TOMMY & 'PAINKILLER' WIN BLUES MUSIC AWARDS:
At the Blues Music Awards on May 8, Tommy won BB King Blues Entertainer of the Year and Painkiller won for Contemporary Blues Album of the Year!

'This is the future. It’s very positive and fruitful. The blues is in good hands. When someone has the right intentions, with sincerity, you can never go wrong. This is the person who has the voice, the sound, and the intentions, to touch everybody’s heart.'
– Carlos Santana

'Tommy Castro is at the top of the list of emerging blues stars who will carry the torch for the generations to come.'
– Norman Davis, Blues Writer/DJ/Host of Midnight Flyer

'One of the most authentic blues guitarists around. I think Tommy Castro has potential to be the next contemporary blues giant ... he has so much charisma ... he’s real, this is the real thing ...'
– Bob Jones, Program Director KDIA Radio

'One of the highlights of Sunday’s (San Francisco Blues Festival) show was the performance by Tommy Castro. Castro and his band really lit a fire under the crowd with their full-on blues rock sound ... Castro, not a note escaping his black Fender Stratocaster, got the crowd on its feet ... the performance by Castro and his red-hot blues band was the high point of the (Bammies) awards show.'
– Craig Marine, San Francisco Examiner

'The crowd is still talking about his (Tommy Castro’s) electrifying performance ... Tommy and his band are nothing short of great.'
– Niecy Durley, Associate Director, Monterey Bay Blues Festival

'The Tommy Castro Band is not only one of the most popular groups to come out of San Francisco, but this band is also on the verge of stardom ... I predict that Tommy Castro will be the next rising star on the blues horizon. He’s got it all!'
– Tom Mazzolini, Producer San Francisco Blues Festival & Blues Programmer, KPFA Radio

'... Castro, current king of the San Francisco blues scene, is an elastic, chillingly intense vocalist and scorching guitarist who knows just when to lay back and when to invade ...'
– Lee Hildebrand, The East Bay Express

'There are a lot of people in this world who play the blues, but then there are those who are the blues and Tommy Castro is the blues ...'
– Herbie Herbert, Herbie Herbert Management

Tommy Castro new album Hard Believer

– 'Hard Believer' in at #7 on the Billboard Chart (up from #10 last week).

– The 2009 House of Blues Listener Poll has placed Hard Believer at #2 on their top 10 CDs of 2009 list.

– Hard Believer is listed # 1 of the Top 5 Blues albums in Guitarist Magazine in France.

– 'Hard Believer' was the #93 Top Seller out of all CDs sold in the San Francisco Bay Area during the first full week of the new year.

– In international news, Tommy was nominated for a 2009 Maple Blues Award in the Best International Artist category. The Maple Blues Awards are Canada’s national blues awards program. Their goal is to promote blues music across Canada, and to recognize outstanding achievement in the field.

– 'Hard Believer' is number 3 on Mojo’s Best of 2009 Blues chart.

– 'Hard Believer' is #11 Roots Music Report Blues Chart

See Tommy Castro on YouTube

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