About

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Richie Castellano is a singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist from New York. By the age of 18, Richie had won awards from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, BMG World of Expression and Berklee College of Music. In 1998, he released his first album, Alone In My Basement, recording all the parts himself in his 16 track analog basement studio. The album was featured in EQ Magazine.

Richie attended Purchase College Conservatory of Music, graduating with a Bachelor and Master of Music, Summa Cum Laude and completing the 6 year program in 4 ½ years. While at Purchase, Richie recorded his second album, Progeny 1999 with high school friends Andy Ascolese and Andy Graziano. 

During this time, Richie also produced Regina Spektor’s debut album 11:11 along with several other projects for CMH/Vitamin Records.

In 2004, Richie joined Blue Öyster Cult on bass, moving over to guitar/keyboard shortly after, going on to play over a thousand shows all over the world. With BÖC, Richie would co-produce 8 live concert videos and  the critically acclaimed album, The Symbol Remains, which features 7 of Richie’s songwriting contributions.

From his home studio, Richie released 2 more albums, 2 Part Invention and MorningStarlett. He also became a YouTube creator scoring a viral hit with his One Man Bohemian Rhapsody cover which currently sits at over 2 million views.

Soon after Richie started The Band Geek Podcast which eventually became an internet cover band with rotating members, including Andy Ascolese and Andy Graziano. The Band Geeks currently have over 30 million views and over 100,000 subscribers on YouTube. Their videos caught the attention of Jon Anderson, former lead singer of Yes. This resulted in the Yes Epics and Classics Tour featuring Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks.

The success of the tour led to the creation of TRUE, an album of new original material from Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks. The album was well received by critics and fans, voted album of the year by a Prog Magazine Reader’s poll, with Richie also being included in their top 10 bass players list.

2025 will see more touring with Blue Öyster Cult and Jon Anderson, along with the release of a live concert video from the 2023 Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks tour. 

Richie lives in Staten Island and spends most of his time in his home studio where he has produced and composed music featured on MTV, EA Games, Superbooths and The Chelsea Detective. He’s been interviewed by Rolling Stone, Billboard, Fox News, Guitar Player Magazine and Prog Magazine.

Updated January, 2025

Richie Castellano – Wikipedia

Click here to read a more in depth biography written by Richie