Gaby Castro is a San Francisco Bay Area-based singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, model, actress, and activist. At twenty years of age she has released two studio albums of original music, performed in prestigious venues including the Hard Rock Cafe in San Francisco, Curb Cafe in Nashville, and Rainbow Cafe in Antigua, Guatemala, worked as a songwriting mentor at a non-profit, and been a regional semi-finalist in one of the biggest battle of the bands in the world, Hard Rock Rising. Her musical beginnings stemmed from middle school choir and a guitar gifted by her parents on her thirteenth birthday. Gaby plays both the acoustic and electric guitar, piano/keyboards, ukulele, mandolin, percussion, and is hoping to become more proficient on all instruments as she grows as a musician. She has studied Seth Riggs Speech Level Singing under the guidance of SLS instructor Angela Arana since July 2009. Now pursuing a Bachelors in Music in Composition: Songwriting and a Minor in Music Business at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, Minnesota, she has studied guitar under Tim Lyles and Paul Krueger, mandolin under Randy Sabien, and songwriting under Gary Rue. She has been a vocalist and mandolinist in McNally Smith’s country ensemble under Travis Schilling since January 2015. In December 2010, Gaby went into Skyline Production’s studio in South San Francisco and recorded eight songs for her debut album, “Free Spirit,” released at age 16. Each song was written and composed by her, and written between the ages of 13 and 15. Her second studio album, “Made to Dream,” was recorded at Soundtek Studios in Campbell, CA with Grammy-nominated artist and producer Robert Berry. The nine-track album was released in late 2012, less than a month before her 18th birthday. Her music and songwriting has been compared to Taylor Swift’s infectious hooks and Carole King’s powerful lyrics. Gaby began recording her third studio album, “Love Always,” with Robert Berry in July 2014 and is expected to release the album in the fall of 2015. Two singles have already been released, “Shy” in September 2014 and “You Didn’t Have To” in January 2015. Her final single, “Blow Me Away,” will be released in the summer of 2015. Her new album will consist of 13 tracks ranging from crash-and-burn heartbreak to messages of love and hope. A strumming songbird of the 21st century, Gaby has made a name for herself in the San Francisco Bay Area and Twin Cities.