The story of Tim O'Brien (aka James Quinn) lends itself so well to balladry it's hard to believe it's not been told in song before. Or perhaps it has and I'm just not aware of it. Whatever the case it's great that it's fallen to Adrian Crowley to relate it.
Crowley's skill with lyrical narratives, plus his understated delivery underpinned by melancholic guitar and mellotron, put him ahead of the current field when it comes to this kind of thing. Here, he relates the story of the eponymous Quinn, a native of Belfast working as a silent film actor in 1920s America. He was convicted of a theft of a collection of valuable shrunken heads who somehow managed to flee before being sent to San Quentin, never to be seen in the States again.
It's a preview track from the forthcoming Bring Your Own Hammer compilation From the Tombs, which is dedicated to the memory of the great Cathal Coughlan. Fittingly, if entirely by chance, you can hear both Quinn the Adventurer and a track from Coughlan's Microdisney in the Peel Back...section of my current Dandelion Radio show, now streaming on-demand here.
You can get the track here. From the Tombs will be released in the autumn,
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