Albert Castiglia was born on August 12, 1969 in New York during the weekend of the famous (infamous) Woodstock music festival. At the age of 5, his family moved to Miami. With a Cuban mother and an Italian father, he is an example of the melting pot of culture that is Miami. He learned to play guitar at the age of 12 and soon realized that the passions in his heart were expressed best by his music. He realized too that he could sing as well as he played. Upon completion of his high school and college education, he worked for four years as a social service investigator for the State of Florida. During that time Albert continued to hone his musical skills playing nights and weekends with local bands around South Florida. In 1990 he joined The Miami Blues Authority. After performing with the group as lead guitarist and vocalist for more than 7 years, and developing a very exciting and dynamic musical style, Albert won the award for "Best Local Blues Guitarist for 1997" by the Miami New Times Magazine and soon after, decided to pursue his lifelong dream of "hitting the road" as a blues performer. Though a mutual friend and music promoter, Gloria Pierce, Albert got an audition with international and Chicago blues great Junior Wells, and so impressed Wells with his playing and vocal style, that he was asked to work in the band as a fill-in lead guitarist for a 3 city mini-tour in clubs from Cleveland, Buffalo and Detroit. He performed so well on the tour, that he was asked in 1997 to become the permanent lead guitarist in the Junior Wells band playing both guitar and vocals. With Junior and his band, Albert performed in major Chicago clubs as well as clubs and blues festivals all over the US, Canada and Europe including France, Switzerland and Italy winning rave reviews for his performances along the way. Unfortunately, Junior Wells became ill and passed away in 1998. As well as playing with Junior, Albert has performed and jammed with important blues artists and bands such as Sandra Hall, Pinetop Perkins, Aron Burton, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Sugar Blue, Melvin Taylor, Ronnie Earl, Billie Boy Arnold, Phil Guy, John Primer, Lurrie Bell, Larry McCray, Lee Oskar, Michael Coleman, J.W. Williams, Little Mack Simmons, Eddy Clearwater, Jimmy Burns and Otis Clay. Albert, living in Chicago at the time of Junior's death, stayed with Junior's band for awhile as the lead singer and guitar player in the "Hoodoo Man's Band." During this time the band started touring with Sandra Hall, nationally known as the "Empress of the Blues." Albert opened the shows for Sandra and the touring continued for the next several years. In 2001, Albert decided to work on his own material and began writing and working in a recording studio. He returned to his hometown of Coral Gables, Florida. Using his exceptional writing skills and some collaboration with Graham Drout, from the Miami-based band IKO IKO, Albert finished his own debut CD entitled "Burn," produced and recorded by Clazzy Studios in Nashville, TN. He is poised now to step out under his own name and light up the stages again throughout the US, Europe and beyond with his own exciting and unique musical style.
Read more...