Tommy Castro & the Painkillers and Marcia Ball

Do you like your blues from the West Coast or the Gulf Coast? No need to choose, with a double bill of Tommy Castro and long tall Marcia Ball, label mates on Alligator Records. Ball has been a Twin Cities favorite since the old Union Bar days, back when she was still mixing some country music in with her piano-pumpin’ Louisiana blues and boogie. Castro is a few years younger, but took a lot longer to emerge onto the national scene, after quality time spent with the Dynatones. He all but swept the Blues Foundation Awards in 2010, and has performed on a literal boatload of annual Rhythm & Blues Cruises. Tom Surowicz