Blues Wednesday- A Day Late-Albert Castigilia

Ok so, we’re at The College of William and Mary sweating and moving my daughter into her new dorm room on the third floor with no air conditioning and thankfully we’re done! Yesterday was the trip down and tomorrow the trip back a little bit of music listening! The one blues album that I did listen to was the soon to be released album by Albert Castiligia pronounced (“ka-STEEL-ya)” Keepin’ On. I had never heard Albert’s music until the other day when I turned on the Blues station on XM Radio and they were playing some tracks from an XM live performance and it sounded great. So I came home and listened to his release before his new albumThese are the Days and really liked it, particularly his cover of a favorite “Loan Me a Dime”. From his website about the new album:

Most of his new CD release, Keepin On, was recorded live with very few overdubs. He enlisted five session musicians to help on the project, including harmonica master Sandy Mack, who played on “I Could Not Ask for More,” a Peter Green song.  Mack had played on “Ghosts of Mississippi,” a track from Albert’s A Stones Throw album in 2006. According to Castiglia, “He kicked butt then and he picked up where left off on this session. ”Keepin On features five new original tunes, plus other covers of songs by John Lee Hooker, Mack Rice, T-Bone Walker, Robert Nighthawk and Bob Dylan

Castigilia met blues legend Junior Wells in 1996 and became his lead guitar player until Junior’s death in 1998. After Junior’s passing he toured with Sandy Hall and then started a solo career in 2002 with the release of his first CD Burn. Since then he’s released  three other albums making his new album his fifth. His album These are the Days earned him a Blues Music Award nomination for “Song of the Year” for his original, “Bad Year Blues.”  Castiglia was nominated again by the Illinois Blues Blast Awards and this time walked away a winner for “Song of the Year” for “Bad Year Blues,” as well as being nominated for the “Sean Costello Rising Star Award.”

I enjoyed Castiglia’s vocals and guitar work throughout the album. Standout tracks include the opening track “Cadillac Assembly Line, the title track “Keep On, Keepin’ On” and the closing track “Closing Time”.  But there’s good work on every track. This CD will be on the player with a while along with These Are the Days when I get home!

Here’s some of Albert’s playing…….