Dryvetyme Onlyne

Tody Castillo
Windhorse
Chula; 2009

On one hand, Tody Castillo has built up quite the reputation amongst in-the-know fans of neo-classic Texas folk-pop. His self-titled 2005 album was lauded with all sorts of awards in Houston, and he’s built up a solid following around the state in general. The flip side is that the guy isn’t quite as well known as he could or should be. I have several friends who would quickly fall in love with Castillo’s special blend of Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, Tom Petty, and Ryan Adams, yet have never heard of him.

Hopefully, Windhorse will be able to lift him up to higher heights in the Houston, Austin, and Texas music scenes. This eleven-song effort is filled with great tones and impeccable production, courtesy of Castillo himself (as he played a vast majority of the instruments here) and Steve Christensen. Working primarily out of The Treehouse (Christensen’s garage apartment studio in The Heights neighborhood in Houston, TX), this is engaging, bright, and clean music, containing subtle traces of dust and heaps of emotion for texture.

Specifically, Castillo possesses a clear, direct tenor and knows exactly when to push with power or when to withdraw to a breathy intimacy. There is some severely refined song construction on display here, as the album’s strength is most assuredly in the deft interplay between the vocals and the hushed, relatively minimal instrumentation. The result is a singer-songwriter who purposefully and easily eschews the caricature of tired troubadour, instead opting for the persona of introspective artisan with an uncanny ear for parts and arrangements.

My only quibble with the record is that it feels a shade too somber at times. Admittedly, the record is about an intense period of loss that Castillo and his family experienced over the course 2005. When he sings, “Will you be waiting on the other side? You were always waiting on the other side. I’ve got your weight on my shoulders. I don’t want to let go,” to open up “The Shape Of My Heart” (my favorite track on the record), it proved to be impossible for the oldest brother in me to not open up my heart and ache for the man. That being said, I wish there were a couple more offerings like the upbeat (though downtrodden in content) “Spoken Up Sooner” to balance out the more reserved tempos.

On the whole, I found Windhorse to be a fine record that should appeal to country and folk aficionados, as well as anyone who loves classic pop music. Ballads weep with slow-burners, while there are some rock and rollicking tracks that provide for a little two-stepping. I will certainly be distributing the songs of Tody Castillo to my friends – hopefully he’ll be playing out even more in the near future so that we can hear this stuff live.