Posted 06/16/2010
Troy Castellano Group helps rasie money for LiveStrong Foundation!
Got some great news to share...we are doing an acoustic show to help raise money for Lance Armstrong's cancer organization the Livestrong Foundation on Tuesday June 22 at Majestic Oaks Golf Club. They are hosting a golf tournament, dinner and entertainment to raise money for the foundation. The Troy Castellano Group is playing from 6-7 PM with another great Twin Cities artist Tim Mahoney playing after us from 7-8 PM. This event is open to the public so if you live in the Twin Cities area you can help raise money for a great cause. A $5 cover/donation gets you in to see two great acts.
Here's a link for more information http://www.majesticoaksgolfclub.com/layout9.asp?id=192&page=8313 Come on out and show your support!
More cool news,..recently I stumbled across one of my tracks in the background of a TLC network show, The Little Couple. You can take a peek at a clip by clicking here
http://www.reverbnation.com/troycastellano#/artist/artist_videos/358108 That makes me feel sooo good to hear my music being used!
That's the latest update. Remember our new CD Troy Castellano Group 2010 is now available for sale. You can purchase a physical copy or the MP3 album from my web store at www.troycastellano.com/store.htm AND (drum roll) it is now available on iTunes, Amazon MP3, Zune, E Music, MySpace Music, Rhapsody, and Napster. Show your love and support by buying a copy of the new TCG album and sharing my web links with your friends.
Hope you are having a great summer so far. Up here in Minnesota we've been having weather like Seattle for the past few weeks. It's getting old fast. Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow (no singing the Annie song please LOL) and I'll get my vitamin D back up to normal!!
As always...thanks so much for the support. Without great fans like you my work would mean nothing. You rawk!!!
Troy Castellano
Posted 06/02/2010
New Troy Castellano Group Album Released. Buy CD or Download Today!
Just wanted to give an update... the Troy Castellano Group's new album 2010 is now available for purchase. The first week of sales have been good and I wanted to send out a great big thanks to those of you who jumped in right away and bought a copy. THANK YOU!! Also, for those of you who sent in pictures, you may be on the cover! Be sure to check it out and get a copy of the physical CD. We are signing the this first round of CDs so if you would like a signed copy hurry and order yours today. You can order the CD or buy the MP3 album (downloads) on my web store at www.troycastellano.com/store.htm. The album will also be available on iTunes and other online stores near the end of June. I'll keep ya posted on the full digital release!!
Also, a little bonus...get two free song downloads! Head over to my web site and click on the 2 FREE DOWNLOADS banner under the player. Download two of the songs that didn't make the album. Great tracks and yours for the taking!
A bit about the new TCG album: The album turned out amazing and sounds awesome. 13 superb tracks of radio friendly music :-) There's something on this album for everyone! From straight up rock to just plain fun pop songs. Some may even say there's a hint of country on a few tunes! And just quick FYI for ya, we only did a short run of CD this first time around so be sure to get one before these first ones are gone! If you want to hear samples of the tracks first, click on over to my web site for a preview www.troycastellano.com.
Update on Tommy Lee's new Methods of Mayhem album. The release of the new album that I did some tracks on with Tommy has been pushed back until September 21. The original release date was to be July 13 but since Motley Crue is doing OzzFest in July and August the date has been pushed back so Tommy can be free to do press and promotion when it is released. It's been a long grueling wait but it will be worth it in my book! Can't wait for that baby to be released and go gold!! If you want to check out some pics of my visit to Tommy's studio click over to http://gallery.me.com/trocat.
As always, thanks for your continued support. Music is good for the mind and soul, don't go through life without out it! For any of you doing the Twitter thing, click over and follow me for instant updates on me at http://twitter.com/troycastellano Talk to ya soon!
Posted 05/07/2010
Hi Everyone
Don't let the recent cool weather get you down! I've got some hot news for ya! About 10 days ago CJ and I were out in Hollywood for the ASCAP Expo. What an awesome time. The first night out there we went to the Rainbow Room on the Sunset Strip with my friend (and amazing singer) Amanda Harris. I wanted to sit at the Led Zeppelin table but it was full :-) . We hung out drinking cocktails and did come long overdue catching up. I guess Steven Adler from G N R was there but I didn't see him. I did see Macy Gray though. The next day the ASCAP Expo started, we got to see and hear some of the best in the biz, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Phil Vasser, Quincy Jones, and more. These guys had such great inspiring stories to tell! We also checked out some of the cool exhibits on display. While we were checking out some of the dealers booths we stopped at the Taylor guitar booth (I had to talk to them about a repair on mine), standing next to us was Sinbad, the comedian. I loved that guys stuff in the 90s. Especially Jingle All The Way (because it was shot in the Twin Cities!). He was nice as ever. CJ talked with him for about 10 mins while I talked to the Taylor rep. He was just starting to learn guitar (good luck, it takes yeeeaarrss to learn).
Later on that night we went to visit a few new friends of mine :-) Tommy Lee and Scott Humphrey! We actually got to go to Tommy's house and checked out his studio. The really cool thing is we got to hear some of the final tracks off Tommy's upcoming Method's of Mayhem album! Man, Scott really put together a killer album with players from around the world. I still can't tell you if I'm on it or not just yet, let's just say I heard many familiar parts on about 6 tracks! I'll give the official announcement when it comes out on July 13th! Can't wait for that!! We hung out at Tommy's Atrium Studio until about 1:00 am that night and polished off a bottle of Crown. We'll I think we did! LOL. Oh yeah, also got to meet another cool person, a great writer, Anthony Bozza. Another rocker paesan! He wrote the Tommyland book, Slash's book and also writes for Rolling Stone! I gotta read Tommy's book now! Scott and Tommy were very cool and down to earth. Not a sign of rock star arrogance, just flat out cool people! Then next night, Friday night, we had a great dinner with the CEO of www.broadjam.com Roy Elkins and a bunch of very cool musicians. Many I had met online but not in person. So that was a blast too. Thanks to Roy for having us out! What a great time we had. I made some great connections and learned more about the biz. Hopefully things that will take my music to next level. Cross your fingers!!
Check out the photos from our trip to Hollywood on our all new photo gallery. Just click over to www.troycastellano.com/media.htm and click the photo gallery link at the bottom of the page. It will take you to an all new photo gallery. You can view in multiple ways, including slide show! Have fun!
Now, on to news about the new Troy Castellano Group CD. It has been mastered, the artwork is finalized and the files are going out for duplication this weekend. We hope to have CDs in hand within a few weeks. I will send out a new newsletter when they arrive and are for sale. While you're waiting please be sure to click over to www.reverbnation.com/troycastellano and check out the album preview tracks in the RN player!
That's it for now. I'll write more soon. Until then, be good and as always thanks for your support of me and my music. Ya'll rock!!
Posted 04/18/2010
Whew...it's been awhile since my last newsletter, I hope this email finds you well! I've been busy as a spring bee getting things lined up for the release of our upcoming album. The name of the new album is Troy Castellano Group 2010. With the help of my musical cohorts CJ Stahlberg (bass) and Lee Brandenburg (drums) I think we've made a great record that will appeal to everyone from pop, rock to crossover music fans. The tracks are getting mastered as I write this. Look for official release news coming soon! Also, CJ and I are gearing up for our trip out to L.A. this coming week. We've got a great trip planned and we have, what is looking like, some very cool meetings lined up. We'll fill you in on those after they happen. I don't want to spill the beans just yet as I know how these people's schedules can change in a moments notice. Look for updates and more news over the coming weeks. Don't forget, while you wait for the new album, you can download our new single "With Me All Along" from the album here on my web site at http://www.troycastellano.com/store.htm. Once you order, check your email, you will be sent an email with the download link. Buy it, download it, crank it up, and please tell all your friends!!
Tommy Lee's Method's of Mayhem album update: Tommy's new album is officially slated for a worldwide release on July 13th! The new album is called A Public Disservice Announcement. All of us who's tracks were being considered for the album won't know if we made the cut until then. Thanks for the excruciating suspenseful wait Tommy, ugh! Still, it is an exciting wait!
Oh yeah, one more cool thing that happened to me this past newsletter break, I won a very cool piece of studio gear from Broadjam.com for blogging about the piece of equipment. I was up against 60 other "bloggers". You can check out the blurb here... http://www.broadjam.com/blog/universal-audio-giveaway/
Hope you all are enjoying the spring! It's been a nice one up here in Minnesota this year. As always big shout out to all of you for the support!! Talk to you soon!
Single from new Troy Castellano Group released! And you could be on the album cover!
Posted 03/17/2010
We've got some cool news! We are almost done with the new Troy Castellano Group album! To celebrate, we're doing two cool things. First off, we're releasing a single from the upcoming album. From the response of the demo put out for streaming last fall, the new single we're releasing is With Me All Along! A song that I personally got a lot of requests and emails for (Thank you!!). Now you can purchase and download the new mastered album version exclusively on our web site at www.troycastellano.com/store.htm. Go check it out!! And that's not all! Along with that, we're gonna do a killer album cover! We want our friends and fans on the cover! Yep, thats right! We have an awesome city street scene we're gonna use for the cover and we want to put your photos in the windows of the buildings! Send us your photos for a chance to have it on the album cover! It can be anything you want! Well, except for "naughty photos" ;-), I think you get the picture! Er, or we will LOL. We're gonna try to fit as many photos as we can so send us a photo for consideration. Who knows, you might just see your photo on our cover! Take a moment to buy the new single and download the preview of the album cover on the bottom of the store page for a glimpse of the new album art! Send those photos to me at troy@trocatmusic.com. Get them to me fast 'cause we're already working on the artwork!
Even more cool news...Tommy Lee's new Methods of Mayhem album, A Public Disservice Announcement is set for a release on May 11th. The first single, Time Bomb comes out March 23rd. None of us finalists for the album have been told who made it yet, Tommy's idea of suspense (I'm dying over here!) but I've got a good feeling I'm on there somewhere. I heard a brief sneak peek of the first track on the album and it sounds like my riff is in there! We'll see, can't wait for that one to drop! Meanwhile, while we wait for that one, you can check out some more shout outs to me from Tommy and Scott from Tommy's studio in a new video...check it out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz5kvpgQOjs. Tommy even checked out my kids tracks!
Hope everyone is doing we'll and we're all looking forward to an awesome summer 2010! AND always, thanks to all of you for the support of my music! You're the best!
Troy's guitar track being considered for Tommy Lee's new Methods of Mayhem album!
Posted 11/21/2009
Very cool news today! My guitar track for Tommy Lee's new song Only One is being considered for use on the new Method's of Mayhem album. Check out the video on the media page by clicking here. Also, here's a link to the video on The Public Record web site click here. There you can view the comments on the video too! That's all for now! See Ya...
We are in the studio recording songs for the the new Troy Castellano Group album...
Posted 11/15/2009
We started recording drums this week for the new TCG album. We have an amazing drummer for the sessions, Lee Brandenberg. With the help of Lee and my partner in crime bassist CJ Stahlberg we'll be getting some great performances captured. So far things are on track. We've got about 20 songs to choose from. The hard part is gonna be narrowing them down to 12 tracks for the album. There so many good ones to pick from, and of course I'm biased, I want to do them all! We'll see how things go with that (smiles). I'll be posting updates and some video from the studio over the next few months. Be sure to check back every now and then! Later....
Troy's doing tracks for Tommy Lee's Methods of Mayhem's new album, The Public Record...
Posted 11/15/2009
Tommy Lee's got a cool new project going called The Public Record. It's a new ground breaking endeavor, Tommy's making a record with the pubic. You get the raw tracks of his latest songs and you get to add your own parts to it. Thousands of people are sending parts from around the world! A few of my tracks have made finalist and I have had a few compliments from Tommy directly. You can check out my video submissions on the media page. They're kind of cheesy but Tommy and crew wanted to see us performing our parts, so there you go! In any case it's a very cool undertaking and I am proud to be a part of it. You can check out more about it here at www.thepublicrecord.com. Later...
Had a great time in Hollywood....
Posted 04/29/2009
I had a great time in Hollywood last week at the ASCAP "I create music" Expo. I got to meet some of the biggest songwriters and producers in the biz today. The first night I was there was just the registration so I hung out in the hotel bar chatting with other songwriters. We're all chasing the same Dragons you know! Anyhow as I was chatting with someone I hear a some what familiar voice next to me...it was Tom Green. Anyone remember him? I think he's slipped a bit out of fame as not to many people noticed. I said hello and continued my conversation with Jack Daniel's and my new writer friends (smiles).
The next day I hit some of the master classes on Apple's Logic Pro. Got to chat with Ryan Tedder of One Republic. Ryan's the most sought after pop rock writer out there now. He has 4 songs on Kelly Clarkson's new CD, worked with Daughtry, Timbaland, Natasha Bettingfield, Chris Cornell and many others. I also met Dan Wilson of Semi Sonic. He still lives in Minnesota! Also met Multi-Platinum selling writer/producer, "Spider" Ron Entwistle. That guy knows Logic inside and out and has produced top dance club mixes and produces music for some of the Nickelodeon shows stars. Also met Mark Needham, another producer extraordinair. He's produced great acts like, the Killers, My Chemical Romance, Fleetwood Mac, and many others.
That evening I got to see an intimate performance by Ann & Nancy Wilson of Heart. They talk about the biz and the ups and downs of their 30 year career. Amazing artists! They still kick ass and sound fresh as ever! After the performance the events for the day were over. I trekked my way down Hollywood boulevard and stopped by one of Frank Sinatra's old haunts, Miceli's Italian Restaurant. I had a couple of Crown & 7s and ordered a pizza. I only ate about 2 pieces of it and I was full. By this time it was dark on the boulevard. I took my pizza box and headed back to my hotel to hook up with my bro Rob aka Mr Phresh from PTD Entertainment. As I was walking down the boulevard I stared to notice some of homeless people hanging out on the boulevard. It must have hit me in a soft spot because I proceed to hand out my leftover pizza to them as I past. I got the biggest smiles from them and it made me feel pretty good to. Image that, me strutting down Hollywood blvd handing out pizza to the homeless? I know there's a song in there somewhere!
The next day was pretty cool too. I got to meet more very cool people including a very nice guy named Woody Moran. He is the CEO of NambaGear.com. They make the coolest bags for musicians! You've got to check them out! I used mine the whole week I was out there. I won one in a song contest last year and I am an endorser of NambaGear products. Check out the pic of me & Woody on my home page.
Regarding pics, we weren't allowed to take pics in the ASCAP events, so I did not get pics of all the artists, producers and events. I was also there by myself so most of my pics are of the Hollywood area that I took.
After it was all over I had gotten to chat with many cool people, got a demo CD into the hands many of the movers and shakers of the biz and have started some cool relationships. Hopefully I'll hear back from some of them and we well perhaps work together in the future. For now it's back to writing tracks for my catalog. I have lots of new recording techniques and ideas to get too and am excited to be back in my studio! Thanks to all of you that asked about my trip to L.A. it was a blast! Can't wait to go again!
Oh yeah, a big shout out to Rob/Mr. Phresh for the iPhone and for our new musical ventures yet to come! You can check out the Hollywood pics onmy myspace photos page.
Highlights from March 1st Interview on BlogTalkRadio with Risky Business (Jack) & Deb
Posted 03/03/2009
Original story from Risky Business's BlogSpot (click here)
This was a really good show. It simply amazes me how we keep getting awesome guests and Troy was no exception. Amazing guest, amazing musician, we really had fun on this one.
First let me toss out some web links....
Troy's website is www.troycastellano.com/. While you are there be sure to sign up for his newsletter.
Here's his Myspace here, and he also has a ton of music on his youtube page.
We talked about his songwriting process, some of the things he's been up to lately and played some of his songs. It literally took my breath away, this music is totally amazing.
I don't remember ever seeing the chat room so packed. Deb and I thought it was amazing the amount of support he is getting, especially from his family. We almost had a riot at one point while I was waiting for some songs Troy sent me to upload and process. Thankfully the files processed pretty quickly (which surprised me considering some of the issues we've been having on blogtalk lately) and we were able to get the songs played before the live portion of the show ended.
Especially listen to the story behind the song Angelene after we played it, names changed to protect the guilty of course, and one of many light hearted moments we had during the show.
We did continue the show after the live stream ended, in fact we ran close to 3 hours, so the best way to enjoy this one would be to go to the actual showpage (click here) and listen from here. Blogtalkradio does have a "pop out" player that does seem to work, well most of the time anyway.
Having said how long the show was, I also have to say that 3 hours wasn't long enough to talk about the stuff we wanted to talk about.
Guess that means we'll have to have him on again, I'm looking forward to it!
Troy signs music publishing deal with Score Keepers Music
Posted 02/25/2009
More great news to share...I signed a music publishing deal withwww.scorekeepersmusic.com last week. This prominent music library provides music for many of today's top network and cable TV shows. This is a great opportunity for me to get my music heard by thousands if not millions of TV viewers. Whoo Hoo! One more door open as I make progress with my original music! I'll keep you up-to-date with any TV placements I get with my songs and let you know where and when you can tune in. In the words of the TV industry stay tuned (smiles)!
Interview with Troy on the Indie Spotlight show on Blog Talk Radio Sunday March 1, 2009. 8 PM CST.
Posted 02/25/2009
Sunday evening, March 1 at 8 PM (CST) I will be on the internet radio talk show Indie Spotlight with host Jack a.k.a. Risky Business. We'll be talking about what I've been up to and where I'm heading with my music career. They'll also be playing some of my tracks on the show, both old and new. Be sure to tune in! If you can't tune into the live stream you can also download the podcast. Click the banner below to visit the show's web page.
Troy is December’s featured artist and endorsee of Namba Gear, Musician Gig Bags!
Posted 12/08/2008
I got some great news today. I am the December featured artist and endorsee of Namba Gear! Namba Gear is a California based bag and accessories company that designs and produces premium, high performance solutions for the working musician. Web site:nambagear.com
Back in August the company gave me a Kava Studio bag and I have used the hell out of it! If you are looking for a quality "musician friendly" laptop/portable studio and backpack bags for the transport of your gear be sure to check them out. There gear holds up on the road and on stage! A big shout out to Woody and the gang at Namba Gear for the support!
Troy’s Song All Torn Up Wins Song of The Month on Broadjam.Com
Posted 09/01/2008
I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! I received some great news last week and wanted to let you all know. My song All Torn Up won Broadjam.com's July Song of the month! I submitted my song back in June and received a lot of great reviews. If you like the song you can buy the MP3 download for $.99! Use the link on the right side bar to buy my tracks on Broadjam.com. As always, thank you all for the support for my music!
Troy’s Song Featured on Indies Top 10 Show!
Wow this is way cool and an honor! My song "All Torn Up" is featured this month on Mike Cameo's Indies Top 10 "Bringing you the best Indie Music from the World's Chart Toppers". This radio show is listened to by thousands daily, around the world! I am being featured on this show because the song "All Torn Up" has been on the international pop charts at www.broadjam.com for the past few months (and you can purchase the track there too)! It's a very cool thing and I can't thank them enough for the feature!
Please check out the show at http://www.indiestop10.com. Click on the play button right under "July 2008 TOP 10 POP". I believe All Torn Up is the 4th song on the show. For all you iPod and iTunes users you can download the podcast and listen when your mobile! Just search Indies Top 10 on iTunes and get the July 2008 Pop show.
A big shout out to all of you that truly support me and my music. I appreciate it immensely! Be sure to pass this email to all your indie music loving friends. And please drop Indies Top 10 an email, contact@indeistop10.com and let them know that you want to hear more from Troy Castellano. That's it for now!
