Tommy Castro Blues at Gator By The Bay Music Festival San Diego 2024

Throughout his long, constantly evolving career, guitarist, singer and songwriter Tommy Castro has always remained true to himself while exploring, growing and creating new music, and he has taken his thousands of devoted fans right along with him. Since his solo debut in 1994, he’s made 16 albums. Ranging from horn-fueled R&B to piping hot blues to fiery, stripped-down rock ‘n’ roll, each release is solidly built upon Castro’s unshakable musical foundation—a dynamic mix of 1960s-influenced guitar-fueled blues, testifying Memphis-soaked blue-eyed soul and Latin-tinged East San Jose funk, all driven by Castro’s grab-you-by-the-collar vocals and passionate guitar work.

Born in San Jose, California in 1955, Tommy Castro first picked up a guitar at age 10. Almost every major rock and soul act toured through the area, and Castro was at every show. Mixing the blues and rock and roll he loved and the soul music he heard blasting from lowriders in his neighborhood Tommy started to create his own personal sound and style. He honed his guitar skills and intense, gritty vocals, as he performed on San Francisco’s highly competitive club scene. As his reputation spread, Tommy played in a variety of Bay Area bands, soon making a name for himself as a hotter-than-hot live artist bursting at the seams with talent. He formed the first Tommy Castro Band in 1992 and has not stopped touring since.

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In 1995, soon after releasing his first album, The Tommy Castro Band was selected as the house band for three seasons on NBC Television’s Comedy Showcase (airing right after Saturday Night Live). His label debut on Alligator Records, Hard Believer, was released to massive popular and critical acclaim and Castro won four of his six career Blues Music Awards, including the coveted B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year Award (the very highest award a blues performer can receive).
In 2012, Castro stripped his music down to its raw essence, creating a high-energy, larger-than-life sound with the formation of The Painkillers. Castro’s newest album, a roots music odyssey entitled Tommy Castro Presents A Bluesman Came To Town, tells the story of a young man working on his family farm who gets bitten by the blues bug. He masters the guitar and heads out on the road seeking fame and fortune, only to find what he’s left behind is the treasure he’s been looking for. TommyCastro.com