Del Castillo
Del Castillo is a Latin rock band based in Austin, Texas. The band's name comes from the last name of two brothers, Rick and Mark del Castillo, who founded the group. History. Del Castillo began as a Latin music style project between two brothers, Rick and Mark del Castillo in the fall of 2000. The brothers, who had always played electric guitar in many different rock bands, had never played together and for the first time ever they began collaborating on songs on nylon string, acoustic guitars. So Rick and Mark decided to record some music together  that their family could enjoy and culturally relate to. Their musical friend, Alex Ruiz, began adding lyrics to the brothers' instrumentals, and soon after, the other band members joined them. Rick recruited his friend Albert Besteiro, Jr., on bass and friend Cecilio Ruiz III on percussion and vocals, and Mark invited drummer Mike Zeoli, from their other joint project, Milhouse. After receiving very positive and most encouraging responses from everyone who heard the music they created, the project naturally began to evolve into a real band. They began playing regularly around the Austin area. The intensity of the band's  live performance centers around the two brothers playing guitar. Although not traditionally trained flamenco players, the two have proven to be equal to the likes of the Gipsy Kings, Strunz and Farah, and Santana. The speed, accuracy and expertise of these two, backed by a strong and swift rhythm section, draws fans and newcomers to the foot of the stage every performance. With the original line-up complete, Del Castillo began writing material, fusing many styles and influences, all while retaining a solid Latin element. The band released their debut CD "Brothers of the Castle" in 2001, which met with  rave reviews from critics and music fans alike. As the once "project band" solidified into a family of musicians, the band crafted their follow-up release, "Vida", which took the band to the next level. And recognition, if not fame, came calling in the form of an invitation to appear on the soundtrack of director Robert Rodríguez's "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" and the honor of winning "Best Austin Band of the Year" along with six other major awards at the 2002-2003 Austin Music Awards. The "Del Castillo Live DVD", filmed and edited by Robert Rodríguez, was  released in early 2004. Filmed at the famous Steamboat on 6th Street in Austin, it captured the fire and intensity of their live performances. Also that year, Quentin Tarantino used a Del Castillo song in "Kill Bill Vol. 2", performed by Chingon, Robert Rodríguez's musical collective of some of his closest musical compadres, including members of Del Castillo. Del Castillo, with Robert, performed as Chingon at the premier of the film in Los Angeles. In the Spring of 2006, Del Castillo released their third CD, "Brotherhood", which was immediately acclaimed by the media across the board. In late 2006 , Rick Holeman decided to retire from the band, and the group found a new percussionist, Carmelo Torres. Hailing from Los Angeles, but now living in Austin, Carmelo has proven a strong musician and songwriter. Carmelo was eventually replaced by home town friend, Jason Murdy in 2010. Jason has toured extensively with Del Castillo and is now creatively contributing with the other members to writing new music for the band. On 10 September 2012 Del Castillo announced on Facebook: "Dear Del Castillo Fans, After 12 years of making great music together, the time has come for Del Castillo and Alex Ruiz  to go our separate ways. We ask that you continue to support him and we wish him all the luck and success with his future projects. We will be finishing out the rest of this year's shows with guest vocalists and friends, and look forward to taking a much needed BREAK afterwards to regroup, refocus our energies, reorganize our business, and come back sometime next year with newfound energy and excitement, and an even bolder new sound. We hope that you will continue to celebrate Peace, Love, and Latin music with us until then, as we still have some  amazing Del Castillo shows lined up for the rest of 2012!" Currently, Del Castillo is writing and recording brand new music in their Texas studio with Grammy award-winning lead vocalist, Danny Ortiz from Grupo Mazz (2004) and can now be seen performing live with Del Castillo. New singles are streaming online and they expect to release a new album in 2014 following with a world wide tour to support their highly anticipated new release. Del Castillo is also featured on an ABC crime/drama show, Killer Women featuring their brand new instrumental single, "Las Seis Cuerdas de Tony Montuno . Volume 1 of the series features the Del Castillo songs Letter Home" and "La Letra". This film was never released. It's rumored that it went straight to video. Produced by Martina Amende with her company Sapo de Oro in New Mexico. Martina and her videographer Carl Thiel filmed Del Castillo in Geneva, Switzerland for Cartier in 2006. Awards. Killing Snakes - A short film show in Cannes - 2007, Co-written with very dear and special friend Martina Amende, won a Gold award for best score at Park City, Utah 2008. Extensive US and EU promotional touring clubs, festivals, theaters, etc . Began working with premiere German booking agency, ASS. Collaborating creatively on new songs in the studio with Los Lonely Boys. National touring throughout the U.S. and in Europe, including many major music festivals such as the Sierra Nevada Music Fest, California Worldfest, and Great Woods Music Fest (Canada). National tour: shows with Los Lonely Boys/Indigenous/Styx/deSol/Don Henley. Performed at corporate event for Cartier in Geneva, Switzerland. Set attendance records at The Glenn and Antone’s in Austin. Headlined at the Mexico Now! Festival in New York and at the Open House Arts Festival at Kennedy Center in  Washington, DC celebrating the Center’s 34th Anniversary. National headline tour, including Las Vegas/Kansas City/St. Louis/Nashville/Virginia Beach/Syracuse/Santa Fe/ Albuquerque. Shows with the Neville Brothers in Austin, and with Buddy Guy in Des Moines. Headline shows in New York/Atlanta/Memphis. Shows with Ozomatli in Tucson/New Orleans/ Orlando/Washington, DC/Detroit/Chicago/Minneapolis/Albuquerque/Santa Fe; with Los Lobos in Des Moines/Dallas/Austin/San Antonio/El Paso.