Albert Castiglia in Concert and Conversation

“It may be a bit premature to crown Albert Castiglia America’s newest King of the Blues, but there’s little doubt that he at least deserves the title of heir apparent.” — Miami New Times

Fresh  from winning another Blues Music Award at the recent festivities in Memphis for “Best Blues Rock Album” as a member of the “Blood Brothers,”  along with labelmate Mike Zito, Albert Castiglia comes out guitar-slinging on his new solo Gulf Coast Records album, Righteous Souls.

“During last year’s ‘Blood Brothers’ tour, Mike Zito informed me that it was time for me to do another solo album,” explains Albert Castiglia about the new album’s genesis. “At that moment, I felt I was ill prepared for the task. I had been constantly touring with Mike for the last two years, doing very little writing, so I didn’t have a lot of original material. My last two studio albums were quite thematic. With Masterpiece, the album centered around the discovery of my daughter. I Got Love was fueled by my life during the pandemic of 2020. What would be the thing that fuels the next one? It concerned me because if I’m not living the songs, it’ll never work. It had to mean something to me. Mike suggested we make it an album with guests, my friends so to speak. I was concerned my friends wouldn’t have time to devote to the project. I was wrong, so wrong. Joe Bonamassa, Josh Smith, Kevin Burt, Gary Hoey, Ally Venable, Popa Chubby, Rick Estrin, Kid and Lisa Andersen, Alabama Mike, Jimmy Carpenter, Kingfish Ingram, Danielle Nicole, Monster Mike Welch, Jerry Jemmott, D-Mar Martin, Jon Otis, Jim Pugh and others stepped up for me. My daughter Rayne even participated, which was the cherry on top. Suddenly, the theme became clear. It’s about friends and family. It’s about Righteous Souls.”