Joe O’ Callaghan is a blues singer and harmonica player hailing from Cork, Ireland. Joe also plays guitar, saxophone and keyboard and has gigged around Ireland and Europe since the 1970’s, first with a band called ‘Boothouse’ and later with ‘Hot Guitars’ whom he still performs with today.
Joe and Hot Guitars supported Rory Gallagher in Gallagher’s hometown of Cork at the Mountain Dew Festival in 1978 and have featured regularly on radio and TV throughout the years. Each year during October, Hot Guitars play the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival.
Seeing Joe live is an unforgettable experience. In full flow, Joe brings incredible energy and passion to his performance, eyes wild as he struts around the stage, you might even find Joe belting out the blues among the audience. A brilliant vocalist with a hint of gravel in his voice, he has been lauded for being a virtuoso with the harmonica, an instrument he brings to life with subtlety and nuance and when the time calls for it, a raucous energy.
In the end, it’s about the music and Joe just loves and lives the blues.
