Tommy Castro & the Painkillers, Nick Moss Band featuring Dennis Gruenling

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Kathleen Harrison

Tommy Castro and the Painkillers in front of a bridge.

Tommy Castro and the Painkillers

Prepare for an evening of award-winning blues. Tommy Castro and his longtime band the Painkillers are still supporting 2021’s Tommy Castro Presents A Bluesman Came to Town, which tells the tale of a young man working on the family farm who gets bitten by the blues bug. While Castro has clarified the songs aren’t about him, he certainly is no stranger to the road, having traveled the world with his soulful and passionate blend of classic and contemporary blues for more than 30 years. In 2023, Castro won the Blues Music Award for “B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year” for the second straight year. The Nick Moss Band out of Chicago, meanwhile, will open after recently winning the 2024 Blues Music Award for “Band of the Year.”

media release: Alligator Records artists Tommy Castro & The Painkillers with special guests The Nick Moss Band Featuring Dennis Gruenling will perform live at the Stoughton Opera House in Stoughton on Friday, October 11, 2024.

Ticket Price: $35

Website: www.stoughtonoperahouse.com

Internationally beloved guitarist, singer and songwriter Tommy Castro is currently celebrating over three decades on the road with his band The Painkillers -- bassist Randy McDonald, drummer Bowen Brown and keyboardist Michael Emerson. His latest release is the trailblazing, award-winning Tommy Castro Presents A Bluesman Came To Town. Castro and his band The Painkillers are world-renowned for their roof-raising live shows and limitless energy. In 2023, Castro won the prestigious and coveted Blues Music Award for B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year Award for the second straight year. Look for a new Tommy Castro & The Painkillers album in early 2025.

“Castro is one of the brightest stars in the blues-soul genre. Voracious blues energy and ultimate soul power...impassioned vocals and pure inventiveness in his stellar guitar solos.”  -Blues Music Magazine

Tommy Castro Presents A Bluesman Came To Town is a roots music odyssey. Through its 13 songs, Castro tells the tale 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. “A Bluesman Came To Town isn’t a story about me,” says Castro. “It’s pulled from some of my friends’ and my experiences, though. I’ve seen first-hand for a lot of years what it’s like out there on the road.”

The road is where Castro has made his mark over the past three decades. Talking about his over three decades as a bandleader, Castro says, “When Randy and I started out playing blues joints and bars in San Francisco in the early 90s, we had no idea what kind of a ride we were in for. I’ve always been inspired by all the old blues guys and now I’m one of them. I look forward to the next 30 years!” McDonald adds, “We’ve lasted longer than all our marriages combined, and we’re still rockin' somewhere nearly every night.”

Throughout his long, constantly evolving career, 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. Ranging from horn-fueled R&B to piping hot blues to fiery, stripped-down rock ‘n’ roll, each of his 16 albums is solidly built on 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. Blues Revue declared, “Tommy Castro can do no wrong.”

Castro’s relentless road-dog approach—gig after gig, night after night—has won him loyal, lifelong fans everywhere he plays. The Washington Post says Castro is “phenomenal and funky” with “soulful vocals and inspired blues guitar.” The San Francisco Chronicle describes Castro’s music as, “funky Southern soul, big city blues and classic rock...silvery guitar licks that simultaneously sound familiar and fresh.” No Depression says “Castro plays gritty, string-bending blues like a runaway train...a glorious blend that rocks the soul and lifts the spirits.”

Award-winning traditional electric Chicago blues group The Nick Moss Band Featuring Dennis Gruenling are the 2024 winners of the prestigious Blues Music Award for Band Of The Year. With their 2023 Alligator Records album, Get Your Back Into It! , Chicago native, guitarist and vocalist Nick Moss and New Jersey native, harmonica player and vocalist Dennis Gruenling – together with Rodrigo Mantovani on bass, Taylor Streiff on keyboards and Pierce Downer on drums – deliver a deeply rooted, timeless blue collar blues album.

"Superb…Nick Moss is one of the best existing purveyors of Chicago blues. Dennis Gruenling wails expertly on harp." --Blues Music Magazine

Get Your Back Into It! was produced by Nick Moss and bassist Rodrigo Mantovani and contains fourteen original songs -- twelve by Moss and two by Dennis Gruenling. Guests include saxophonist “Sax” Gordon Beadle and organist “Brother” John Kattke. The album is inspired by the electrifying blues sounds of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and is performed with taste, restraint, sly humor and pure joy. In addition to the expertly crafted lyrics, the album features three wild instrumentals that simply dare you to stay seated.

Moss first made a name for himself playing bass for bluesman Jimmy “Fast Fingers” Dawkins. Dawkins encouraged Nick to unleash his fire and passion. From there, Moss was chosen by Willie “Big Eyes” Smith to join his Legendary Blues Band, but Smith insisted Moss switch to guitar. Blues icon Jimmy Rogers (whose best-known songs included Walking By Myself and Ludella) hired Moss as his touring guitarist, mentoring him on the blues lifestyle along the way. Today, Moss’ blistering fretwork, impassioned, soul-charged vocals and memorable original songs place him in a league of his own.

Dennis Gruenling, Moss’ friend of over 20 years, is considered among today’s most innovative and creative blues harmonica players. His high-energy, full-throttle reed work has earned him comparisons to many of the greats, including the late James Cotton. A self-taught player and a natural entertainer with seven solo albums and numerous guest appearances to his credit, Gruenling’s giant, fat-toned harp work, raw-boned singing and untamed energy are a perfect foil for Moss’ inspired guitar playing and straight-from-the-shoulder blues vocals. Vintage Guitar says, “Gruenling’s harp, along with the Midwestern intensity of Moss’ blues guitar, is pure ecstasy.”

The Nick Moss Band Featuring Dennis Gruenling's first two Alligator albums, 2018’s The High Cost Of Low Living and 2019’s Lucky Guy!, hit blues fans, press and radio by storm. Moss, Gruenling and the band received a total of five Blues Music Awards, with wins in 2020 for Band Of The Year, Song Of The Year (Lucky Guy) and Traditional Blues Album Of The Year (Lucky Guy! ), and in 2019 for Traditional Blues Male Artist (Moss) and Instrumentalist—Harmonica (Gruenling). Blues Music Magazine says, “Nick Moss is a major force in contemporary blues. Dennis Gruenling plays soaring harp...infectious and finger-snappin’.”