\"After more than a decade and a half of playing music, 32-year-old Chris Castle is still a well-kept secret. Maybe it’s because the Ohio-based singer/songwriter put down his guitar for six years before re-emerging last summer to record this 11-song collection, which feels like a confession from the heart of the American Midwest.
His soulful voice and engaging lyrics rest easily over stripped-down skeletons of acoustic guitar that shuffle along dirt roads and through tired towns. These are songs shaded with longing and loss and redemption.
Castle says he aimed to create \'an album of songs rather than production and arrangement.\' What he ends up with is an authentic connection to the world-weary soul of American roots music.\"
Our Pick: Both Ends of a Gun
- CLEVELAND MAGAZINE (MAY 2008)
\"If a Midwestern heartland sound satisfies your soul and pleases your ears, then singer-songwriter Chris Castle is your guy. Castle\'s reflective Americana roots sound (and honest, coffeehouse vibe) is minimalist like Nick Drake, rootsy like J.D. Souther and earnest like Josh Rouse. And you can add a pinch of Ryan Adams and Elliot Smith in for good measure.
Hollow Bones in Monotone, Castle\'s first new long player in six years, is a true dashboard confessional and sure to leave a peaceful, easy feeling for listeners.
Recorded over Memorial Day weekend of 2007 at OMNIsound studios in Nashville, this 11-song set found Castle and his compatriots Joe Linstrum (acoustic guitar / vocals) and Tony Schaffer (bass / vocals) focusing on bright acoustic guitars, harmonicas and underpinning the whole affair with a 1964 Gibson bass.
From the opening strains of Fields of Stone to the chugging Seven Minutes Fast, the beautiful Down and picturesque set-stealer Both Ends of a Gun, there just isn\'t a bad cut on the disc. A great offering and summer roadtrip treat, Hollow Bones in Monotone makes the time fly. Be sure to hit the repeat button on this one, friends... not that you\'ll need that cue after hearing it yourself.\"
- COOL CLEVELAND (May 2008)
\"Wow. Down is gorgeous.\"
- Carol Young (the Greencards)
\"One of the five best albums of 2007.\"
- Shawn Henderson (stay Tuned; WSCA 106.1 Portsmouth, NH)
\"One of the best songwriters in the U.S.\"
- Bob McCarthy
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