RUF RECORDS SIGNS ALBERT CASTIGLIA, SCHEDULES
SOLID GROUND FOR RELEASE IN THE U.S. ON APRIL 8th
Extensive Tour To Coincide With CD From Internationally Renowned
Blues Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter
(March 25, 2014) RUF Records announced the signing of top Blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, Albert Castiglia (pronounced ka-steel-ya), to the Internationally renowned label, with a U.S. release of SOLID GROUND scheduled for April 8th, 2014. He joins RUF for the release of his seventh album in two decades filled with constant touring, songwriting and musical evolution. A U.S. tour will follow the release of the album in the States.
"SOLID GROUND is my best album to date," says the 44-year-old bandleader simply. "I put more time, love, blood, sweat and tears into this recording than any of the others. I love every song on it and the result is a musical variety that I hope touches something in everyone."
RUF Records Founder, Thomas Ruf proclaimed, "We are thrilled to have Albert Castiglia join the RUF Records family of artists. Albert is an energetic powerhouse on stage and the funniest guy in the world off stage. We had a ball on the Blues Caravan tour together. Thank you, Samantha Fish and Mike Zito, for turning me on to his amazing talent and personality."
Castiglia is an artist who sings from the gut, shoots guitar licks from the hip and writes songs that articulate ones hopes, fears and heartaches. Recorded at Fat Rabbit Studios in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, this album isn't just solid, it's special. There are plenty of thrills in the musical execution, with Albert leading the band on vocals and guitar, backed by the veteran team of Matt Schuler (bass/vocals), Bob Amsel (drums), Jeremy Baum (B3/piano/wurlitzer), Lou Bevere (guitar/vocals) and Debbie Davies (guitar/vocals) – plus Dave Gross on multi-instrumentation and production.
A quick look at the 14 tracks presented on SOLID GROUND illuminates tales of a life both bitter and sweet. "Triflin'" hits listeners with Albert's soulful fretwork, while his vocals spin tales of troubles ("We all have our share of problems, damn near every day…"). Woman trouble is a recurring theme, whether it's on the defiant bounce of "Keep You Around Too Long" or the shattered slow-blues of "Have You No Shame" ("I saw you last night under them parking-lot lights, wrapped up in someone else's arms…"). But alongside personal issues, there are also songs plugged into the wider social context, as Albert implores us to seize the day – or, as he puts it, "Put Some Stank On It" – and bemoans the war-torn modern world on "Love One Another" ("It seems like hate is on the rise, it's enough to bring tears to my eyes…"). A shape-shifting artist with an eclectic vision, Albert's songwriting is equally convincing on the Latin-tinged instrumental, "Little Havana Blues (Arroz Con Mango)" as the sunny strum of "Celebration," and even when he takes on the Stones' mighty "Sway," he makes it his own. He's just as magnetic when he strips down the sparse acoustic slide-blues of "Hard Time." ("I was born in a broke-down Chevy," he sings. "Now I feel like it's on me heavy. I was raised in a dirty junkyard, my only friend was this guitar...".)
Albert Castiglia arrived on the International radar after Buddy Guy's iconic harp-blower, Junior Wells, heard the young bluesman sing and invited him into his solo band for several world tours. The gig was a shop-window, and though Wells sadly died in 1998, Albert stayed busy, joining the great Atlanta vocalist, Sandra Hall, for national tours in the late-'90s, while he held his own in onstage jams with artists ranging from Pinetop Perkins to John Primer. He has been named "Best Blues Guitarist" by Miami New Times, the respected alternative music magazine and honored by Roots Music Report with a Top Blues Album of 2011 and 2012. Castiglia was born in New York and raised in Miami to an Italian father and Cuban mother and combines all influences to create his unique style of modern day blues with a traditional core.
Previous albums include: BURN (2004); THE BITTERSWEET SESSIONS
(2006); A STONE'S THROW (2006); THESE ARE THE DAYS (2008); KEEPIN ON (2010) and LIVING THE DREAM (2012).
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Albert Castiglia earned his blues cred as a member of Junior Wells' band, but his resumé is irrelevant at this point in his career. His muscular vocal style, incendiary guitar work, and fine songwriting are all the signs of an artist who's in it for the love of music, a fact he wryly acknowledges on this album's title track. With John Ginty's big Hammond B-3 lending support to his chattering rhythm guitar work, Castiglia sings "The road to riches is playing guitar, that's why I'm living inside my car" before laying down another stinging guitar solo. "The Man" is a blues mambo that protests the damage bankers have done to the country with a bitterly humorous lyric and some snarling lead guitar. A modified Bo Diddley beat drives "Public Enemy #9," another wry tale of street life, while "I Want Her for Myself" is a more traditional country blues thang with driving acoustic guitar and cool harmonica work by Sandy Mack. Graham Wood Drout's "Sometimes You Win" is another acoustic workout, a brooding meditation carried by only by Castiglia's acoustic guitar and vocals. Castiglia shows off his guitar prowess on a supersonic version of Freddie King's "Freddie's Boogie" featuring another solid performance by John Ginty on the B-3. He demolishes Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm" with a metallic guitar assault and a sneering, growling vocal and gives Little Richard's "Directly from My Heart to You" the familiar feel of an early New Orleans R&B jam, again with the able work of John Ginty, this time on piano. poet Recording information: Showplace Studios, Dover, NJ.
Photographer: Jim Zielinski. Personnel: Albert Castiglia (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); John Ginty (piano, Hammond b-3 organ); Bob Amsell (drums). Audio Mixer: Ben Elliott.
Living The Dream
Albert Castiglia has been making his living as a bluesman for 20 years, coming to prominence as lead guitarist for the legendary Junior Wells. He's played with a who's who of blues greats in his career and stepped out on his own in 2002 with Burn, an album that got universal raves. There's no doubting Castiglia's power as a guitarist, as his searing lead work on the album-opening "Cadillac Assembly Line" (written by Mack Rice, composer of the standard "Mustang Sally") demonstrates. Listening to the track on an iPod may permanently fuse your earbuds to your skull. But he's got more on tap than his considerable pyrotechnics. Castiglia demonstrates his versatility with his own compositions, including the jazzy "Mojo 305," an instrumental featuring some nice B-3 work by Bill Quinn; "Keep on Keepin On," a swampy blues-rocker with a topical lyric that tips its hat to Creedence Clearwater Revival with its chooglin' beat and Castiglia's fiery vocal; the acoustic slide guitar showcase "Sweet Southern Angel" with Toby Walker backing up the boss on Dobro; and "Closing Time," a mournful late-night she-done-me-wrong song with inventive guitar work that starts out restrained and slowly builds in its furious power. Castiglia's desperate vocal here is full of anger and resignation. Critics often compare Castiglia's singing to Van Morrison, and maybe there was a bit of Van the Man in his vocal style years back, but on Keepin On he has his own signature style, a combination of urban grit and smooth, soulful crooning. Like Robert Cray, Castiglia combines hardcore blues with soul, rock, and country flavors for a sound that will appeal to rockers and blues purists alike.
Photographer: Jim Zielinski. Personnel: Albert Castiglia (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar); Toby Walker (dobro); Bill "Mighty" Quinn (piano, Hammond b-3 organ); Bob Amsell (drums); Emedin Rivera (congas); Nicole Hart (background vocals). Recording information: Showplace Studios, Dover, NJ. Living Blues (p. 73) - "ON his latest Blues Leaf solo set, KEEPIN' ON, Castiglia sounds nothing less than the road-tested, authoritative presence he has become."
Keepin On
These Are the Days album by Albert Castiglia Recording information: Showplace Studios, Dover, NJ. These Are the Days songs Personnel: Albert Castiglia (vocals, guitar); Kenny Sorensen (harmonica); Susan Lusher (piano, Hammond b-3 organ); Rio Clemente (organ); Susan Lushner (keyboards); Steve Gaskell (bass instrument, bass guitar); Bob Amsell (drums); Sweet Suzi Smith, Nicole Hart, Nicolette Hart (background vocals). Liner Note Author: Bob Porter. These Are the Days CD music contains a single disc with 11 songs.
Albert Castiglia earned his blues cred as a member of Junior Wells' band, but his resumé is irrelevant at this point in his career. His muscular vocal style, incendiary guitar work, and fine songwriting are all the signs of an artist who's in it for the love of music, a fact he wryly acknowledges on this album's title track. With John Ginty's big Hammond B-3 lending support to his chattering rhythm guitar work, Castiglia sings "The road to riches is playing guitar, that's why I'm living inside my car" before laying down another stinging guitar solo. "The Man" is a blues mambo that protests the damage bankers have done to the country with a bitterly humorous lyric and some snarling lead guitar. A modified Bo Diddley beat drives "Public Enemy #9," another wry tale of street life, while "I Want Her for Myself" is a more traditional country blues thang with driving acoustic guitar and cool harmonica work by Sandy Mack. Graham Wood Drout's "Sometimes You Win" is another acoustic workout, a brooding meditation carried by only by Castiglia's acoustic guitar and vocals. Castiglia shows off his guitar prowess on a supersonic version of Freddie King's "Freddie's Boogie" featuring another solid performance by John Ginty on the B-3. He demolishes Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm" with a metallic guitar assault and a sneering, growling vocal and gives Little Richard's "Directly from My Heart to You" the familiar feel of an early New Orleans R&B jam, again with the able work of John Ginty, this time on piano. ~ j. poet
Recording information: Showplace Studios, Dover, NJ. Photographer: Jim Zielinski. Personnel: Albert Castiglia (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); John Ginty (piano, Hammond b-3 organ); Bob Amsell (drums). Audio Mixer: Ben Elliott.
Godfather of the Blues Need Your Love So Bad
A Stone’s Throw
Burn
