from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, October 5, 2005

Sean Blackburn, who sang western-swing tunes in West Bank coffeehouses and on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" radio show in the 1970s and '80s, died of a heart attack in Golden, Colo., on Sept. 29. The guitar player, singer and comedian was 56.

"He was a marvelous singer. Some would call him a crooner," said his former musical partner, Dakota Dave Hull, who recalled their duo gigs together on Keillor's show, at folk festivals and at West Bank and college stages such as the Coffee House Extempore from 1975 to 1984.

Blackburn and Hull sang regularly on "A Prairie Home Companion" in its early years, said Keillor, who sang a song about Blackburn on last week's show after learning of his death. Keillor recalled Blackburn wearing his "big white hat and an enormous moustache, and was the heartthrob of hundreds of women. Attendance was always high on the Saturdays when Sean sang," he said.

After the duo broke up and Blackburn left the Twin Cities, he and Hull continued to play together, here or in Denver, every year or so.

Blackburn's musical partner since 1988, Liz Masterson, said that he had kept growing musically and personally over the years. "He was at the top of his game, and he was in a happy, happy place," Masterson said.

The Liz Masterson-Sean Blackburn duo had staged their harmonic act in 38 states and in Canada, even playing at such venues as Lincoln Center in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, she said.

"He was a soulful guitarist. The musical notes he put together were like no one else's," Masterson said.

Blackburn also performed a comedy routine, drawing rope tricks, guitar playing and storytelling from his Minnesota roots and large family.

He also worked as a Web page designer. Masterson said that one of Blackburn's best friends was his horse Manito, a Spanish mustang, with which Blackburn guided rugged trail rides in New Mexico.

He is survived by his mother, Georgya of Naples, Fla.; sisters Susan Collins of Oak Park, Ill.; Sarah Blackburn-Renn of St. Cloud, and Sandra of Ojai, Calif; brothers Steven of Royalton, Minn.; Samuel of Big Lake, Minn.; Scott of Andover; Seth of Templeton, Calif., and Stanford of Blaine.

A memorial concert will be held at 7 p.m., Oct. 27 at the Cedar Cultural Centre, 416 Cedar Av. S., Minneapolis.