Castro's

Mike Daley & Teddy Hawkins
2024-05-16 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Toronto)
Mike Daley is a guitarist and singer based in Toronto. A professional musician for over 30 years, Mike has toured Canada, the United States and England and has recorded extensively in a variety of musical styles. He is a longtime member of Fraser/Daley with bassist Alec Fraser and is also proud to work with a variety of bands around Toronto including the Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation, the Travellers and others.
Drummer, singer, raconteur, man about town. Front man for Thelonius Hank and The Hulagoons (Canada’s #1 faux Hawaiian ensemble). Plays drums with Danny Marks Combo and the Root Down Trio. Originally from The Hammer and played way back in the day with Mike Daley in Hocus Pocus and The Jack Diamond Band.

CHATTY WEDNESDAY'S
2024-05-15 17:30 - 20:30, 2024-05-08 17:30 - 20:30, 2024-05-01 17:30 - 20:30, 2024-04-24 17:30 - 20:30, 2024-04-17 17:30 - 20:30
Join us every Wednesday for a time of socializing with old friends and new ones you haven’t met yet.

Lotus Wight
2024-05-13 19:00 - 21:00
Folk Musician
In the decades which book-ended the turn of our century, Lotus Wight embraced the music over which he had obsessed since his childhood. He dwelled in the cradles of their conception and birth. The Carolinas, the Mississippi Valley, West Virginia, Kentucky, and New England fed him the sounds of tradition and helped to form his musical life.
Known for his soulful singing and inimitable playing of guitar and banjo, Lotus’ remarkable live performances always include something unusual. If it is jaw-harp, an old forgotten chant or a bass harmonica on a chest-rack, Wight will always find a unique way to present the work that he clearly loves so much. Wight will always surprise his audience with his ability to move through the American musical cannon with remarkable originality in his delivery and instrumentation.
He is a singer of pre-war blues and banjo songs. Between these seemingly distant cousins, Lotus Wight travels these analogous roads and delivers his music in a seamless and well-curated mix.
Lotus is also a member of the international touring act Shesesham, Lotus and Son and has produced recordings for children’s television, animation projects, and JUNO award winner Jenny Whiteley.

Will Whitwham
2024-05-11 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-04-13 17:00 - 19:00
Will Whitwham is one of Canada’s most prolific and talented singer/songwriters. As a founding member of the Wilderness of Manitoba, he has written and recorded five albums and three EPs. The group was nominated for a JUNO award. The Wilderness of Manitoba toured Canada, the US, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany including performances at the End of the Road Festival, WOMAD, SXSW and the Reeperbahn Festival.
He has also written and recorded two albums as Lake Forest, an EP for the Whateverly Brothers, an album for Pyramid Tropic, and collaborated with recording artists Martha Johnson, Eamon McGrath and Delhi 2 Dublin. The Wilderness of Manitoba was nominated for Sync Artist or Songwriter of the Year at the first Canadian Sync Awards during Canadian Music Week. Their songs (written by Whitwham) have appeared in such US television series as This Is Us, Elementary, Parenthood and No Tomorrow among others. Whitwham’s next project is an EP under his own name called End of Dreams.

Sugar Rush
2024-05-10 17:30 - 19:30, 2024-04-26 17:30 - 19:30, 2024-04-12 17:30 - 19:30
Sugar Rush is the ultimate party band, playing really fun, upbeat covers spanning different genres from classic rock, funk, soul, blues, country, jazz, disco, 80s, motown, hard rock, reggae, oldies, R&B, and folk! Get ready for a full evening of dancing, singalongs and just really good music!
Sugar Rush has been a GTA staple since 2007, returning to the circuit after a brief hiatus, familiar to many a musician and music fan for their jam nights at the Curzon, their Friday night residency at the Loaded Dog, beach parties and corporate events. Anchored by Frankie Dee and Tony Carpino with a rotation of top notch players with special surprise guests and currently featuring Gary Lee Hill. This dynamic crew brings all the best classic rock, funk, soul, blues and much more to keep the floor filled. Always guaranteed sweet sounds with Sugar Rush.

Daley/Fraser
2024-05-09 18:00 - 20:00
Mike Daley is a guitarist and singer based in Toronto. A professional musician for over 30 years, Mike has toured Canada, the United States and England and has recorded extensively in a variety of musical styles. He is a longtime member of Fraser/Daley with bassist Alec Fraser and is also proud to work with a variety of bands around Toronto including the Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation, the Travellers and others.
Born in Glasgow,Scotland and immigrating in 1967, Alec Fraser Jr has been playing bass fifty years in Canada and around the world. He has played bass with international artists such as Bo Diddley, The Drifters, Kim Wilson, Ian Gillian (Deep Purple), Muddy Water’s drummer Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel), Ben. E King, Walter Trout,Ron Sexsmith, and Mel Brown as well as Canadian artists like Jeff Healey, David Wilcox, Jack de Keyser, Morgan Davis,Randy Bachman, Steve Strongman, Danny Marks, Jerome Godboo, Rick Fines, Jimmy Bowskill, Powder Blues Band, Downchild Blues Band and Gospel singer Danny Brooks and Newfoundland singer/songwriter Ron Hynes. These credits have helped earn him the 2004 and 2009 Maple Blues Bassist of the Year award as well as the MBA Lifetime Achievement nomination for several years in a row.

Trivia Night @ Castros
2024-05-07 19:00 - 22:00
Join us for a fun and friendly trivia night on the 1st Tuesday of every month at Castros. Free to play and prizes for the winners.

Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation
2024-05-06 19:30 - 22:00
The Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation (TWAC) comprise of some of the best musicians in all of Toronto coming together for their love of Tom Waits and paying Tribute to him and his music!

North Star 90
2024-05-05 15:00 - 18:00
NORTH STAR 90 is a 4-piece band formed over the past few years in Toronto’s east end, and they’ve been creating a buzz with their surefire selection of ‘90s rock/pop classics! Covering popular songs by iconic artists of the era (STP, Foo Fighters, Alice in Chains, Green Day, Tragically Hip, 54-40), as well as a few forgotten gems, they’ve been steadily impressing crowds with their solid set-list! If you’re a fan of ‘90s alt-rock music, you’re sure to enjoy this band’s great energy and groove!

Thelonious Hank
2024-05-04 17:00 - 19:00
Thelonious Hank plays your father’s country, rock n’ roll, and jazz. They don’t use set lists and they take requests all day long

DJ Rob
2024-05-03 22:00 - 2024-05-04 02:00

Fraser / Daley
2024-05-03 17:30 - 19:30, 2024-04-19 17:30 - 19:30
A popular concert and recording act for over 14 years, Toronto-based Fraser/Daley has released three CDs of original music and performed widely, consistently entertaining audiences with their large and varied repertoire, big sound and spontaneous sense of fun. Alec Fraser hails from Glasgow, Scotland and is a respected bassist and Juno and Maple Blues Award winner. Mike Daley was dubbed by Jeff Healey ‘one of Canada’s finest guitarists’ and has a long list of live and studio credits. Alec and Mike met while working in Healey’s touring band in the mid-2000s and found that they enjoyed singing together after the gig. In 2008 they began playing together regularly in Toronto as Alec perfected a unique bass-drums combination instrument that gives this duo the unmistakable sound of a trio. Their three albums, Fraser/Daley, The Whole Fam Damily and Fifty Miles of Elbow Room have garnered steady sales and strong airplay on blues and folk radio, and Alec and Mike have become sought after for their versatile performances, playing everything from intimate house concerts to street dances. Learn more at fraserdaley.com.

Mike Daley & Eric Schenkman
2024-05-02 18:00 - 20:00
Mike Daley is a guitarist and singer based in Toronto. A professional musician for over 30 years, Mike has toured Canada, the United States and England and has recorded extensively in a variety of musical styles. He is a longtime member of Fraser/Daley with bassist Alec Fraser and is also proud to work with a variety of bands around Toronto including the Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation, the Travellers and others.
You may have seen Eric Schenkman onstage before thousands of fans worldwide with the Spin Doctors. He is one of the band’s not-so-secret weapons — a vital songwriter and virtuoso
guitarist who crafted the ‘90s band and co-wrote all five of their Top 100 hits. He also worked with Chico Hamilton, Carly Simon, Natalie Merchant, Noel Redding, Phoebe Snow and Corky Laing, among many other notable musicians.

The 501 East
2024-04-29 20:00 - 22:00

Fraser Melvin
2024-04-28 15:00 - 18:00
Fraser Melvin is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, arranger, composer, and bandleader. He plays guitar, lap steel, mandolin, ukulele, bass, keys, trombone, and sings. Fraser has been performing in and around Toronto and Southern Ontario since 2006 with his own group, The Fraser Melvin Band, as well as numerous other bands including Bad Luck Woman & Her Misfortunes, Sam Polley And The Old Tomorrows, and The Jenie Thai Band. With over 15 years experience in the music business, Fraser has performed at the Toronto Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Tremblant International Blues Festival, and the Kitchener Blues Festival as well as opened for Johnny Winter, Jim Cuddy, and Chilliwack.

Danny Marks
2024-04-27 17:00 - 19:00
This iconic rocker’s roots go back to the sixties as a founding member of Capitol Records’ group, Edward Bear. After a span as a journey man session musician throughout the seventies, Danny settled in to the club scene, establishing a cult following as a genre bender in music and humor.
A house band gig at Toronto’s famed Albert’s Hall led him to host his own nation-wide TV show, Stormy Monday. Through the eighties, Danny starred in CBC radio’s hit series the Hum Line.
Most recently, Danny Marks recorded two original music albums, Guitarchaeology and True, before paying tribute to Toronto’s R&B roots with Big Town Boy in 2005.
Danny’s in his thirteenth year as the radio host of JAZZ.FM91’s Saturday night blues show, bluz.fm.
As a child, young Danny would lock himself in his room with a stack of 45’s, an old Seabreeze record player, and a fantasy of having his own radio show. More than a few years later this pre-pubescent propensity paid off.

Mike Daley & Wendell Ferguson
2024-04-25 18:00 - 20:00
Mike Daley is a guitarist and singer based in Toronto. A professional musician for over 30 years, Mike has toured Canada, the United States and England and has recorded extensively in a variety of musical styles. He is a longtime member of Fraser/Daley with bassist Alec Fraser and is also proud to work with a variety of bands around Toronto including the Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation, the Travellers and others.
Born and still residing in Streetsville (Mississauga), Ontario, Wendell became fixated on being a guitar player after hearing Chet Atkins play the instrument. Although he took several years of formal guitar lessons, Wendell was off-and-running as a guitar player, fueled more by listening to and emulating the recordings of some of his guitar idols: Chet Atkins, Les Paul, The Ventures and other guitar gods. Fast forward to 1998 and we find Wendell Ferguson releasing the first in what would be a series of solo albums, mixing his guitar strengths with his off-the-cuff songwriting and his distinctive vocal styling. The first album, “I Pick Therefore I Jam”, was loaded with truly innovative work; not the least of which being a duet offering, “If You’re Gonna Be A Cowboy”, with Russell deCarle of Prairie Oyster fame – their effort earning a nomination for Collaboration of the Year at the 1999 CCMA Awards. Meanwhile Wendell’s guitar work was much in-demand, and he was often called upon to tour in support of top-level Canadian artists, including: Shania Twain, George Fox, Duane Steele, Tommy Hunter, Michelle Wright, etc. Wendell Ferguson’s work has not gone unrewarded. He was nominated for a Juno Award (in 1995, for Group of the Year with Coda The West) and he has been named the CCMA’s All-Star Band Guitar Player of the Year so many times that he is deemed no longer eligible. Wendell Ferguson was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014.

Danie Friesen Opera Revue
2024-04-21 15:00 - 18:00
Danie is the founder of Opera Revue, an independent Toronto-based opera company. She works as a singer and producer, bringing opera to casual bar settings, in order to introduce it to new audiences.

Yukon Cigar
2024-04-20 16:00 - 19:00
Yukon Cigar was lit in 2005. The idea? To take an earthy, hushed songwriting style and set it on fire. Now, after years on the Toronto club circuit (playing the likes of Cameron House, Castro’s Lounge, C’est What, El Mocambo, Rancho Relaxo, and the NXNE festival), mainstays Craig and Peter have taken to backyard parties and neighbourhood pubs, just two acoustics and a growing list of standards. With countless songs in the fire, here lies the promise of sweet sing-alongs to come.

Mike Daley & Jacob Moon
2024-04-18 18:00 - 20:00
Mike Daley is a guitarist and singer based in Toronto. A professional musician for over 30 years, Mike has toured Canada, the United States and England and has recorded extensively in a variety of musical styles. He is a longtime member of Fraser/Daley with bassist Alec Fraser and is also proud to work with a variety of bands around Toronto including the Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation, the Travellers and others.
Jacob Moon is known for his giftedness as a singer, songwriter of award-winning pop and folk songs. He is also a master of the art of ‘live looping’, a performance style where he records what he’s playing in real time and layers sound on sound to make one guitar sound like an orchestra.
Artists like Rush, Marillion and Gordon Lightfoot have taken a shine to Moon’s renditions of their songs and have lavished him praise and a spotlight that has gained him international attention. It is these inventive covers that draws the fans in, but it’s Moon’s original material (12 albums) and his compelling live show that make them pull up a chair.

The Gary Kendall Trio
2024-04-14 15:00 - 18:00
Gary Kendall, originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario has been a working musician since the late 1960s. He is a multiple Maple Blues Award winner as bassist of the year[1] and a Juno Award winner with the Downchild Blues Band. His distinguished musical career was so honoured by the Maple Blues Awards as early as 1993 and a Juno Award in 2014.[2] Since 1999, Kendall has acted as the musical director of the Maple Blues awards program.[3]

Mike Daley & Dylan Bell
2024-04-11 18:00 - 20:00
Mike Daley is a guitarist and singer based in Toronto. A professional musician for over 30 years, Mike has toured Canada, the United States and England and has recorded extensively in a variety of musical styles. He is a longtime member of Fraser/Daley with bassist Alec Fraser and is also proud to work with a variety of bands around Toronto including the Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation, the Travellers and others.
In a word… multifaceted. Juno-nominated Dylan Bell is a vocalist, instrumentalist (piano, bass, guitar, percussion), composer/arranger, music director and producer/engineer. Dylan has worked with groups ranging from vocal jazz, (Cadence, Hampton Avenue, the Swingle Singers, FreePlay Duo, The Watch), to vocal pop (Retrocity, the Nylons) to eclectic jazz and world music (Autorickshaw, Ray Montford Group), to classical (Nathaniel Dett Chorale; Lara St John) to flat-out rock ‘n’ roll (Honeymoon Suite). He’s played stages across the world from his native Toronto, to Stockholm, Sweden, to Calcutta, India, and his compositions and arrangements are performed across the world from Arnprior to Zurich. His book “A Cappella Arranging” (co-written with Deke Sharon) was published in 2013.
