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Brown BurnettTommy Castro had just gotten out of an interstate construction traffic jam, having arrived for a gig in Columbia, Mo. He was hot, tired and had just driven 500 miles.He was on a cell phone and he was feeling on top of the world. "Hey man, I’m on tour with B.B. King, Buddy Guy and John Hiatt – it can’t get any better than that. "I’m happy!" It’s been a long road for the self-proclaimed "kid from San Jose, Calif.," who will be in Memphis this weekend playing at the Great Southern Beer Festival, sharing the stage Sunday with two of his blues idols, B.B. and Buddy. But before Sunday’s gig (Aug. 26) at Mud Island at 5 p.m., he’ll have a record release party at the new Tower Records at 2 p.m. that same day in the brand new Peabody Place store. ‘’I can’t believe it. Here I am. In Memphis, having a record release party and playing with these guys. I have to pinch myself to believe it." Castro’s been steadily building a reputation as a stellar blues-rock performer over the past decade. From his home base near San Francisco, he’s grown from local artist to regional artist to national artist and is now making a name for himself in Europe as well. He even sang the National Anthem at San Francisco’s old Candlestick Park to open the baseball season a few years back. "Our sound is a combination of rock and roll, traditional blues and soul music, so Memphis and its music is special to me and to what I’m doing.’’ An upbeat, energetic guy in his mid-40’s, Castro is a mere pup in a business where musical artists perform into their 80’s. "I didn’t start making a living at this until I was in my 30’s," he said. "I bounced around trying to find my niche doing other things because I didn’t think I could make money doing this (music)." He pulled many day gigs, playing music at night. Doing "everything." He worked in a dry cleaners. He made a living installing window coverings. "That worked out OK for me because I could set my own hours and play music at nights, but I really hated it. "It dawned on me one day that I did this music thing better than I did anything else so I focused on it fulltime. I was pretty convinced that if I did play music for a living, I’d better get used to being poor. "But ever since I made that decision, things started going my way. And here I am." Castro has made several visits to Memphis, playing at the Memphis in May Festival and he talks fondly of Beale Street and Handy Park. "And the Rendezvous. Man, I love that dry barbecue they do there." Castro talks about what’s ahead – looking forward to more tours, more albums. "One thing I’ve learned about this business is that a lot of it is in the cosmos. I just want to concentrate on making more good music." |
