TOMMY CASTRO - named the 2008 B.B. King Entertainer of the Year It was a good night for Blue's "man in black" Tommy Castro PAINKILLER was award the BMA for "Contemporary Blues Album", and Tommy received the BMA for "B.B. King - Entertainer of the Year".

Born and raised in San Jose, California, Tommy expressed interest in learning to play the guitar at age ten. Young Castro was initially inspired by the likes of Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop. Later, wanting to know who their influences were, Tommy became enthralled with the guitar playing of B.B., Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters,
Elmore James and Freddie King, as well as the vocal stylings of Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and James Brown. In 1991 he formed the Tommy Castro Band, and they quickly became one of the hardest-working and most popular groups in the Bay Area. In 1993 they were named "Club Band of the Year" at the Bay Area Music
Awards, an especially prestigious honor since it is a write-in category that includes all musical genres. They won that distinguished award, regarded as an indicator of their success, again in 1994. Previous recipients of the award include Chris Isaak and Huey Lewis and the News.

Tommy Castro is one of the most popular and creative roots artists to emerge in recent years. On his newest CD, PAINKILLER, Castro teamed up with producer John Porter, renowned for his work with a Who's Who list
of artists such as Los Lonely Boys, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Santana, B.B. King, Elvis Costello, and Buddy Guy.
Besides recording and touring with his own band. Tommy is also touring with the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue, born out of a nightly ritual on board the Legendary Rhythm & Blues cruises. This dynamic collaboration of talent features the Tommy Castro Band along with an all-star lineup that includes pianist, saxophonist, singer/songwriter
Deanna Bogart, Ronnie Baker Brooks, son of legendary bluesman Lonnie Brooks, and Magic Dick, who is best known for his many years as harmonica man in the J. Geils Band. This live recording spotlights many of the highlights of their recent performances.