This story is featured in CityBeat’s Feb. 8 print issue.
Guitarists Albert Castiglia and Mike Zito are resolute purveyors of the blues rock tradition, each using their dexterous skills to deliver licks reminiscent of players stretching back a half century. Separately, the two have contributed to a combined two-dozen-plus studio albums (both as solo artists and in various band outfits) and an endless trail of live shows since their relative breakthroughs in the early 2000s. And, for those who care about such things, each has racked up various Blues Music Awards.
Now the duo is combining efforts to form Blood Brothers, a two-headed guitar monster set to drop a self-titled album on March 17 through Zito’s own Gulf Coast Records. Co-produced by like-minded six-string savants Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, Blood Brothers features 11 songs with expected genre-centric titles like “A Thousand Heartaches,” “No Good Woman,” “In My Soul,” “Fool Never Learns” and “One Step Ahead of the Blues.”
“Mike and Albert have a special chemistry together when they plug in and play that few have,” Bonamassa said in the album notes provided on the band’s website. “They finish each other’s sentences musically. Great tunes, great people, great hang! What’s not to like? It was an honor to be involved in this project.”
If the duo’s live shows over the last year are any indication, expect intertwining guitar leads built to satiate lovers of tasteful blues, rock and roots music that ranges from rollicking to melancholic. Think J.J. Cale, Eric Clapton and Gary Moore, among many others, including contemporaries like Bonamassa and Smith, both of whom guest on the new record.
“This album was a blast to make, and I am even more excited to take this music out on the road to perform for the people,” Zito said in the band’s bio. “It’s just a bit more complex with an overall band dynamic that I think sets apart from what Albert and I normally do.”
Blood Brothers plays Ludlow Garage at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 16. Doors open at 7 p.m. Info: ludlowgaragecincinnati.com.
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This article appears in Feb 1-1, 2023.