When I saw that Albert Castiglia was coming to Atlanta, Georgia while I would be in town on Friday July 18th, 2025, I was excited at the possibility that my schedule would let me catch the award winning blues musician there. It has been years since I’ve seen him, and I didn’t even know if he still remembered me-it’s been that long!
I get to Blind Willies a little late, as I had to pick up three people from two different places, and Atlanta traffic has no concerns about the importance of your schedule. When we were pulling in we heard Albert absolutely wailing, and I couldn’t park fast enough and get us all inside and set up to cover the show.
We rush through the front door, and the place was PACKED. And I’m talking sardines packed. I was thinking to myself, where can we even stand, let alone sit to take this show in? As usual, we find a spot to stand in while I got to work getting us a table and getting my three thirsty compadres something to drink.
As Albert and his band go off into “oh my goodness land,” I get us a table to the side, with enough bench space to seat all four of us. I gotta say, this is a serious group of players (three of them), and they get DOWN. They completely rocked everyone in the building with their Blues/Blues Rock, and had the dance floor so packed, people on the dance floor were expanding into the tables and chairs and walk ways. It was the largest dance crowd I’ve ever seen there, and I’ve been going to Blind Willies since the 1990’s.
I’ve reached out to the band to see if I can get their set lists from that night.
Albert Castiglia and his band are well seasoned professionals that know how to properly get down, and if you want a great night of live music, definitely put them on your must see list this year.
They did have a merch table set up in front of the stage with t-shirts, stickers, cd’s and things of that sort. It was a pretty good assortment of collectible items, actually.
If you like really good guitar playing, really good blues, really good blues/rock and a really good, really tight band-go see them as soon as you can. They are must see for sure.
Here’s a little bit about Albert:
Miami-raised Albert Castiglia served an apprenticeship while backing legendary blues musician Junior Wells. He later went on to work with singer Sandra Hall. Never content to allow himself to be confined to any particular category, he embarked on a solo career that’s yielded many critically-acclaimed albums and consist kudos for his exceptional instrumental prowess, his searing vocals, and live performances that have dazzled audiences from coast to coast. It’s little wonder that Miami’s New Times lauded him as South Florida’s “Best Blues Guitarist” or that USA Today was inspired to remark “It’s a revelation to discover the thrilling retro-electric blues from this astonishing young guitarist.” M Music & Musicians once noted, “His back-to-basics approach follows in the footsteps of those who fostered the blues in the Mississippi Delta and the smoky late-night haunts of Chicago.” After the highly successful and critically acclaimed release of Masterpiece on Gulf Coast Records, Castiglia was nominated for two Blues Music Awards in the categories of Blues Rock Album of the Year and Blues Rock Artist of the Year and won Blues Rock Album of the Year..