Jason René Castro.... Acoustic/folk-pop singer-songwriter...Very Promising!!
Jason René Castro (born March 25, 1987) is an American acoustic/folk-pop singer-songwriter who was the fourth place finalist on the seventh season of American Idol. After Idol, he signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records and his self-titled debut album will be released in early 2010.
Castro grew up playing drums. He taught himself to play the guitar in college. He had no formal voice training before auditioning for American Idol and had previously sung only 5 times in public, mostly during church services.Castro performed as a drummer with the rock band Charlemagne, which later became Keeping Lions. He has stated that his musical influences include Ray LaMontagne, Ben Harper, Bob Marley, Carlos Vives and Kirk Baxley.
Castro auditioned for American Idol in Dallas, Texas, singing the Ray LaMontagne version of the song "Crazy". He was not shown on the television series until the final 24 due to legal restrictions on the songs he chose to perform. During a March 17, 2008 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, judge Simon Cowell chose Castro early as one of his four favorites in the competition, along with David Cook, David Archuleta, and Brooke White. On April 12, Ryan Seacrest and the three judges appeared in Larry King Live, Larry King revealed the results of his website poll which asked "Whom do you want to win American Idol?" and said that Castro was in the lead.
Castro is the first contestant in the history of American Idol to ever play an instrument on the American Idol stage. He played the guitar during the Top 24 performance night when he sang "(What A Day For A) Daydream". He is also the only contestant so far to have played the ukulele on the show. He played the instrument while singing Over The Rainbow, after learning to play it in less than a week. Castro also sang in three languages on American Idol, supplementing English songs with Spanish (a combination of Sting's "Fragile" and "Fragilidad" on March 25, 2008) and French (Paul McCartney's "Michelle" on March 12, 2008). Before he was eliminated, Castro was in the bottom three only once. He was voted off the competition on May 7, 2008.
Debut album and single
On August 18, 2009, Castro performed his new single "Let's Just Fall In Love Again" on a live video webchat from his website, as well another song titled "It Matters to Me". Castro's label, Atlantic Records, released presales of the album and offered the single as a free download to buyers.[48]Castro's album was to be released in November of 2009 but was pushed back for a early 2010 release date. "Let's Just Fall In Love Again" entered Billboard's Heatseekers Songs chart at No. 15 and Hot Digital Songs at No. 57. A music video for the single premiered on October 14, 2009. Castro released a debut EP in January of 2010 titled The Love Uncompromised EP. The EP has sold over 7,000 copies to date. Castro is currently on tour with Matt Hires and Caitlin Crosby in support of his EP and upcoming self titled release. "Let's Just Fall In Love Again" was used by Overstock.com for a television commercial.
Upon returning to his hometown of Rockwall, TX, Thursday, May 29, 2008 was declared "Jason Castro Day". Castro was honored with a parade and a ceremony/concert. He was presented with a key to the city by the mayor of Rockwall and a US flag that flew over the nation's capital by Texas congressman Ralph Hall. Castro also performed 4 songs for the crowd, including an original song that he had written. The parade and concert was estimated to have attracted close to 15,000 fans and was the largest event in the city's history.
Castro completed the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008 with his fellow contestants during the summer. The tour ran from July 1, 2008 to September 13, 2008.
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