Seán Lightholder is a San Francisco bay area native returned in 2008 from 7 years living and playing music abroad in Ireland. Born to an Irish father and 5th-generation San Franciscan mother, his music straddles old and new traditions. Contact sean(at)lightholder(dot)com for bookings.

A brief history

Seán grew up playing piano and clarinet, but quickly took to guitar in high school and played in a number of different bands throughout his teenage years. In 1994 his rock band 'Cloud 8' won the Northern California Battle of the Bands. In 1998 the Bay Area Open Mic Calendar was created out of his love for the bay area music scene. In 2001 his band, Kerbside, garnered radio airplay with their EP Next April. The duo moved to Ireland and released Anything Strange to extensive critical acclaim and European radio airplay, touring Ireland and the UK following its release.

While abroad, Seán founded songwriter.ie in the same spirit as the Bay Area Open Mic Calendar and began to explore Irish traditional music with the bodhrán (Irish drum) and mandolin (featured on The Friday Sessions album).

In September 2008 he recorded True Story, his first solo album. The copies Seán ordered sold out in less than 2 weeks - prior to its scheduled October release. The album is a collection of original, narrative songs that range from the whimsical to the melancholy.

Nowadays Seán is back in the bay area. He has his own music blog, hosts open mic events at Bay Street Coffees and The Essanay Cafe, haunts local Irish music sessions and can be seen either playing on his own, with Irish traditional band West of Shannon, skiffle trio Mosquito Wilson or as part of Kerbside.