Tommy Castro & the Painkillers

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Kathleen Harrison

Tommy Castro & the Painkillers

media release: Internationally beloved guitarist, singer and songwriter Tommy Castro, along with his band The Painkillers, celebrates over three decades on the road with a live performance at the Stoughton Opera House in Stoughton on Saturday, March 25, 2023. Tommy Castro & The Painkillers -- bassist Randy McDonald, drummer Bowen Brown and keyboardist Michael Emerson -- have been together as a band for more than a decade. Castro’s most recent release is the trailblazing, award-winning Tommy Castro Presents A Bluesman Came To Town.

 Castro won the top three 2022 Blues Music Awards (presented by The Blues Foundation), receiving the coveted B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year Award (for the third time in his career), Album Of The Year Award (for Tommy Castro Presents A Bluesman Came To Town) and the highly competitive Blues Band Of The Year Award for Tommy Castro & The Painkillers. Recently, Castro received two 2023 Blues Music Award nominations for B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year and Blues Rock Artist Of The Year. The awards ceremony will be held in Memphis, Tennessee on Thursday, May 11.

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 30 years 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.”

The two have performed over 6000 shows together, including three seasons as the house band for NBC’s Comedy Showcase, two summer-long tours with B.B. King and Buddy Guy, 40 music cruises (including 33 consecutive sold-out Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruises), and many of the world’s largest music festivals. They have shared stages with legends including John Lee Hooker, Carlos Santana, Bob Weir, Gregg Allman, Dr. John, Willie Nelson, Jeff Beck, Joe Bonamassa, Elvin Bishop, Charlie Musselwhite, Magic Dick of The J. Geils Band, Taj Mahal and Los Lobos.

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 Castro’s 16 albums is solidly built on his 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.”