jason castro

Jason Castro at the American Idol, Top 12, Season 7, after party on March 6, 2008. Background information Birth name Jason René Castro Born March 25, 1987 (1987-03-25) (age 21)

Dallas, Texas, USA Origin Rockwall, Texas, USA Genre(s) Acoustic, folk pop Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter Instrument(s) vocals, guitar, drums, ukulele Years active 2008-present Associated acts Keeping Lions

Charlemagne Website jasoncastromusic.com

Jason René Castro (born March 25, 1987) is an American singer-songwriter and the fourth place finalist on the seventh season of the television series American Idol. Contents [hide] 1 Early years 2 Musical background 3 American Idol 3.1 Overview 3.2 iTunes 3.3 Charity 3.4 Performances and results (during voting weeks) 4 Post Idol 4.1 Younger brother's journey on American Idol 5 Discography 5.1 Albums 5.2 Singles 5.3 Post Idol Songs 5.4 Other releases 5.5 Charted Songs 6 References 7 External links //

Early years

Born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in Rowlett, Texas,[1] he currently resides in Rockwall, Texas. His parents, René and Betsy Castro, are Colombian, and he is the first person in his family to be born in the United States, followed by younger siblings Michael and Jackeline (Jackie). Their father, René Castro, is an architect and singer-songwriter.[2][3]

He is a Christian. He attended Vernon Schrade Middle School as a child and went on to Rowlett High School[4] where he was a left winger on his school's soccer team and an honor student. He received a 1340 out of 1600 on his SAT.[5] Castro was a junior majoring in Construction Science at Texas A&M University on a full academic scholarship when he auditioned for American Idol.[6]

He was the love interest of Cheyenne Kimball on her MTV reality show, Cheyenne[7] and was also featured in her music video "Hanging On".

Castro sports dreadlocks and has worn them for the past three years. His mother, Betsy, helped put them in.[8]

Musical background

Castro grew up playing drums. He taught himself to play the guitar in college. [9] He had no formal voice training before auditioning for American Idol and had previously sung only 5 times in public, mostly during church services[9].

Castro performed as a drummer with the punk rock band Charlemagne,[10] which later became Keeping Lions. [11][12] He has stated that his musical influences include Ray LaMontagne, Ben Harper, Bob Marley, Carlos Vives and Kirk Baxley. [13]

American Idol Castro performing during the American Idols Live! Tour 2008.

Overview

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