Closer to the Bone
Artist: Tommy Castro and the Painkillers
Label: Alligator Records
Released: 2025
Number of Tracks: 14
Duration: 51:00
Website: https://www.tommycastro.com/
Review by Mixmaster Linc, Programmer, KKFI 90.1 FM Community Radio Station
Tommy Castro is releasing his 17th album in February, four years after his last one, and two years after he won his second consecutive Blues Music Award as “B.B King Entertainer of the Year”.
The fourteen cuts are solid throughout and feature a number of blues styles, and top notch guest musicians. Included in that list are Deanna Bogart on saxophone, Billy Branch and Rick Estrin on “Mississippi saxophone”, and Chris Cain on piano. The songs only include three originals, but the covers lean toward the obscure, like oldies “She Moves Me” by Johnny “Guitar” Watson and “Bloodshot Eyes” by blues shouter Wynonie “Blues” Harris, as well as newer numbers from Magic Slim and Chris Cain. Also included is a cover of his Bay Area mentor, Johnny Nitro, entitled “One More Night”.
My favorite of the group is the slow burner “Crazy Woman Blues”, which is claimed as an original, but it bears a strong resemblance to Magic Slim’s “Crazy Woman”. The song weighs in at 5:25, and is the longest song on the album by a considerable margin, with the rest of them weighing in between 3 and 4 minutes.
The musicians and singers are all at the top of their game, and the production is first rate.
I give Closer to the Bone 4.5 stars out of 5. Check out the album here.
