Material hauntings: The emotional residue of absent and lost music keepsakes

This Short Communication paper presents two case studies of absent and lost music keepsakes and the emotional and spatial chasms they leave behind. Focusing on a misplaced watch and a lost Guinness can that once belonged to Irish blues musician Rory Gallagher, it examines how these objects endure as material hauntings, evoking Gallagher's aura and eliciting feelings of mystery and unease. It argues that their absence foregrounds their material qualities and shows how, even in loss, they function as heritage-as-praxis, accruing meaning through memory and storytelling. Ultimately, the paper reveals how such voids shape emotional landscapes and alternative music histories.