When he first hit upon the idea of writing and recording a blues opera—or, as he puts it, “sort of a blues opera”—Tommy Castro was surprised that no one had thought to do it before.
Soon, the six-time Blues Music Award winner was in the studio with Nashville producer Tom Hambridge, co-writing and recording tracks like “Child Don’t Go,” “Women, Drugs and Alcohol” and “I Want to Go Back Home” for a concept album about an aspiring guitarist who leaves the family farm in search of success, gives in to the temptations of life on the road and realizes that there is, in fact, no place like home.
Tommy Castro Presents A Bluesman Came to Town—which came out in September 2021 on Alligator Records and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard magazine Blues Chart—may not have the most original plotline, but that wasn’t really the point, says Castro, who appears with his touring band, the Painkillers, at Novato’s Hopmonk on Sunday, Sept. 22.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be as epic as, you know, the Who’s Tommy or The Wall (by Pink Floyd) or American Idiot (by Green Day), where people had giant recording budgets and all kinds of amazing creativity,” said the soulful singer and guitarist in a recent phone interview. “But the idea of telling a story from the beginning to the end—that appealed to me.”
A Bluesman Came to Town is also a departure for Castro because his band, the Painkillers, doesn’t play on it. “I usually prefer to use my own band—I’ve done that on 18 out of 19 records—because they’re out on the road with me doing all the hard work,” said Castro.
“But Tom Hambridge wanted to use his studio guys, and he’s kind of a big deal. He’s got a few Grammys under his belt, and he’s worked on the last few Buddy Guy albums, as well as with ZZ Top, George Thorogood, Johnny Winter and Joe Bonamassa; you know, a lot of people. So I kind of followed his lead on this album,” he continued.
Since the album’s release, Castro and the Painkillers have returned to the more than 150 shows per year schedule that the San Jose native has maintained for most of the past four decades.
“Where I grew up was a notch or two below a working-class neighborhood, and nobody there was going to college or getting music lessons or any of that stuff,” said the self-taught guitarist, who spent his early years playing along to records by his favorite blues artists.
As time went on, Castro realized he was going to be making his living playing music. He tried taking guitar lessons and studied music theory. “But it was too late,” he said. “I’d already learned to play the way I did, and I couldn’t really switch over to the proper way of doing it.
“I still work on my guitar technique every day, trying to learn something new, even if it’s just some new licks,” Castro said. “But I’m no virtuoso. I’m no Bonamassa. I’m not that kind of guitarist. I’m more of a cross between John Lee Hooker and, I don’t know, Michael Bloomfield, maybe. Somewhere in there. I kind of just play the way I play, and it works for me, you know?”
Tommy Castro & the Painkillers perform as part of the Cookout Concert Series at 6pm, Sunday, Sept. 22 at HopMonk Tavern Novato, 224 Vintage Way. Tickets are $38.50 in advance and $45 day of show, available at bit.ly/castro-hopmonk.
