Tom Dunne: New York's Irish haunts were instrumental in Jeff Buckley’s rise
Jeff Buckley in 1994, the year he released Grace, and three years before he died in a drowning accident. (Photo by David Gahr/Getty Images)
Jeff Buckley’s sublime Grace album turns 30 on August 23. It wasn’t a huge success on release, either critically or commercially, but oddly enough had its official release in Whelans in Dublin. That venue will host a special gig on the anniversary to mark the occasion.
But why was it ever launched here? The Irish connection goes back to a tiny coffee house/ bar that existed in New York in the early 1990s. It was called Sin É and was located at 122 St Mark’s Place, just off Tompkins Square Park. It was tiny, dark and dangerous to get to. It was the then number one mecca for the Irish in the US.
