Bernard Costello was born in Dublin in 1942. He grew up in a musical environment. His father had been the lead boy soprano in the Palestrina Choir in Dublin’s ProCathedral. He had won medals at the Feis Ceoil and was known to play “Ain’t she sweet ” on the piano. Influences Bernard’s early influences were the great Rock & Roll Giants of the 50’s: Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Elvis, Clarence Frogman Henry, Ray Charles , While a student at University College Dublin he discovered, inter alia, Besie Smith, traditional jazz, the Hot Fives, the Dutch Swing College, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hoakes, Memphis Slim, Joe Brown, Billie Holiday, Sonny Terry and Brownie Magee,Missippi John Hurt, Robert Johnson, Otis Reading, Leadbelly and Maurice Lipsome.