*Editor's Note: This is the latest installment of Mike Farragher's "TAYSHT" series, his new column and podcast exploring Irish America's relationship with food, inspired in part by Stanley Tucci's "Taste: My Life Through Food." You can read the previous installment here.
In the season finale of TAYSHT, we speak with Celtic blues great Seamus Kelleher, who is keeping busy this summer with a rock and read book tour on both sides of the pond and a summer bus trip throughout Ireland during the month of June.
With his new album "Shine a Light on Me Tonight," Kelleher takes a quantum leap in songwriting with something for every taste.
The instrumental “Nashville Blue” has fiery southern fried solos over a complex, shifting musical bed that hints at Horslips. “Old Salthill Prom" is a sweet slice of Irish soda bread nostalgia, while “Spanish Dancer” is a tangy tango perfect for a summer barbecue.
The standout track is “In Your Lovin’ Arms,” a slide guitar barn burner about exceeding the speed limit to get back to your lover at home.
You can listen to samples of the album and purchase a digital copy online here.
Kelleher’s recently released rock n’ roll memoir, "Shine a Light," chronicles in both hilarious and heartbreaking detail the life of a rock and roller. With a reporter’s eye for detail and a natural gift of engaging storytelling, Kelleher describes the thrill of playing to thousands on the same bill as Thin Lizzy and the darkest depths of depression and addiction that so few Irish people talk about so openly. "Shine a Light" is a triumph, and the author says making it safe to seek help is what his life work is about after publishing his memoir.
"I’ve done 8,000 shows in my half century on the road,” he recalls in our conversation on the TAYSHT podcast. "I suffered with bad depression in my 20s and dealt with it all my life. Very few people knew; they just saw me living this dream life.
"I didn’t let that define me; I had plenty of happy times and I got better at recognizing the signs and make corrective actions accordingly.
"I am so grateful that these messages in the book are reaching people who might be seeking help. Every time you put a foot out of the bed's a new opportunity to turn your life around if you’re in a bad place. That is the message of the book.”
To keep track of the busiest man in rock n’ roll, head over to Seamus’s website and see him whenever he’s playing near you—you won’t regret it!
Check out the latest TAYSHT podcast, featuring Seamus Kelleher, here and over on Spotify:
Catch up on the entire first season of TAYSHT on Spotify here. You can follow Mike Farragher on Twitter and Instagram @brainonshamrox, or visit his website MikeFarragher.com.
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