Tommy Castro – Closer To The Bone (2025) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Tommy Castro – Closer To The Bone (2025)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 51:03 minutes | 1,04 GB | Genre: Blues
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alligator Records

Guitar-slinging, soul-singing blues and rock legend Tommy Castro gets back to his crowd-pleasing blues roots on “Closer To The Bone.” Tommy’s one of the most popular roots music artists in the world due to his outstanding albums and one of the busiest live performance schedules in all of music. His 2021 studio release, “Tommy Castro Presents A Bluesman Came To Town,” has scanned nearly 15,000 units. He is five-time winner of the Blues Music Award (the Grammy of the Blues) for Entertainer Of The Year.

”Closer To The Bone” is the most unvarnished, straight-ahead blues release of Tommy Castro’s career. Produced by famed guitarist/producer Christoffer “Kid” Andersen, the record finds Castro at the top of his game, bristling with dynamic energy and raw emotion on a set of both new, original songs and inspired versions of songs by Ray Charles, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Brownie McGhee and more. Guest artists include Andersen, Rick Estrin, Billy Branch, Deanna Bogart, Jim Pugh and The Sons Of The Soul Revivers.Closer to the Bone is Tommy Castro’s first album in four years. His last LP, the stellar A Bluesman Came to Town, is a concept set tracing the life of an itinerant bluesman. It includes some of the finest originals in Castro’s long career, including the gospel-blues “Child Don’t Go,” the title track, and “I Want to Go Back Home.” It may initially seem odd that after four years, the guitar slinger and band return with a set that includes only three originals; the remainder are covers written by Castro’s friends and heroes. It contains the raw, unpolished blues (not blues rock) songs his last album’s protagonist would play in roadhouses. The Painkillers remain keyboardist Mike Emerson, bassist/backing vocalist Randy McDonald, and drummer Bowen Brown. The album was produced by Christoffer “Kid” Andersen, who plays numerous instruments. Further, Castro invited a large cast of guests including saxophonist Deanna Bogart, Chris Cain, Rick Estrin, a full horn section, and more.
The set opens with “Can’t Catch a Break,” a choogler that swings as the horns, led by baritone sax and a bumping bassline, frame Castro’s rough, whiskey-soaked vocals and stinging guitar fills. He follows with a fantastic, steamy read of Jimmy Nolen’s “The Way You Do.” The interplay between the piano, a syncopated, shuffling drum kit, and a walking bassline opens the gate for the guitarist, who offers an economical solo that fits his soulful vocal. Johnny Nitro’s “One More Night” is an homage to the legendary San Francisco bluesman — Castro even plays the composer’s 1966 Fender Stratocaster to underscore out his tribute. Original “Crazy Woman Blues” is a slow, gritty, late-night Chicago blues reminiscent of Luther Allison. Cain’s “Woke Up and Smelled the Coffee” is another Chicago-styled groover, this time uptempo and rattling with boogie woogie piano, B-3, and a punched-up, dirty guitar sound. Johnny Guitar Watson’s “She Moved Me” is an excellent meld of R&B-styled horns, boogie guitar, and a swinging rhythm section behind Bogart’s killer sax solo. Castro’s Ain’t Worth the Heartache” is a classic, using the Bo Diddley beat on guitar, framed by roiling tom-toms and kick drum as Billy Branch’s harmonica delivers a wailing solo before Castro’s. It’s followed by an excellent version of Ray Charles’ soul-blues ballad “A Fool for You.” The set closes with three astonishing covers. Hank Penny’s jump classic “Bloodshot Eyes” led by roadhouse horns and upright piano, also contains a fine tenor solo from Bogart. Eddie Taylor’s “Stroll Out West” straddles the Delta-Texas blues divide. Castro’s singing here is some of the most expressive of his career — his moaning falsetto is a killer. The final cut is a resonant read of Brownie McGee’s “Hole in the Wall.” With a backing vocal chorus, squalling B-3, cut-time snare shuffle, and a pulsing, single-note bassline, Castro’s guitar playing goes at the entire maelstrom as his singing claims authority over it all. On Closer to the Bone, the artist is personally influenced by and committed to these covers, and supplements them with originals that carry the same weight. All killer, no filler. – Thom Jurek

Tracklist:

1-1. Tommy Castro – Can’t Catch A Break (03:53)
1-2. Tommy Castro – The Way You Do (03:12)
1-3. Tommy Castro – One More Night (03:56)
1-4. Tommy Castro – Crazy Woman Blues (05:25)
1-5. Tommy Castro – Woke Up And Smelled The Coffee (03:05)
1-6. Tommy Castro – Keep Your Dog Inside (03:48)
1-7. Tommy Castro – She Moves Me (03:50)
1-8. Tommy Castro – Ain’t Worth The Heartache (03:42)
1-9. Tommy Castro – A Fool For You (03:46)
1-10. Tommy Castro – Freight Train (Let Me Ride) (04:05)
1-11. Tommy Castro – Everywhere I Go (03:29)
1-12. Tommy Castro – Bloodshot Eyes (02:53)
1-13. Tommy Castro – Stroll Out West (03:01)
1-14. Tommy Castro – Hole In The Wall (02:52)

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