Chris Castle
Encyclopedia
Chris Castle is a folk
/Americana
singer-songwriter
. Cleveland Magazine
has described his writing as an "authentic connection to the world-weary soul of American roots music", while The New London Day
's Rick Koster calls Castle "a visionary songwriter" and "a tunesmith of almost scary vision, narrative acumen and hooky instinct".
around the time he was four. His parents had migrated to Ohio
from eastern Kentucky
in the late sixties, and Castle was exposed to Appalachian Music from a very early age. His father (a Vietnam War
veteran) committed suicide when Castle was nine years old; a theme that would later inspire Castle's first official single and video, Both Ends of A Gun.
, working under such notable writers as; Casey Kelly (The Cowboy Rides Away), Wood Newton (Bobbie Sue
), and Earl Bud Lee (Friends in Low Places
). At twenty-one, he would leave Music Row
, marry his first wife, have a son, and perform in bars and coffeehouses in northern Ohio.
He remarried in 2001, and enrolled in Bowling Green State University
as a Political Science
major shortly thereafter. Chris met Pulitzer Prize
winner Edward Albee
on campus in 2006, when the veteran playwright convinced him to return to songwriting. "He's the one who talked me into dropping out of college, so I can blame it on (him). He was telling me about holding up a mirror to our society and holding it up to yourself. He had great stuff to say about real art."
scene. That same year, Castle was named featured artist at Folk Alley, in addition to being a finalist in the Granite State Songwriting Contest, in Newmarket, New Hampshire
.
Since then, Castle has shared stages with such acts as: Chris Hillman
, Herb Pedersen
, Uncle Monk
(with Tommy Ramone
), David Amram
, Jimmy Webb
, Radney Foster
, Richard Shindell
, Jonathan Edwards, Junior Brown
, The Wood Brothers
, Amy Speace
, David Wax Museum
, Tommy Womack
, Eilen Jewell
, Will Kimbrough
, The Everybodyfields
, Peter Case
, Jim White
, Jenny Owen Youngs
, and Jeff Black, among others.
In September 2010, Castle launched "The Drenched Earth Tour" with The Womack Family Band
at The Winchester Music Hall (Lakewood, OH). In May and June of 2011, he released "The Firelands EP" and "Of God & Man (Beneath the Sun)" through his own record label- Dirtsandwich Music Company, LLC. Dirtsandwich also serves as Castle's publishing arm, and is a BMI-affiliated corporation.
His forthcoming album, Last Bird Home, was recorded during July and August of 2011 at Levon Helm
Studios in Woodstock, NY. Contributing to the record were the Band
's Garth Hudson
, Maud Hudson, Tommy Ramone
of the Ramones, Larry Campbell (musician)
, Gabriel Butterfield (son of Blues legend Paul Butterfield
) and The Womack Family Band
, among others.
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
/Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
. Cleveland Magazine
Cleveland Magazine
Cleveland Magazine is the largest monthly magazine focused on Northeastern Ohio, with a circulation of 45,000. It was founded in 1972. The inaugural April 1972 issue featured a young Dennis Kucinich, a frequent profile subject of the magazine...
has described his writing as an "authentic connection to the world-weary soul of American roots music", while The New London Day
The New London Day
The Day newspaper, formerly known as The New London Day, is a local newspaper based in New London, Connecticut published by The Day Publishing Company. The newspaper has won Newspaper of the Year and the Best Daily Newspaper Award from the New England Press Association...
's Rick Koster calls Castle "a visionary songwriter" and "a tunesmith of almost scary vision, narrative acumen and hooky instinct".
Early life
Born in Sandusky, Ohio, in 1976, Castle's family moved to the village of New London, OhioNew London, Ohio
New London is a village in Huron County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,696 at the 2000 census.The village motto, "The Right Place at the Right Time" was chosen in the late twentieth century by former Mayor Dorothy Sholes....
around the time he was four. His parents had migrated to Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
from eastern Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
in the late sixties, and Castle was exposed to Appalachian Music from a very early age. His father (a Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veteran) committed suicide when Castle was nine years old; a theme that would later inspire Castle's first official single and video, Both Ends of A Gun.
Early Career
Castle spent his teen years as a staff-writer in Nashville, TennesseeNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, working under such notable writers as; Casey Kelly (The Cowboy Rides Away), Wood Newton (Bobbie Sue
Bobbie Sue
Bobbie Sue is the seventh album by the Oak Ridge Boys. It was released on February 10, 1982. Its title song was a #1 country chart hit and a #12 hit on the Hot 100 singles chart....
), and Earl Bud Lee (Friends in Low Places
Friends in Low Places
"Friends in Low Places" is a song released by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was the first single from his second album, No Fences. The song spent four weeks at #1 on the U.S...
). At twenty-one, he would leave Music Row
Music Row
Music Row is an area just to the southwest of Downtown Nashville, Tennessee that is home to hundreds of businesses related to the country music, gospel music, and Contemporary Christian music industries...
, marry his first wife, have a son, and perform in bars and coffeehouses in northern Ohio.
He remarried in 2001, and enrolled in Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University, often referred to as Bowling Green or BGSU, is a public, coeducational research university located in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The institution was granted a charter in 1910 by the State of Ohio as part of the Lowry Bill, which also established Kent State...
as a Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
major shortly thereafter. Chris met Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winner Edward Albee
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
on campus in 2006, when the veteran playwright convinced him to return to songwriting. "He's the one who talked me into dropping out of college, so I can blame it on (him). He was telling me about holding up a mirror to our society and holding it up to yourself. He had great stuff to say about real art."
As A Recording Artist
Castle's 2007 release, Hollow Bones in Monotone, received solid reviews, and established Castle as an accepted player in the modern folkFolk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
scene. That same year, Castle was named featured artist at Folk Alley, in addition to being a finalist in the Granite State Songwriting Contest, in Newmarket, New Hampshire
Newmarket, New Hampshire
Newmarket is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 8,936 at the 2010 census. Some residents are students and employees at the nearby University of New Hampshire in Durham....
.
Since then, Castle has shared stages with such acts as: Chris Hillman
Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
, Herb Pedersen
Herb Pedersen
Herb Pedersen is an American musician, guitarist, banjo player, and singer-songwriter who has played a variety of musical styles over the past forty years including country, bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, folk, folk rock, country rock, and has worked with numerous musicians in many different...
, Uncle Monk
Uncle Monk
Uncle Monk is an American bluegrass music band.The band's two members are Tommy Ramone , the last surviving original member of the pioneering punk rock band The Ramones, and Claudia Tienan, a guitarist, bassist and vocalist....
(with Tommy Ramone
Tommy Ramone
Tommy Ramone, also known as Thomas Erdelyi , is a Hungarian American record producer and musician...
), David Amram
David Amram
David Amram is an American composer, musician, conductor, and writer. As a classical composer and performer, his integration of jazz , ethnic and folk music has led him to work with the likes of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Willie Nelson, Langston...
, Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
, Radney Foster
Radney Foster
Radney Foster is an American Texas Country artist. Initially a songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee, Foster made his debut in 1986 alongside Bill Lloyd in the duo Foster & Lloyd...
, Richard Shindell
Richard Shindell
Richard Shindell is an American folk songwriter. Shindell grew up in Port Washington, New York. He currently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his wife, a university professor, and their children....
, Jonathan Edwards, Junior Brown
Junior Brown
Jamieson "Junior" Brown is an American country guitarist and singer. He has released nine studio albums in his career, and has charted twice on the Billboard country singles charts. Brown's signature instrument is the "guit-steel" double neck guitar, a hybrid of electric guitar and lap steel...
, The Wood Brothers
The Wood Brothers
The Wood Brothers are musician siblings Chris and Oliver Wood from Boulder, Colorado. Chris is a founding member of Medeski Martin & Wood, and Oliver played second guitar with Tinsley Ellis before forming King Johnson....
, Amy Speace
Amy Speace
Amy Speace is an American singer-songwriter from Baltimore, Maryland, who is a former Shakespearean actress notable for her critically acclaimed music. National Public Radio described her voice as "velvety and achy" and compared her to Lucinda Williams. The singer was based in Jersey City, N.J. but...
, David Wax Museum
David Wax Museum
David Wax Museum is a folk band blending traditional Mexican son music with Americana in what they call "Mexo-Americana"The band had its breakthrough after winning a contest for a spot at the 2010 Newport Folk Festival....
, Tommy Womack
Tommy Womack
Tommy Womack is an American Singer-songwriter, musician and author.Womack has a long history as a songwriter and as a musician with many bands and recording artists/acts, both defunct and active. His recordings span multiple genres: folk, rock, country, alt-country, and indie music all being...
, Eilen Jewell
Eilen Jewell
-Early life and education:Jewell grew up in Idaho City, Idaho and attended college in Santa Fe, New Mexico.-Career:Jewell began her musical career when she began busking on the streets of Sante Fe while attending college...
, Will Kimbrough
Will Kimbrough
Will Kimbrough born in Mobile, Alabama in 1964 is an American Singer-Songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer currently based in Nashville, Tennessee.-Biography:...
, The Everybodyfields
The Everybodyfields
the everybodyfields were an independent folk/country band from Johnson City, Tennessee. The band was fronted by Sam Quinn and Jill Andrews who met when they were nineteen while both working at a summer camp. Most recently, they were joined by guitarist and keyboardist Josh Oliver, pedal steel...
, Peter Case
Peter Case
Peter Case is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, who has had a wide-ranging career ranging from new wave music to folk rock to solo acoustic performance.-Early career:...
, Jim White
Jim White
Michael Davis Pratt known professionally as Jim White, is a Southern American singer-songwriter and guitarist. White's music can be loosely described as alternative country, but veers off in different, sometimes experimental directions with occasional nods to Tom Waits and the literary narratives...
, Jenny Owen Youngs
Jenny Owen Youngs
Jenny Owen Youngs is an American singer-songwriter from Montclair, New Jersey.-Music career:Youngs played the flute in elementary school and the tuba in junior high school. At 14, she began to play the guitar...
, and Jeff Black, among others.
In September 2010, Castle launched "The Drenched Earth Tour" with The Womack Family Band
The Womack Family Band
The Womack Family Band is an Americana music quartet from Norwalk, Ohio. The group consists of Haley Heyman , Noah Heyman , Tony Schaffer , and Cory Webb .-Formation and Band Name:The members of The Womack Family Band gradually...
at The Winchester Music Hall (Lakewood, OH). In May and June of 2011, he released "The Firelands EP" and "Of God & Man (Beneath the Sun)" through his own record label- Dirtsandwich Music Company, LLC. Dirtsandwich also serves as Castle's publishing arm, and is a BMI-affiliated corporation.
His forthcoming album, Last Bird Home, was recorded during July and August of 2011 at Levon Helm
Levon Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....
Studios in Woodstock, NY. Contributing to the record were the Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
's Garth Hudson
Garth Hudson
Eric Garth Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group The Band, he was a principal architect of the group's unique sound...
, Maud Hudson, Tommy Ramone
Tommy Ramone
Tommy Ramone, also known as Thomas Erdelyi , is a Hungarian American record producer and musician...
of the Ramones, Larry Campbell (musician)
Larry Campbell (musician)
Larry Campbell is a multi-instrumentalist who plays many stringed instruments in genres including country, folk, blues, and rock...
, Gabriel Butterfield (son of Blues legend Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
) and The Womack Family Band
The Womack Family Band
The Womack Family Band is an Americana music quartet from Norwalk, Ohio. The group consists of Haley Heyman , Noah Heyman , Tony Schaffer , and Cory Webb .-Formation and Band Name:The members of The Womack Family Band gradually...
, among others.
Discography
- Hollow Bones in Monotone (2007) Dirtsandwich Music Company, LLC
- Crazy Wind (2008) Dirtsandwich Music Company, LLC
- Songbook Volume I (2009) Dirtsandwich Music Company, LLC
- Perfect World (2010) Dirtsandwich Music Company, LLC
- The Firelands EP (2011) Dirtsandwich Music Company, LLC
- Of God & Man (Beneath the Sun) Dirtsandwich Music Company, LLC