Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

I once heard a saying that there is always one artist that makes you fall in love with the Blues. I think I found mine. 28-year-old blues veteran Sean Costello is one of the best musicians that I’ve heard in a long time. His musical influences show his musical style, and they include the likes of B.B. King, Elvis Costello (no relation), Bob Dylan, and even gospel greats The Five Blind Boys.

Costello’s We Can Get Together showcases his deep, gruff voice, his incredible guitar skills, and an 11-pack of songs that will knock your socks off. Costello’s genre is “electric blues,” and I’ve never heard anyone play a Les Paul like he does. He has almost created his own style.

Active in the blues community since the age of 14, Costello is a true veteran of music. He shows off his musical prowess on many tracks on We Can Get Together, including Can’t Let Go (which is about not being able to let go of a woman from the past), Anytime You Want (which has an incredibly great tempo change smack dab in the middle that will surprise and delight you every time you hear it), and Told Me A Lie (which shows off Costello’s gospel influence).

This is almost something that you’d expect to hear on a Thursday night in a coffee shop, but then again it’s much better than that. An interesting comparison that I thought of when listening to Costello: he is exactly what Taylor Hicks was made out to be. Remember how Hicks was pushed as some incredible, gruff, talented musician, until we found out that he wasn’t what he was cracked up to be? That’s exactly what Costello is, except he is what Hicks was cracked up to be.

Blues music is – and will always be – underrated, so there is unfortunately little hope that Sean Costello will ever be what he deserves to be: a mega-star. But if you want some great music to listen to while we let history decide Costello’s place in music, go pick this one up.