What do the violin and blues have in common? Geoffrey Castle for one thing.
The musician from Washington awes and surprises crowds with his broad musical lexicon and sonic scope; when sawing his six-string violin, Castle simply rocks.
"People love this guy," said Bob Winn, manager of Blues Central. "He does amazing things. He plays everything from standard violin sounds to a Hendrix thing because it's electric and he's able to do the effects of a guitar."
Castle says he reinvents the violin as a vehicle for making music ranging from classical forms and Irish folk to psychedelia rock and blues.
"What's cool is that one style of music leads you into another style," Castle said. "I've played wedding music and gypsy stuff from the Ukraine. I've played belly-dancing music. I've play everything, but I would have to say my home music would be the blues and old-school R&B."
Castle first played a friend's violin as an 8-year-old at a bus stop. He surprised his parents by asking for lessons and then surprised his buddies years later by asking to jam with their rock band.
"One of my main things is showing people how versatile the violin can be," Castle said. "They have preconceived ideas of the violin, like that a violin player either wears a tuxedo or a cowboy hat. My mission is to dispel that preconceived notion and expand their fiddle consciousness."
He's done this by playing a variety of venues like the Egan Center, Platinum Jaxx and Blues Central over the past five years of tours in Alaska. This weekend, he'll do two shows at Blues Central.
"When I'm doing what I'm doing in front of you, it's like watching a magic show because I create everything that you hear live and in real time," he said. "The six-string electric violin allows me to create huge arrangements."
The resulting aural collage incorporates the sounds of rock guitars, cellos, violas, flutes and entire orchestras. Many of his own compositions, like "Float Downstream" from his "Mist on the Mountain" solo CD, quote the Beatles or other bands from the '60s.
Castle also burns down the house with his verson of cover tunes like "Man in the Box" by Alice In Chains, "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple and "Voodoo Child" by Jimi Hendrix.
And don't forget the bluegrass classic, "Orange Blossom Special."
"There's a joke I like to tell sometimes when I'm performing where I say, 'What's the difference between the fiddle and the violin?' The answer's 'the hat,' and then I play 'Blossom Special' in a cowboy hat."
More than anything, he digs the spontaneity of crossing multiple musical forms. He doesn't jam so much as perform compositions that meander from one style to another.
"I'll take a song that sounds Celtic and make it head into a Latin groove for a while, like Santana, and then I'll take it back to where it began," he explained.
Though he loves to play schools and theater venues, Castle digs the crowds at Blues Central and loves working with its manger, Winn, and Bob Lester of KWHL, who became a fan and friend after hearing Castle play at the KWHL studio.
When playing the blues bar, Castle begins with a solo set before cooking up a musical stew with a local band, the Soulproviders.
Every place has a distinct feel or vibe, Castle said, and he loves playing Alaska. "It's egalitarian. Everyone just piles in with everyone else and has a blast."
If everyone leaves with a renewed appreciation for the violin, well so much the better, because Castle still knows what he intuitively understood as a boy: that the instrument sounds only as imaginative as its owner.
Find Daily News reporter Dawnell Smith at adn.com/contact/dsmith or call 257-4587.
Geoffrey Castle
When: 9:30 p.m. today and Saturday
Where: Blues Central, 825 W. Northern Lights
How much: $20 (272-1341)
Web: myspace.com/geoffreycastle music, www.geoffreycastle.com (look for his holiday CD, "Underhill's Angel," with melodies from hundreds of years ago reinterpreted on the fiddle and piano)
By Dawnell Smith
dsmith@adn.com