#724 > Tommy Castro and The Painkillers - Closer to the Bone (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

 

2025 – Alligator Records

Release Date : Feb. 7, 2025

By Phillip Smith; Jan. 11, 2025

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

 

There’s a deep sense of authentic blues with the latest album from Tommy Castro and The Painkillers’ Closer to the Bone, and I absolutely love it.  As Castro stated, "I have always wanted to do what I would call a real blues record, and I felt like the right time was now. There is nothing contemporary about this album. It’s a blues record the way they might have made blues records back in the day.” With Castro on guitars and vocals, he is joined by his band The Painkillers : Mike Emerson on keys, Randy McDonald on bass, and Bowen Brown on drums. His star-studded guestlist includes Christoffer “Kid” Andersen, Deanna Bogart, Billy Branch, Chris Cain, June Core, Rick Estrin, Scott Jensen, Jim Pugh, Mike Rinta, Jack Sanford, Sons of Soul Revivers, Endre Tarczy, and Lisa Leuschner Andersen.

Castro lures me quickly in with his masterful guitar-play on Jimmy Nolen’s “The Way You Do”. His twangy surf guitar is brilliantly paired with Rick Estrin on harmonica, and Kid Anderson’s infectious bassline. Johnny Nitro’s “One More Night” is fabulous to the core and filled with scorching guitar licks riding on top of an unescapable Texas blues groove. The tribute is so good, I was forced to acquaint myself with Nitro’s work. With guests Branch on harp, and Core on drums, Castro serves up a lively cocktail of Latin-infused blues with “Ain’t Worth the Heartache” for a fun, freewheeling original about moving on. Everything about “Freight Train (Let Me Ride)” is red hot. This cover originally from Ron Thompson and the Resisters features Pugh on piano and sounds amazing. Estrin appears again on a smokin’ recording of Eddie Taylor’s “Stroll Out West”. Castro sings this with a voice seemingly baptized in the Mississippi. This is what the blues is all about.

I think a lot of listeners will declare Closer to the Bone a favorite of 2025.  I sure have.

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For more information about Tommy Castro, visit the website @  

https://www.tommycastro.com/

For other PhillyCheeze reviews featuring Tommy Castro, follow this link: https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/search?q=Tommy+Castro 

Deanna Bogart - Just a Wish Away…

2014 – Blind Pig Records

By Phillip Smith; July 12, 2014

Deanna Bogart keeps getting better and better.  Her latest release, Just a Wish Away is an instant classic featuring outstanding songwriting and superb performances. Capturing the creativity of Carole King, the spunk of Bonnie Raitt, and the vocal style of Christine McVie, Bogart seizes the listener’s attention quickly. Enlisting bassist Charlie Wooton, and New Orleans’s favorite horn section Bonerama, makes the album even more alluring.

I absolutely love “Back and Forth Kid”.  Beautifully played, this heartfelt song about growing up under lousy conditions sports an instant familiarity, as if it were a song heard a million times before.   “What is Love Supposed To Do” a pretty song of longing and dusting off old memories, also has a certain familiarity to it.  Marty Rifkin on steel guitar brings a nice little smidge of country to the song.         

Bogart breaks loose on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Tightrope”, hitting the ivories with full force to give the song new life as a piano-centric tune.  Without SRV’s signature guitar present, my brain took a little time to absorb what the song actually was the first time I heard it.  Going deep, Bogart teams up with Chris Jacobs, taking on JD Souther’s “If You Have Crying Eyes”, from his Black Rose album. Jacobs plays guitar and covers the other half of the vocals in this duet.  The two have great chemistry together, and sound as if they have been performing together for years. 

Sure to be a live staple, Deanna takes a turn to the funky side with Sly and the Family Stone’s “Hot Fun in the Summertime”. Wooton’s bass breaks loose on this track and Bonerama tops it off with their cool blasts of brass. 

Deanna Bogart’s talents are many, and this new album is very enjoyable.  Take the plunge and give Just a Wish Away… a listen.