Tommy Castro is one humble musician.
He has been hailed as the next B.B. King, performed on stage with some of the best blues musicians in the business and even received praise from the legendary Carlos Santana. Yet all he wants is to pay tribute to his idols and come to New Mexico for some sopapillas.
Sunday the Tommy Castro Band will perform at Puccini's Golden West Saloon. The group just released its eighth record in 10 years, Gratitude, which is an album of cover songs that have influenced band members' lives and careers as blues musicians.
The album features songs by King, Ray Charles, Otis Redding and Chuck Berry among others.
"I learned how to play and sing from all these people," Tommy Castro said from a cellular telephone in Denver. "I owe them my career. My appreciation and love for what they do inspired me to do it myself."
Castro said that making the album was a lot of fun, and allowed him to take a break from the stresses of starting his new record label, Heart and Soul Records.
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"We just had a ball," he said. "Recording the album was like going into the garage as kids and playing your favorite songs. The only difference was the tapes were rolling. I think the spirit of that comes across on the record."
Castro's band consists of bass player Randy McDonald, saxophonist Keith Crossan and drummer Billy Lee Lewis. McDonald recently released a solo album, On the Wildside, on Heart and Soul Records.
The group has toured all over the United States and Europe for years, but Castro said one of the highlights was performing on stage with B.B. King.
"I have been a huge fan of his since I was 14," he said. "For me to be up there opening shows for him all across the country, listening to him tell stories about his life, then ultimately getting up there and jamming with him was unbelievable. I never expected those things to happen to me in my lifetime."
Castro said he is also looking forward to coming back to New Mexico and loading up on Southwestern cuisine. His good friend James Wickam, a well-known local blues singer, introduced him to the blues scene in Albuquerque, and he's been persuading his agents to make a stop in the Land of Enchantment ever since.
He said fans in New Mexico get his music.
"Some places you go, they just don't really care about American roots music," he said. "Albuquerque is a very soulful part of the country. We come here and people just know it's good music."
Castro is grateful for the praise he receives just about everywhere he goes.
"I've tried to make a living a million other ways because I didn't think this would work out," he said. "Sometimes I find myself going, 'man, how did this happen?' If nothing else happens to me and my music beyond this, that's fine. I got respect from some people I admire the most in the music business. That is enough for me right there."
Yet the Tommy Castro Band presses on, continuing to tour several times a year and perhaps most importantly, giving back to the community.
"Being in this position gives you the opportunity to do something good," Castro said. "We can keep doing benefit concerts, auctioning off guitars - stuff like that. It's things like that that makes all of this worth it."
The Who, When and Where
Who: Tommy Castro Band
When: Sunday, 8 p.m.
Price: $12 in advance, $14 at the door
Where: Puccini's Golden West Saloon
620 Central Ave.
Tickets and info: 242-2353
