It’s been a while since we’ve talked here about Albert Castiglia as a solo act, with the Florida-raised blues-rocker doing quite a bit of collaboration in recent years, with the likes of fellow guitarist and singer Mike Zito (frequently joined by comedian Bill Murray) under the name of the Blood Brothers and also D.K. Harrell and Chris Cain on a fantastic tribute to the Three Kings of the Blues.
We’ve long been a fan of Castiglia, as evidenced by his “Bad Year Blues” having been one of the first Blues Lyrics of the Week we posted on this blog more than a decade and a half ago, so we thought that his new album Grits & Glory (Gulf Coast Records), already his 13th solo album, might be a good chance to catch up with the guy who launched his career playing guitar for legendary bluesman Junior Wells.
We’d already heard one of the songs from the album, Castiglia’s stinging take on the Albert King classic “Don’t Burn Down the Bridge”, during the Three Kings tribute we saw from Castiglia, Cain, and Harrell at the 2024 Heritage Blues Music Festival in Wheeling, W.V., so we knew that track was certainly a cooker. But it’s no surprise that Castiglia has plenty more heat to deliver across the album, tracked live at the famed Abbey Road Studios, including the keys-soaked, funky grooving “When The Coin Came Callin'”, hard chugging “I’m Afraid to Fall Asleep” and, quite appropriately, a closing, searing take on the Beatles’ “Yer Blues” that features some particularly gravelly vocals and shredding guitar from Castiglia.
In addition to a couple of terrific jazzy instrumentals in the grooving “Sack the Juggler” and “Afro Blue”, a number of the tracks here offer some keen social and political commentary, including the heavy, slow-shuffling opener “In My America”, the gritty “Michigan Avenue” and a crawling “Slumlord Billionaire”. The edgy southern rock ballad “Uncertainty” and driving “The Milk Is Still Good” round out the album, which is, without a doubt, another banger from Castiglia well worth adding to your collection.