During Slayer’s recent stop in Dublin, Ireland, bassist and singer Tom Araya paid a visit to a local music shop, where he tried out a mandolin. A video shows him playing a jig on the instrument at Music Minds, laughing as he jams along to a bodhran beat played by another man.
- “I think you can agree he’s found his true calling in music,” said the shop owner. “Irish jigs will never sound the same to us again.
- “Thanks so much for buying from my store and making my staff’s day. The man’s a legend.”
Araya, who was born in Chile and raised in the U.S., has expressed an interest in many kinds of traditional music. “I really enjoy country blues, country folk, like Hank Williams,” he told The Quietus in 2012. “Paul Simon’s Graceland album, you know, musically and lyrically it’s just a really good album. The Robert Johnson [recordings], I find them really fascinating.
“It doesn’t really matter where it’s from, as long as it has a folk orientation to it.”
Incidentally, Music Minds notes that Arraya bought the mandolin but returned it the following day for an electric model.
“So the one you see him jam on is up for sale,” the shop notes. “If anyone is a big fan as I am it’s a must-have for your collection of instruments. Thanks again Tom for dropping by and shopping at music minds. Hope to see you on your next tour.”
Slayer return to the U.K. for this year’s Bloodstock Open Air in Derbyshire on August 14.
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