Castillo, Tody "Old Rodriguez" [Clear Turquoise Vinyl]

Tody Castillo has been a performing songwriter for almost two decades. The material from two previous albums, his solid eponymous 2005 release and the superb Windhorse from 2008, covered traditional songwriter’s ground – love, loss, and struggle. With a storyteller’s nuance and a designer’s eye for detail, each song revealed depths of feeling and meaning. With this year’s new album Old Rodriguez, Tody Castillo has sharpened his best weapon. Adding a decade of married fatherhood to his growing list of accomplishments, there’s undeniable weight to his vocals, new grit that before was only hinted at.

“This album is about reflection, growth, time, becoming a parent, and coming of age. It also looks back at a veteran’s journey through WWII touching on the experience of being away, coming home, and later flashing back through a life well lived. It’s also a realization that above all things, ‘time’ is more important than the hustle.”