Castro's

Mike Daley & Jenie Thai
2023-12-14 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.
When you meet her, Jenie Thai is composed, pleasant, amiable, friendly, and — she won’t like the word but you have to live with it — sweet. She has an open face, long hair, a ready smile and an easy laugh.
And she is also tough, and gritty, and plays barrelhouse piano steeped in the blues — and if that wasn’t enough to get your head around, she also writes and sings tough and tender ballads, direct from her heart to yours.
There’s a new album, Night on Fire, with a sold out show at Toronto’s Hugh’s Room and — while she now calls Toronto home — she lives on the road, and there’s dust on her shoes, love in her heart, and a whole lot of music in her soul.

The 501 East
2023-12-11 20:00 - 22:00, 2023-11-20 20:00 - 22:00

A Charlie Brown Christmas
2023-12-10 15:00 - 19:00

Thelonious Hank
2023-12-09 17:00 - 19:00, 2023-11-25 17:00 - 19:00, 2023-11-11 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

Little Magic Sam
2023-12-08 17:30 - 19:30, 2023-11-24 17:30 - 19:30, 2023-11-10 17:30 - 19:30
When the world gets down on Little Magic Sam, he gets down on a Les Paul. Hailing from St.Thomas, ON, Sam Taylor is a born entertainer with a penchant for raw blues and soul music and lyrics that bely someone much older than his 29 years. With an enormous stage presence, it comes as no surprise that this multi-talented singer/songwriter has been performing internationally since the age of 7.

Mike Daley & Selena Evangeline
2023-12-07 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.
Growing up with the sounds of Ella Fitzgerald, Chaka Khan, Prince, Sting, Janet Jackson and Stevie Wonder helped shape the artist that is Selena Evangeline. She was a grand prize finalist in Caribbean Idol in 2011 and the winner of Avon’s first-ever Global Talent Search – Avon Voices. As a songwriter, her snapshots of real life have won her an Ontario Independent Music Award for Best Urban, an honourable mention in the 2007 and 2008 John Lennon Songwriting contest, and had nine of her songs from “This Girl’s Life” (her debut album as Selena 7tySix) featured on CTV’s “Da Kink In My Hair”.

Trivia Night @ Castros
2023-12-05 20:00 - 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
2023-12-04 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!

The Gary Kendall Trio
2023-12-03 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]

Danny Marks
2023-12-02 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.

DJ Rob
2023-12-01 22:00 - 2023-12-02 02:00

Fraser / Daley
2023-12-01 17:30 - 19:30, 2023-11-17 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 & Sean Pinchin
2023-11-30 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.
Sean Pinchin is a Canadian slide guitar hero that has been playing professionally for over twenty years. Based out of Toronto, Sean averages 4-5 live shows per week in the Ontario circuit, and self manages cross-Canada tours annually. His breakthrough album Monkey Brain nabbed him a 2017 Juno Nomination for Blues Album of the Year and cemented his reputation as a guitar player’s guitar player.
Gonna Be Okay is the beginning of Sean’s fourth recorded project with Juno-winning producer Rob Szabo, and is a revitalized endeavour into the Folk-Rock, Singer/Songwriter category. The overwhelmingly positive reaction to Monkey Brain(2016) and Sean’s increasingly compelling live show saw him graduate to many larger theatre and festival stages in the years since he released Rustbucket (2013). Sean has spent the last several summers performing at nationally and internationally renowned festivals including: Memphis International Blues Competition, Montreal Jazz Festival, Mont Tremblant International Blues Festival, Trois Rivières En Blues, Orangeville Blues Festival, Donnaconna Blues Festival and Kitchener Blues Festival as well as supporting Juno-Winner Steve Strongman at multiple theatre shows in Ontario.

The Del-Fis
2023-11-26 15:00 - 18:00
I don’t know what The Del Fi’s are; the more I think about it, the more I don’t know what to say. But I know it’s right, and I know it’s good. I know it works. I mean, it’s Jerry Leger’s thing, but when I asked him what he would say The Del Fi’s are, all he would tell me is that I (meaning me) am The Del Fi’s, just as you (meaning you) are The Del Fi’s. And because you are you, you understand. Don’t you?
Okay, maybe we should try this again. Jerry Leger is a Toronto singer/songwriter, and one of the best in the world, as far as I’m concerned. If you haven’t heard him, you have no right to be one of these people constantly moaning about how music was so much better when people actually played instruments, blah, blah, blah.
Jerry loves Bob Dylan, Neil Young and John Lennon. Sometimes it sounds as though all three are fighting for space in his songs. But those songs are his own, the product of a natural born storyteller with a sense of rhythm that would make Little Richard’s big toe shoot up in his boot.
Jerry’s songs hit deep in your soul, but he also often loves just making music with folks just to flex some of his old time rock and roll muscles, and explore some of the paths his songwriting normally doesn’t take. That’s kinda where The Del Fi’s come in.
It’s rock and roll that we all care about right? I’m sure you wouldn’t still be reading this if you didn’t agree. So I guess that does make you a Del Fi. Welcome aboard and grab an instrument, we’ve got a show to do.

Communism
2023-11-24 20:00 - 22:00
Communism is a dance party band with high ideals and high kicks. Original songs and classic dance floor anthems by Donna Summer, Kate Bush, Talking Heads, Prince, and much 80’s.

Don Kerr drums (Bahamas, Dan Mangan, Ron Sexsmith, Rheostatics)
Jason Haberman bass (Yaehsun, Yukon Blonde, Dan Mangan)
Mike O’Brien guitar (Zeus, Dan Mangan)
Craig Small – projections

We are Communism – Don, Mike, Jason, & Craig. Joy, unity, and a dance floor for your heart.

Po' Boy & Subway Alex
2023-11-23 18:00 - 20:00
Po’Boy Jeffreys and Subway Alex Shaw return to Castros to bring you more Old-Timey Dance music of the Country and Jump Blues variety,

Trivia Night @ Castros
2023-11-21 20:00 - 22:00
Join us for a fun and friendly trivia night at Castros. Free to play and prizes for the winners.

The Moonfire Connection
2023-11-19 15:00 - 18:00

Yukon Cigar
2023-11-18 15:00 - 2023-11-19 18:00
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.

Sugar Rush
2023-11-17 21:00 - 23:00
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.

Gypsy Rebels
2023-11-16 18:00 - 20:00
We’re a Toronto-based Gypsy Band that features a repertoire of traditional and original Roma Gypsy with a fresh ‘Toronto’ vibe!

Reverend Lau Max & The Healers
2023-11-12 15:00 - 18:00

Mike Daley & Debbie Fleming
2023-11-09 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.
Debbie Fleming is a gem of a musician with many facets. A former Juno nominee, she is a singer, songwriter, producer, performer, director, arranger, contractor, vocal coach, and recording artist for her own Riverdale Records label, having devoted her talents to the Canadian music scene for many years.
Debbie’s deep love for all good music has led her to explore the essence of jazz, R & B, country, pop, roots, bluegrass and classical music both in her singing and her writing. Debbie has earned great respect and a solid reputation in all these areas — from adding her soprano voice to choirs such as The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, The Amadeus Choir, and the Hedgerow Singers, to singing and arranging backup vocals for major names in the music business.

Compassion Fatigue (Book Launch)
2023-11-08 21:00 - 23:00
Join us for the launch of Compassion Fatigue the latest book from Humberto da Silva.
About the book…A father comforts his young son, hoping against hope their last little island of the Azorean archipelago won’t be strip mined by the Singularity. A couple choose a cheap upload for the consciousness of their young daughter who is dying from a disease they can’t afford to cure. A tourist doing yoga on a Canary Island beach watches the distance diminish between himself and the African refugees landing on a European shore. A soldier is debriefed after witnessing unimaginable violence ending in an encounter with a mythical being. Humberto da Silva’s prophetic, disturbingly realized stories remind us of the bizarre, disorienting, and occasionally horrifying nature of life in the recent past, the weird present, and the fearful future. Humans are adaptable, love is enduring, but it will get weird. Compassion Fatigue is an unnerving, and occasionally funny, collection of speculative fiction.
About the author…Humberto da Silva’s work has published in Our Times, THIS Magazine, OnSpec, and Rampike. His story “Compassion Fatigue” was included in Best Canadian Short Stories (Oberon Press, 1992). He has flown millions of miles and visited world capitals, tourist resorts, and war zones, managing to retain his sense of humour along the way. Humberto da Silva lives in Toronto with his wife Lina, and black cat Montie.
