Sean steps out of the shadows

Oct 12 2006 By Kate Mansey, Liverpool Echo

Sean says he feels a strong connection with the city where John started out playing with his band The Quarrymen.

And right now he’s preparing to come back to play in Liverpool next month - one of only two dates in the UK - when he tours the new album.

Sean says: “I’ve been to Liverpool twice before.

“It’s really heavy being there. You know, the truth is it reminds me of how much I lost by losing my dad because I didn’t get to have any relationship with England, let alone Liverpool and I feel, wow, this is a huge part of my history and my dad that I kind of was deprived of.

“Well, deprived might not be the right word but a part that was missing from my childhood.”

Sean pauses for a moment, and then adds quietly: “Liverpool makes me aware of feeling the vacancy left by my dad.

“I can imagine he might have spoken to me about Liverpool and taken me there. It’s a really meaningful place for me.

“But the truth is that beyond The Beatles Liverpool is a pretty hip music city even now.”

He talks remarkably candidly about his father, as anyone might speak about a loved one who they’ve lost – fondly, lovingly, but with an underlying sense of unspeakable sorrow.

He says that in many ways he pieced together the bits of his father’s life by listening to his songs.

Sean says: “I think I’m lucky that there’s so much music because so many people, when they lose someone they love, don’t have anything like as much to remember them by.

“There’s something nice about having that music there. But on the other hand to say I’m lucky is ridiculous because I would rather have him.”