April 16, 1979-April 15, 2008 Born in Philadelphia, Costello began playing guitar at age nine, about the time his family moved to Atlanta. He came of age early, appearing regularly in clubs before he could drive, much less gain legal admission, to them. At age 14, his winning performance in the finals of the Memphis Blues Society’s talent competition had career-changing effects. First, it netted him studio time to record his debut album, Call The Cops, a collection of 1940s and 1950s-style Chicago blues. The Memphis trip also marked the beginning of an important association with another finalist, as Costello put his solo aspirations on hold long enough to contribute indelibly memorable guitar tracks to Susan Tedeschi’s career breakthrough gold album, Just Won’t Burn and, with his band, to back her on the high-profile national tour in support of that record. Although Cops was well-received (Real Blues deemed it “explosive”), Costello went hard to the woodshed before his next recording, Cuttin’ In (2000). The results were immediately apparent in a more mature, fully realized vocal delivery, and in a broader range of material that touched on Texas influences (Johnny “Guitar” Watson), darkly exotic Caribbean sounds (“Goombay Rock”, a track discovered by accident), and second-generation postwar Chicago artists (the worldly, tour-de-force cover of “Double Trouble” marks Costello’s first attempt at recording a song by Otis Rush, who continues as a wellspring of inspiration). Th

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