Tommy Castro & The PainkillersTommy Castro & The Painkillers

On Sunday, September 20th the Community Center for the Performing Arts welcomes back Tommy Castro & The Painkillers to the WOW Hall. Multiple award-winning, California-based blues and rock sensation Tommy Castro is the guitar slinging, soul-singing leader of the telepathically tight and wildly raucous Tommy Castro s released 17 previous albums over the course of his four-decade career. Each release features its own individual sound and style, ranging from horn-fueled Rn roll. With his new album, Closer To The Bone, Castro has returned to his roots, delivering what he calls a real blues record, the way they would have made them back in the day. Closer To The Bone is the most unvarnished, straight-ahead blues release of Castros career, one that bristles with every ounce of his dynamic energy and raw emotion. On Closer To The Bone (Castros 8th Alligator release), Castro and his Painkillersbassist Randy McDonald, keyboardist Mike Emerson and drummer Bowen Brownmix new Castro originals (Aint Worth The Heartache, Cant Catch A Break, Crazy Woman Blues) with songs originally performed by many of Castros friends and heroes. Artists and their songs include Johnny Nitro (One More Night, on which Castro plays his treasured 1966 black Fender Stratocaster, a guitar once owned by Nitro himself), Magic Slim (Hole In The Wall), Ron Thompson (Freight Train), Mike Duke (Keep Your Dog Inside) and Chris Cain(Woke Up And Smelled The Coffee). Castro additionally chose obscure songs by Wynonie Harris (Bloodshot Eyes), Eddie Taylor (Stroll Out West), Jimmy Nolen(The Way You Do) and Johnny Guitar Watson (She Moves Me). According to Castro, These are not the obvious artists people generally cover, and that was most definitely on purpose. Closer To The Bone was produced by master guitarist and studio wizard Christoffer Kid Andersen (producer of over 100 albums), at his now-famous Greaseland Studio in San Jose, California. Closer To The Bone finds Castro at the top of his game, bringing his seemingly limitless energy and boundless talent to the studio. Guests on the album include labelmates Andersen, Rick Estrin, Chris Cain and Billy Branch, along with saxophone player/vocalist Deanna Bogart, keyboard wizard Jim Pugh and, on three songs, the voices of The Sons Of The Soul Revivers. Tommy Castro deceptively simple approach on Closer To The Bone delivers one thrilling performance after another. Says Castro, Here, Im not the contemporary guy, not the rock guy, not the soul guy. This is the deeper blues side of me. I know, with these songs, I am at my most authentic.