TOMMY CASTRO - the big winner at the 2010 Blues Music Awards --- 1. B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year 2. Band of the Year 3. Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year: Hard Believer 4. Contemporary Blues Male Artist Of The Year
Born in San Jose, California in 1955, Tommy Castro first picked up a guitar at age 10. He came under the spell of Eric Clapton, Elvin Bishop, Mike Bloomfield and other blues rock players early on. As he got older, Castro moved forward by investigating the past, falling in love with the blues guitar work of Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Elmore James and singers like Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett and James Brown. By his late 20s he was playing in a variety of San Francisco-area blues and soul bands.
Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal’s combination of soul, funk and R&B is in a word, electric. Best displayed in their high-energy live show, the blend of Hoyer’s honest lyrics and his soulful (sometimes in-your-face) vocals merge with his top-notch band to create an undeniable chemistry.
“Deep, contemporary Chicago blues...razor-sharp guitar and compelling, forceful singing” — The Chicago Tribune
"Cannon is at the front rank of Chicago bluesmen. He creates wide-screen modern arrangements for wry, thoughtful songs, molding an ensemble sound that’s both tempestuous and scrupulously controlled." –MOJO
Arkansas-based Earl and Ernie Cate were prolific songwriters and singers who blended the blues with elements of rock & roll, country and rockabilly. Pianist/vocalist Ernie and guitarist/vocalist Earl signed to Asylum Records in 1975; their self-titled debut, issued shortly after, included appearances by Donald "Duck" Dunn, Steve Cropper, former Band drummer Levon Helm, and former Eagle and Poco member Timothy B. Schmidt. They followed up their debut in 1976 with In One Eye and Out the Other, trailed in 1977 by The Cate Brothers Band.
