Blues and Brews snags national acts (Great Falls, MT)

Blues and Brews snags national acts
May 16, 2009
Hot Ticket

Organizers for the 14th annual Blues and Brews fundraiser for River's Edge Trail have bagged a top national act for this year's event. The Tommy Castro Band headlines a musical roster that includes the Insomniacs as well as the 49th Street Blues Project.

The event is Friday, Sept. 11, at the Mansfield Theater Convention Center. Tickets go on sale Aug. 1.

Hailing from the Bay Area and formed in 1991, the Tommy Castro Band features Castro on guitar and vocals backed by five veteran blues musicians performing a fusion of rock, blues and Memphis soul.

Castro's recording career began in earnest in 1996 with "Exception to the Rule" on the Blind Pig label. The debut quickly earned accolades from trade publications such as Billboard, the Gavin Report, Blues Revue, and Living Blues.

Since then, Castro has released seven albums. His latest is "Painkiller," which was voted by readers of Blueswax, the largest subscribed blues publication in the world, as Album of the Year in 2007. Castro previously won Blueswax awards for Artist of the Year in 2002 and 2006 and Album of the Year in 2003.

Castro also won the B.B. King Blues Entertainer of the Year award and "Painkiller" took top honors for Contemporary Blues Album of the Year at the 2008 Blues Music Awards. In addition, Castro's band was opening act on blues legend B.B. King's 2001 and 2002 concert tours.
'LEFT COAST' BLUES

The Insomniacs are a blues, swing, jump and roots rock group from Portland, Ore. The four-piece band is led by 27-year old vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Vyasa Dodson. Drawing from 1950s era blues, the band garnered critical acclaim in 2007 with their self-produced debut release, "Left Coast Blues," on the Delta Groove Music label.

The album hit a peak on the Living Blues radio charts at No. 5 and earned a 2008 Blues Music Award nomination for Best New Artist Debut. The band's latest album, "At Least I'm Not With You," was released in April.

The 49th Street Blues Project, a perennial favorite at Blues and Brews, is a five-piece group from Great Falls. "We ask them back every year now because the crowds just keep asking for them," says Blues and Brews Music Coordinator Jack King. "They're like the B and B house band."