Soul singer, blues guitarist Tommy Castro plans to stick around

Soul singer, blues guitarist Tommy Castro plans to stick around
August 27, 2009
BY L. KENT WOLGAMOTT
JournalStar.com

At 54, Tommy Castro is at the peak of his form and doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon.

"I can see myself like John Lee Hooker and B.B. King, still out there doing it when I'm 80 years old," Castro said. "Why not?"

Indeed, why not? Especially when you're as hot as Castro is. The winner of the 2008 Blues Music Entertainer of the Year Award, Castro's one of the top draws on the blues circuit and a king of the blues cruises. He's just put out a new album that is one of his best, "Hard Believer."

On the album, Castro's 10th solo album and his first for Alligator Records, Castro does versions of Bob Dylan and Allen Toussaint songs and lays out a little autobiography while showcasing his soul vocals and stinging blues guitar.

"I've always been a soul man at the core," Castro said from his home base of San Francisco. "I'm a blues guitar player and a soul singer. I've always tried to put those things together. Those are my influences."

While "Hard Believer" remains true to Castro's influences, it's a bit of a departure from the blues/rock norm, with an unexpected version of Dylan's gospel number "You Gotta Serve Somebody" and Toussaint's New Orleans funk mixed in with the Memphis sound and some West Coast blues.

"It's different than anything we've ever done," Castro said. "I like to make a record that's different than what I've done before. It's hard to do that when you've been around as long as I have. That's cool. But I want to bring something to the project that will get the audience's attention."

Castro has high hopes for "Hard Believer" in part because it's distributed by Alligator. Castro has been associated with Blind Pig Records for decades, but said the time was right for him to move on to the powerhouse blues imprint.

"You want a label that can support you on the road," he said. "My living is made playing shows. The first thing (Alligator president) Bruce Iglauer said to me is, 'We know the place we sell records is at shows. So we spend our time trying to get people to your shows.' That clinched it."

Castro will sell "Hard Believer" Tuesday when he and the rest of the Tommy Castro Band roll into the Zoo Bar for a 6 p.m. show.

Like nearly all of his peers, he's finding life on the road to be harder these days, with clubs closing across the country and others cutting back on live music.

"But for guys like me, it's never been easy," he said. "We're used to it. I put one foot in front of the other and do the most logical thing and it seems to work."

In fact, he said, the music business is a gamble and always has been based on believing that you've got something an audience wants to hear.

"If you think about it, it's crazy," he said. "There's no guarantee somebody is going to want to have us do a show, and there's no guarantee anybody's going to show up. You totally do it on faith.

"The record business has changed tremendously. You have to roll with that. That's the thing about Alligator; they know it's a new world. They roll with it and do the best they can. I'm trying to do the same thing. I just love to play. I want to be out there playing music."

Out there for years, just like B.B. and John Lee, who cut a song with Castro just a few days before he died in 2001 and who played a show the night before he died.

"If I can go out like John Lee Hooker, oh yeah," Castro said.