Damon Castillo

The Damon Castillo Band is based in San Luis Obispo, playing personal, funky, uptempo, jazz-flavored tunes that slide between alternative, pop and rock genres. Their sound is often compared to John Mayer, but that's not really accurate. These guys tend towards funk, soul, and musical dexterity where John Mayer relies on a more blues-based, romantico format. Damon Castillo writes, sings, and plays guitar on most of the tracks, but the true magic of this band is the interplay of Damon with Larry Kim on sax, Jennings Jacobsen on drums, and Christian Ducharme on keyboards.

Damon Castillo writes, sings, and plays guitar on most of the tracks, but the true magic of this band is the interplay of Damon with Larry Kim on sax, Jennings Jacobsen on drums, and Christian Ducharme on keyboards. They are joined on tours by a bass player and frequently other horns. While their albums reveal high production values and hook-filled tunes, their live performances reveal their amazing connection with their audience and each other.

The band has been around in various forms for over ten years, (previous incarnations have been Jivin Direct and JND), and despite their virtuosity, they're also the kind of guys you want to bring home to meet your mom. They have developed a following all over the West, where they tour in their well-used white van a couple times a year. They completed their first east-coast, midwest and southern tour in 2007 and have spent most of 2007 and 2008 working on a new album due to be released in the fall of 2008.

Damon has old-time movie-star good looks and personal charisma, and has quite the female fan base. He naturally draws the bulk of attention, until the end of the first set. While seemingly comfortable backing Damon's lead, Jennings, Christian and Larry bring an amazing mix of intensity, soul, fun, funk and musical geekiness that's hard to resist. Jennings drums forces you off your butt and onto your feet; Larry makes you want to marry a sax player (or at least boink a sax), starting slow and soulful, building to a white-hot funky intensity through a series of scales that don't seem possible; and Christian on keyboards operating Damon's wah pedal, throwing in tasty licks while weaving a sonic fabric that highlights Damon's singing and playing, punctuated with phrases and digressions that alternately make you laugh and stand riveted in awe.

This is a classically tight band, whose live performances are punctuated by individual displays of fireworks that are worth the price of admission in themselves. Their infectious, soulful rhythms forces people who have no business on the dance floor off their butts and onto their feet.