Gulf Coast Records announces what promises to be THE blues music tour of the year: “Blood Brothers,” featuring Blues Music Award-winners Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia, which kicks off in late March and goes through April.
Both Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia are celebrating the release of blazing new albums: Zito’s double live set, Blues for the Southside (released Feb. 18) , debuted at number one on the Billboard Blues Chart; and Castiglia’s new disc, I Got Love, is set for release on March 25. For the “Blood Brothers” tour, fans will get to see each band doing a set, followed by both bands uniting onstage for a grand finale.
Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia come together to create a musical journey unlike anything seen before in the Blues and Roots genre. Armed with a history of the Blues and Rock ’n’ Roll, they bring both bands together to create the tour of 2022, “Blood Brothers.”
Mike Zito is a five-time Blues Music Award winner and Albert Castiglia is the 2020 BMA winner for Blues Rock Album of the Year, Masterpiece. With both artists on the exciting Gulf Coast Records label, it only made sense to join forces and give the fans what they wanted.
For over 45 years combined in the music business, Zito and Castiglia have toured the world spreading joy and bringing the music to the people. The “Blood Brothers” tour will showcase each band for a set and then will end with both bands together onstage creating a sound of classic southern rock, blues and American roots music.
Recorded on November 26, 2021 at the Old Rock House in St. Louis, Missouri, and produced by Mike Zito, Blues for the Southside showcases Zito (guitar and vocals) and his stellar band in full fury: Matthew Johnson - vocals/drums; Lewis Stephens - piano/organ; Doug Byrkit – vocals/ bass, with special guests including label mate guitarists Tony Campanella and Dave Kalz, plus guitar wizard Eric Gales.
The song list for that special night included tunes from Mike’s earlier albums such as First Class Life, Gone to Texas, Make Blues Not War and his Tribute to Chuck Berry, plus his takes on songs popularized by Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Tampa Red, as well as a new song, the album’s title track.
"Blues for the Southside is a special album for me,” says Zito. “I have wanted to do a live blues album playing songs from my catalog with my current band for a while now. I wanted to go back to my old neighborhood in South St. Louis to make the recording. That's where it all began for me, where I fell in love with music. I knew friends and family would fill the Old Rock House and bring the energy I was looking for in this recording. I wanted Tony Campanella and Dave Kalz to join me as guests. I grew up with both of these guys playing in the scene in St. Louis in the 1990s. I was surprised by my dear friend Eric Gales, who happened to be in town for a rehearsal. He showed up and I got him onstage to do an impromptu version of the original ‘Voodoo Chile,’ which turned out to be 12 minutes of pure guitar bliss. I am proud of this album and my band. “
“Mike Zito is, indeed, everything people say he is and more and the proof is in every song on this set. This is as good as modern blues gets.” – Rock and Blues Muse
Castiglia’s I Got Love was produced by Mike Zito and features a stellar cast of musicians backing Albert Castiglia (guitar and vocals): Justine Tompkins (bass and vocals); Ephraim Lowell (drums and vocals) and Lewis Stephens (Hammond B3 organ and piano).
The new album showcases 11 blistering, blues-drenched tracks and is a personal and powerful statement from Castiglia. “I Got Love is a musical essay documenting the last two years of my life: two years of many highs and lows,” offers Castiglia. “It’s about falling, failing, adapting, reinventing, surviving and becoming triumphant. It contains musings of an unemployed man, a covid-stricken idiot and getting through it like Andy Dufresne in ‘The Shawshank Redemption.’ The blues and blues-infused music is rooted in truth. This album is my truth. To ignore the events of the past two years (the covid era) and write about anything else would not be my truth. I went through it all - loss, depression, illness, fear of the unknown. I know I couldn’t have been the only one that went through it. This collection of songs is for those who felt like I did. It’s for those who went down fighting and those who keep on fighting. For many of us in my profession and in the gig economy, this was our great depression. Some of us are doing well and some of us are still trying to find solid ground. “
The “Blood Brothers” tour is a high-energy show of epic proportions! Daring and full of excitement, Albert and Mike come together in 2022 to bring you the most-awaited tour in years, “Blood Brothers”!
And because their fans can’t seem to get enough of a good thing, the bands will also be touring together in May from Memphis to Florida to Texas; with a West Coast tour in the fall and European/UK tour in October.
Blood Brothers Tour - Mike Zito Band & Albert Castiglia Band
03/24 - Stocks N Bonds - Blues Society of Omaha - Omaha, NE
03/25 - Knuckleheads Saloon - Kansas City, MO
03/26 - The Wildey Theatre - Edwardsville, IL
03/28 - City Winery - Chicago, IL
03/29 - The Southgate House Revival - Newport, KY
03/30 - The Kent Stage – Kent, OH
03/31 - The Tralf - Buffalo, NY
04/01 - Center for the Arts of Homer - Homer, NY
04/02 - The Boulevard (Central Delaware Blues Society) - Dover, DE
04/03 - Pearl Street Warehouse - Washington, DC
04/05 - Rams Head on Stage - Annapolis, MD
04/06 - Sellersville Theater - Sellersville, PA
04/07 - Mauch Chunk Opera House - Jim Thorpe, PA
04/08 - Bull Run - Shirley, MA
04/09 - Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club - Portsmouth, NH
04/12 - The Iridium - New York City, NY
04/13 - Daryl's House - Pawling, NY
04/14 - Gateway City Arts - Holyoke, MA
04/15 - The Music Room - West Yarmouth, MA
04/16 - Narrows Center for the Arts - Fall River, MA
