Tadg Galleran

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Tadg Galleran's first Gig in the blues was with Albert Collins in 1966. He was in the Los Angeles company of "Hair," the musical. He was only seventeen at the time. Tadg also appeared in the Broadway cast of HAIR, working beside Ben Vereen, Meatloaf, Dolores Hall, Ta Ta Vega, and Ted Neeley. Post-"Hair," Tadg spent 14 years in the San Francisco Bay area, where he joined Blues jam sessions at clubs like "The Saloon" in San Francisco, "Eli's Mile High Club" in Oakland, and was influenced by such Bay area acts as Sonny Rhodes, Mitch Woods, Joe Louis Walker, and harmonica greats Huey Lewis and Charlie Musselwhite. He became harmonica player for The King Brothers in 1989. Tadg still performs with them, and his original tune "Even White Boys Get the Blues" is on The King Brothers' first CD, "Turnin' Up the Heat." Tadg also played keyboard for a number of dates with childhood pal Richard Mikuls in The Shuffletones. It was here that he met guitarist James Armstrong, who at the time was recording his own album for Hi-tone Records. One night at a gig, James mentioned needing a slow song to complete the album. Tadg replied, "Let's do it now," and wrote the lyrics to "Don't Kiss and Tell" on the back of a band flyer. He didn't think about it again for six months, when James showed up with a copy of the record. "Don't Kiss and Tell" was an immediate hit in Holland and continues to get airplay throughout Europe. In 1994, Tadg joined up with friend and former Monkee Peter Tork to perform at a benefit dance. They had so much fun they decided to form a band together.Shoe Suede Blues produced two CD's and tours the country performing their own unique brand of Blues to sold-out houses. Tadg is currently on hiatus from Shoe Suede Blues. Tadg appeared with blues great Bernie Pearl for three years as part of the Bernie Pearl Blues Quartet during the famous M'Dears sessions These days you can find Tadg on Venice Beach most sunny days with his band the Merchants of Venice. The Merchants of Venice include Tadg, Biff Scarborough, Don Seymore and Willie T