Gulf Coast Records [Release date 10.07.26]

Which came first the music or the album title?

Either way, ‘Grits & Glory’ is an excellent rock-blues record forged by the sort of perseverance, determination and will to succeed alluded to in the title.

It provides Albert Castiglia with the perfect metaphor for his burgeoning solo career.

Castiglia, is a former sideman turned solo artist, who worked with the likes of Junior Wells, Otis Clay and Pinetop Perkins etc., before becoming a headline act, while teaming up with long-time compadre Mike Zito and guest Bill Murray in The Blood Brothers.

This is an album on which he takes his blues influences from the second British Blues Boom, Chicago and Florida.

It makes for a lyrically reflective and musically hard hitting album, which draws on a number of familiar riff-led rock and blues influences tempered by soulful funk.

The band makes the most of the sonic possibilities that Abbey Road gives them to nail a big sounding live-in-the-studio feel.

Castiglia leads an old school power trio anchored by the magnificent rhythm section of bassist Cliff Moore and drummer Ray Hangen who provide a rock solid foundation and fine band interplay when they push their boss to the limit.

Curiously for an album that flies the flag for Brit blues, it opens with ‘In My America’, a social commentary song about the USA.

Being based in London for the album, it feels as if his lyrical angst is a function of temporarily being on the outside looking in: “Smell the smoke from the books on fire, flames are hot and getting hire.”

He uses a distorted guitar tone to match a passionate vocal over thunderous drums on what is a big sounding template for the album as a whole.

He also successfully covers the contemplative ‘I’m Afraid To Fall Asleep’.

Penned by fellow Miami musician Graham Wood Drout (Iko Iko), the slide-led stomp features a shuffle drum beat, gnawing vocal and piano, on a tale about facing mortality and delivered with a hint of paranoia.

“If I should die before I rise, don’t let the cow pick out my eyes, do let the wild dogs steal my bones, don’t let the angels take me home.”

It’s not until the third track ‘Uncertainty’ that there is any suggestion of any Brit influence, as the carefully arranged mid-tempo relationship song benefits from Beatles style bv’s either side of a coruscating wah-wah burst and a cool bass line.

He revels on Lennon’s raw and primal ‘Yer Blues’, an explosive book-end to the album, well suited to his gruff vocal style.

He climaxes the song with a glass shattering tonal burst of such intensity that it would surely have made Lennon smile.

Castiglia’s trio is as happy exploring the deep groove and desperado imagery of ‘Michigan Avenue’ as they are when locking into the big sounding ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

The latter open with a great opening couplet: “I ain’t got no money, I’m busted out but I don’t care, I’d rather be broke & hungry than a slum lord millionaire.”

It’s a dirt grinding groove full of long sustained notes and intense soloing. His edgy tone cuts through the rhythm track like a knife through butter to match the spiky lyrics.

The big hitting riffs and thumping rhythm of ‘Don’t Burn Down The Bridge’ is a back to basics rock-blues track which might have suited Johnny Winter.

The riff-driven funk of ‘The Milk Is Still Good’, features more acerbic lyrics: “mouth full of scripture and hearts full of hate, these kind of people shouldn’t procreate.”

The bass-led groove builds up a tension which is finally resolved by an extended piercing guitar break, on another example of Castiglia’s keen sense of tone colour.

He adds a Fender Rhodes sound on the equally funky ‘When The Coin Came Calling’ – a blue collar blues about surviving – and he revisits his edgy distorted guitar tone with gnawing wah-wah and a throbbing bass line on the instrumental ‘Sack The Juggler.”

The consistent use of riffs and shifting tones gives Castiglia all the armoury he needs to search out his trademark intensity, while his producer Dave Gross (Victor Wainright, Chris O’Leary, Debbie Davies, provides the gloss.

Mongo Santamaria’s ‘Afro Blue’ finds the band in their element on the kind of Afro-Cuban influenced song in which Castiglia is well versed.

He replaces the original percussion with chiming guitar and organ, on a breathtaking jam with a waltz arrangement and an irresistible pull.

It feels as if the road tested band waited until this moment on the album to soar like angels and illuminate the true merits of their playing.

‘Grits & Glory’ is a superbly played and pristinely recorded album which successfully searches for strength in diversity.

It’s a rich and varied album which flows effortlessly. Each track reveals different facets of a band who clearly enjoy playing together and who earn their glory with true grit. ****

Review by Pete Feenstra

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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JADE ELEPHANT Anymore (indie)
DIAMOND RAIN Naked City (Pride & Joy Music)
DAEDRIC Sand Tiger (FiXT)
PARKER BARROW Nothin’ Left To Save (indie)

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09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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