JAMES KEELAGHAN

folk singer-guitarist

“I would have to say that it was probably either a solo Liam Clancy album or the John Denver album, ‘Poems, Prayers and Promises.’ It was one of those two, but I can’t quite nail it down.

“Pretty early on I was also listening to Bruce Cockburn, Jesse Winchester and a lot of Irish traditional stuff. And, of course, I had my Dylan phase, where I was really obtuse and oblique. Each year still brings a few new things across my path. I think that influence is a thing that never stops.”

“Let me tell you a story, OK?

“When I was 15 years old I used to hang out at a local record store. And there was this guy who worked there who, you know, thought he knew what I liked, and he handed me this album one day. It was John Coltrane.

“So I took it home and I put it on the machine. And I hated it. I mean, I really hated it. I just didn’t get it. So I played it again. I played it again, and I played it again. And then, I just couldn’t stop playing it. I kept listening to those notes.

“And I realized that that’s what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, you know - make music.”