TOMMY CASTRO
WHOLE LOTTA’ SOUL
DVD
Blind Pig Records
www.blindpigrecords.com

Thanks to the folks at the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California, who hosted this concert, our readers have the opportunity to obtain a terrific DVD of Tommy Castro and his tight band from Blind Pig Records. This lucky energetic audience started dancing as soon as Tommy started playing and, typical of a Tommy Castro concert, the front of the stage was ringed by dancing women. For the next 87 minutes, Tommy and his band let loose on eleven songs, nine of which are from his latest hot CD, Soul Shaker. Tommy shares the wealth on stage by inviting singer Renee Austin and guitarist Kevin Bowe perform along on some songs. His own band is seamless with Randy McDonald on background vocals and bass, Keith Crossan on sax and background vocals and Chris Sandoval, their newest member, on drums. Tom Poole plays trumpet on a few songs and Jimmy Pugh adds to their depth by working the keyboards—a role that they both did with expertise on Tommy’s CD.

Listening to Tommy Castro sing, you can hear his soul influences of all the great Motown singers with a dash of Van Morrison mixed in for good measure. His decision to have Keith Crossan’s saxophone complement his guitar work was absolutely brilliant. Every note is caressed back and forth between these two with a communication that is beyond words. One gets a clearer understanding of their musical chemistry during the Special Features part of the DVD during interviews both with Tommy and Tommy and his band. Playing together on tour for fourteen years is something even the Beatles never accomplished. One of most poignant moments is when Tommy says that he envies the guy that goes to the corner store before work, gets coffee with his buddies and has the same routine each day. Life is the road is different each day and the routine and mundane is something that they don’t have but would like to try—just to see what it would be like. It hasn’t happened yet. Perhaps this is the inspiration for Tommy’s song, “Take Me Off the Road” in which he states, “you can take me off the road but you can’t take the road off of me.”

Visually, this is a very appealing DVD. Tommy Castro is smiling throughout the whole concert, inviting the audience to share in his joy. The photography is well done, and for our readers who are also musicians, the camera captures the intricacies of Tommy’s leads and seems to capture the rest of the band at their best moments.

“What You Gonna’ Do Now” is especially climactic as Keith and Tommy nearly jump off the screen during the intensity of their respective solos. All the rest of the songs were penned by Tommy with the exception of “Texas Flower” which is by his kinetic bass player, Randy McDonald.

Recommending that you dial up www.blindpigrecords.com and ordering yourself a copy of Tommy Castro’s Whole Lotta’ Soul would be easy.

Pete Sardon