9x-Blue Music Award Winner & 20x-Blues Music Award Nominated Guitarist, Singer & Songwriter Tommy Castro & The Painkillers formed in 2012, creating a high-energy, larger-than-life sound! The band has coalesced into one of the telepathically tightest units Castro has ever assembled, making them one of the most in-demand live roots music acts performing today, delivering soul-shaking, muscular music.
Tommy Castro received 5 Blues Music Award Nominations in 2022, winning "Album of the Year" ('A Bluesman Came To Town'), "Band of the Year", and "B.B. King Entertainer of the Year" - the highly coveted and prestigious Blues Music Award given every year to the most outstanding live performer. In 2023, Castro was again Nominated for "B.B. King Entertainer of the Year" (his 4th Nomination) as well as "Blues Rock Artist of the Year" (his 3rd Nomination). Castro has also been Nominated 5 times for "Contemporary Blues Album of the Year", winning the award 2 times!
Throughout his long, constantly evolving career, Legendary Guitarist, Singer & Songwriter TOMMY CASTRO has always remained true to himself while exploring, growing and creating new music. Since his solo debut in 1994, he’s made 16 albums - the last seven for Alligator Records —each its own unique chapter in the book of Tommy Castro. Ranging from horn-fueled R&B to piping hot blues to fiery, stripped-down rock ‘n’ roll, each release is solidly built upon Castro’s unshakable musical foundation—a dynamic mix of 1960s-influenced guitar-fueled blues, testifying Memphis-soaked blue-eyed soul and Latin-tinged East San Jose funk, all driven by Castro’s grab-you-by-the-collar vocals and passionate guitar work.
"The hardest thing to do," says internationally beloved soul-blues rocker Tommy Castro, "is be yourself, take some chances and bring your fans along with you."