Tommy Castro comes to the Cluny

May 18 2010 by David Whetstone, The Journal

EARLIER this month Tommy Castro and his band swept the board at the Blues Federation awards in Memphis.

Castro scooped four of the top prizes: BB King Entertainer Of The Year, Band Of The Year Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year for current release Hard Believer and Contemporary Male Blues Artist.

Tonight it’s Newcastle’s turn to be swept up by Castro and his bunch when he rolls into town to play The Cluny in the Lower Ouseburn Valley.

Slow blues, rock-blues or R&B, Castro and his band are noted for the dynamism of their stage performance, and Hard Believer has been on the Billboard Blues Chart for over 30 consecutive weeks.

It’s a coup for The Cluny , as Castro very rarely visits the UK, but in the US he has forged a reputation as one of the most compelling of live acts, touring with artists such as BB King, Robert Cray, Johnny Lang and the late John Lee Hooker. Castro was also winner of the 2008 Blues Music Award for Entertainer Of The Year.

Born in San Jose, California, in 1955, Castro first picked up a guitar at age 10. He formed The Tommy Castro Band in 1991 and won the Bay Area Music Award for Best Club Band in both 1993 and 1994, with his debut album, Exception To The Rule, being released in 1996.

This was followed in 1999 with Right As Rain, then Guilty of Love and the 2003 release Gratitude on his own Heart and Soul label, with Painkiller the next in the line.

Tickets for tonight are £13.50 and available from the Cluny on 0191 230 4474; or book online from www.cannygigs.com

Tony Henderson