The name Tom Cussen may not immediately strike a chord with everyone, but in the music world, it is synonymous with some of the best banjos in the industry.

Tucked away in his workshop just outside Clarinbridge, Tom Cussen spends his days happily making banjos for musicians all over the country.

Established in 1988, Clareen Banjos has established a strong reputation as one of the most respected names in the business, with Tom now working full-time alongside his son and nephew to keep up with the demand.

Although he has lived in Galway for decades, Tom is originally from Limerick and first moved to the tribal city to work as a trainee biochemistry technician at University College Galway. His family has always had a "reasonable background" in traditional music and while working in Galway, Tom developed a strong interest in playing reels and jigs. However, his love affair with music only began in earnest when he moved to London in 1970.

While in London, Tom began to take his music seriously and learned by meeting up with people in pubs for a session. It was with some of these fellow musicians that he set up the trad band Shaskeen, who went on to have considerable success both in Ireland and abroad.

Shaskeen were one of the trailblazers for traditional music in Ireland, alongside bands such as The Dubliners and The Clancy Brothers. And like these band, they didn't limit themselves to playing locally; they brought Irish music to the UK, Scotland, the US and the Continent, including Moscow in 1990.

On returning to Ireland in 1971, Tom went back to UCG and continued working as a technician with the Biochemistry Department. However, Shaskeen were still going strong, so he worked hard to combine his day job with the touring demands of the band.

Tom describes the early days of Shaskeen as a "fantastic social period", playing gigs five or six nights a week. What set the band apart from many other groups of the time was their combination of modern music with a traditional banjo.

And, as banjos were so rare, Tom found himself being approached by people on a regular basis asking about upkeep and repairs. Before long he found himself doing minor repairs and restorations on top of his other two positions.

"The toughest thing starting off was finding information. There was no web or Internet then, so I had to find addresses and write off to different people. I made my first banjo in 1979 from a kit I got from the States and I kept going over the next couple of years. I started making banjos from local wood in 1985 and the business got going then in 1988. I was fairly busy between the three jobs but the college were very decent about it, to be fair. Anyway everybody was doing it those days. I like to describe it as having an entrepreneurial nature!"

From 1988, the banjo making business really took off and today Clareen Banjos have 2,500 musicians on their database.

Tom says the banjo is now becoming more and more popular with young people due to "more money, more teachers and more transport". A true perfectionist, he says any banjo player can be no better than his/her instrument and he strives to give the player every opportunity to do themselves justice.

After retiring from UCG a year and a half ago, Tom has committed himself fully to making and repairing banjos and stringed instruments. But, with the release of Shaskeen's latest album 'Walking Up Town' later this year, he will soon find himself back to double-jobbing again.

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