what "pans out."

Although he's not sure how far his rising star will climb, Costello hopes it doesn't reach a pinnacle anytime soon. In the meantime, he plans to continue recording, and in five to 10 years, wants to headline larger venues.

Whatever his future holds, Costello said he'll "absolutely always be in the music industry, playing the blues - or my version of the blues - for as long as I can imagine."

As for those who question Costello's ability to play the blues despite only 17 years of livin' under his belt?

Simple answer for a kid whose time truly has come.

"I don't see why age has much to do with it," Costello said. "Little Walter was a virtuoso by the time he was 17, and besides, I was born with something. I learned a lot of lessons early."