Biography:

Del Castillo is a cross-cultural power in music. Their original sound blends, rock, Latin, blues, and world music.

"Whether Del Castillo works in Spanish or English, it rocks righteously. The Spanish guitars’ flamenco vibe gives a dramatic flair, abetted by Alex Ruiz’s passionate vocals. They pull together Latin music’s romance and rock’s grit." says Billboard"

“… tumbling brilliance on nylon-string guitars…These eruptions of technique and taste conjure images of Eddie Van Halen fronting early Santana (with an assist from the Gipsy Kings).” says Rolling Stone.

Between the release of their first CD, Brothers of the Castle back in 2001, to their 2006 release, Brotherhood, Del Castillo has received an astonishing 18 awards including SXSW/Austin Music “Album of the Year” Awards for Vida (2002) and Brotherhood (2006), “Band of the Year (2003)”, ASCAP’S “Best Independent Group of the Year (2005)”, and Austin Music Pundits “Best Live Act (2004)”.

Film Director Robert Rodriguez attended a Del Castillo concert in 2002 and a great friendship developed between the two. Rodriguez then enlisted the group to contribute music to the soundtracks of his movies, such as “Spy Kids 3D”, “Once Upon a Time in Mexico”,“Sin City”, and “GRINDHOUSE”, and perform with him at the premieres. Rodriguez was so impressed with Del Castillo that he wanted to record with them, so together, they formed CHINGON and recorded an amazing electric rendition of the Mexican classic song, “Malaguena Salerosa”. Quentin Tarantino loved it so much that he re-did the ending sequence of “Kill Bill Vol. II” to fit the song into his movie.

By 2004, Del Castillo was touring nationwide across the country playing with such diverse acts as Styx, Los Lonely Boys, Ozomatli, Don Henley, Los Lobos, and Willie Nelson and continued tour non-stop through 2006. They have performed at three of Willie Nelson’s 4th Of July Picnics, and at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, and they have made numerous national and local TV appearances.

Willie Nelson enjoyed Del Castillo so much that he re-recorded his song “I Never Cared For You” with the group (which is included on Del Castillo’s Brotherhood CD) and calls it “his favorite version”. Nelson has become a good friend of the band as well and the two look forward to touring together again soon.

During 2008, the band began playing major festivals all over the country and even Canada and widening its audience at a much more rapid rate. At California’s famous Strawberry Music Festival, they were deemed the highlight of the festival and broke the merchandise sales record. Immediately after their incendiary debut performance at the Vancouver Folk Festival in Canada, they were selected to play the headlining stage for 2009.

Rick and Mark del Castillo were selected in December 2008, by Gibson Global, to be two of only about SIX guitarists in the world to launch their new state-of the-art Dark Fire Gibson Les Paul guitar line.
From 2008-2010 the band played major festivals across the US and Canada expanding their audience and fan base at a more rapid rate, earning even more recognition and becoming established as a touring musical act among their musical heroes and peers. 
The band, now reunited with longtime charismatic frontman Alex Ruiz providing lead vocals, is recording new music with the brothers’ mesmerizing guitar driven songs, intertwined with hypnotic rhythms from Mike Zeoli and Jason Murdy, and pulsating bass lines from Albert Besteiro.

Through their great artistic friendship and partnership with director Robert Rodriguez, Rick, Mark, Alex & Mike are featured actors performing on the TV show "From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series" on the El Rey Network!

“I want to bring the most exciting and authentic content possible,” said Rodriguez when announcing the TV series. “Chingon and Del Castillo have been part of my experience providing this kind of entertainment to audiences since the beginning.”

Del Castillo has received accolades and awards for their music and performances over the years. At the Ellnora Guitar Festival in Illinois, Matt Blackett from Guitar Player Magazine said:

“Watching brothers Rick and Mark del Castillo take the stage and throw down dazzling nylon-string runs, in unison and in harmony, made me a big fan… infectious Latin rhythms with mind-boggling solos.”
From 2010-2012 the band toured overseas making new fans throughout Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway, Scotland and London,England. The band was received with open arms and had a cult-like following already expecting their arrival in many cities across Europe, already being known for the music on major soundtracks from Robert Rodriguez’s award winning films.  Del Castillo performed at Montreux Jazz Festival, the second largest jazz festival in the world. The band has also played other notable festivals such as Gampel Open-Air, Blue Balls Festival, Bergen International Festival, Scotland Celtic Festival, St. Moritz Jazz Festival, Wakarusa Music Festival, Aspen Jazz Festival, Strawberry Music Festival, Austin City Limits Music Festival, SXSW Music Festival, Vancouver Folk Festival, Great Woods Music Festival, California Worldfest, Sierra Nevada World Music Festival and the Elnora Guitar Festival among many others. 

From the Montreaux Music Festival in Switzerland, and the Ellnora Guitar Festival in Illinois, to the California World Music Festival, Del Castillo thrives on performing live. Songwriting and recording projects are a priority during breaks in their tour schedule and a new release is upcoming!