US bluesman Tommy Castro brings his band to Cumbria next week to promote his new record.

The Californian guitarist released Stompin' Ground at the end of September, and will be heading to the Brewery Arts Centre, in Kendal, with The Painkillers on Friday December 1.

Castro formed the band in 2012, creating a lean, mean four-piece line-up, capable of delivering soul-shaking, muscular music.

The band released The Devil You Know in 2014 and Method To My Madness in 2015, stripping his music down to its raw essence with the new, smaller band, sounding bigger than ever.

Inspired by the sounds he absorbed while coming of age on the rough and tumble side of San Jose during the late 1960s and early 1970s, Castro mixed the blues rock he loved and the soul music he heard blasting out from the lowriders cruising the streets, along with the socially conscious message songs of the day.

He learned how to capture an audience with his intensely passionate vocals, stellar musicianship and dynamic performances.

He and The Painkillers - bassist Randy McDonald, keyboardist Michael Emerson and drummer Bowen Brown - have played hundreds of shows.

All of his albums are filled with original blues, soul and West Coast rock, each song showing a slightly different side of Castro’s multifaceted musical personality.

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He has picked up six career Blues Music Awards including the coveted B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year Award, and his song Hard Believer took first place in the blues category of the International Songwriting Competition.

On his new album, Stompin’ Ground, Tommy Castro opens windows into both his past and his always-evolving musical future, with a set of 12 tracks featuring six originals and new versions of songs he learned and played as a young up-and-comer.

Tommy Castro and The Painkillers appear at the Brewery Arts Centre, in Kendal, on Friday December 1, from 7.30pm. Tickets are available from the venue's box office.