Acclaimed Blues-Rock Guitarist Albert Castiglia To Release New Album ‘I Got Love’

Photo: Albert Castiglia by Norma Hinojosa

Acclaimed Blues-Rock Guitarist Albert Castiglia to release new album ‘I Got Love’ out March 25 on Gulf Coast Records. I Got Love was produced by Gulf Coast Records guitarist and co-owner 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, which showcases 11 blistering, blues-drenched tracks, 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,” Castiglia offers. “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.

“This album is for everyone. It’s also a thank you to those who helped keep us alive; the folks that contributed to my virtual shows and took guitar lessons from me. This album’s also for Rick Lusher, who retired from the radio promotions business and handed the keys over to my wife at a time when we really needed it. It’s about love, gratitude and becoming a better person from the shittiest of circumstances. It’s my blues in its truest form.

“I Got Love is the most thematic album I’ve done since Masterpiece,” Castiglia declares. “My daughter and grandchildren were my muse for Masterpiece. With I Got Love, it was the deepest darkness and the brightest light, two extremes that tested every fiber in my being. I’m glad I lived to tell the tale!”

I Got Love is Castiglia’s follow-up CD to his last effort, Wild and Free, which was recorded live at The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton, Florida. That in-your-face live performance captured all the energy and guitar mastery that Castiglia shares with his audiences each time he takes the stage and featured special guests Mike Zito, John Ginty and Lewis Stephens.

Albert Castiglia – I Got Love – Track Listing and Credits

I Got Love (Albert Castiglia, Ephraim Lowell, Justine Tompkins)
Don’t Pray with the Devil (Albert Castiglia, Ephraim Lowell, Justine Tompkins)
Burning Bridges (Albert Castiglia)
Sanctuary (Albert Castiglia, Guy Hale)
Double Down (Albert Castiglia)
Long Haul Daddy (Albert Castiglia)
What’s Wrong With You? (Albert Castiglia, Mike Zito)
Depression Blues (Melvin Taylor)
Freedomland (Albert Castiglia)
You Don’t Know Hell (Albert Castiglia, Mike Zito)
Take My Name Out Of Your Mouth (Albert Castiglia)

About Albert Castiglia
Miami-raised Albert Castiglia served an apprenticeship while backing legendary blues musician Junior Wells. He later went on to work with singer Sandra Hall. Never content to allow himself to be conﬁned to any particular category, he embarked on a solo career that’s yielded many critically-acclaimed albums and consistent kudos for his exceptional instrumental prowess, his searing vocals, and live performances that have dazzled audiences from coast to coast. It’s little wonder that Miami’s New Times lauded him as South Florida’s “Best Blues Guitarist” or that USA Today was inspired to remark “It’s a revelation to discover the thrilling retro-electric blues from this astonishing young guitarist.” M Music & Musicians once noted, “His back-to-basics approach follows in the footsteps of those who fostered the blues in the Mississippi Delta and the smoky late-night haunts of Chicago.” After the highly successful and critically acclaimed release of Masterpiece on Gulf Coast Records, Castiglia won the Blues Music Award for Blues Rock Album of the Year and was nominated for Blues Rock Artist of the Year.

Albert Castiglia and Mike Zito are teaming up for what promises to be one of the most exciting tours of the year, a string of dates in March and April dubbed The Blood Brothers Tour.

This high-energy tour will showcase each band (Mike Zito Band and Albert Castiglia Band) for a set and then will culminate with both bands together on stage, creating sound of classic Southern Rock, Blues and American Roots Music!

Blood Brothers Tour – Mike Zito & Albert Castiglia Bands
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, NE
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