Jason René Castro (born March 25, 1987) is an American acoustic/folk-pop singer-songwriter and was the fourth place finalist on the seventh season of American Idol. After Idol, he signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records. His self-titled debut album, Jason Castro, was released on April 13, 2010. Born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in Rowlett, Texas, 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 Castro and Jackeline (Jackie Castro), both of whom are singer-songwriters as well. Spanish was his first language as a child. Their father, René, is an architectural swimming pool designer and singer-songwriter. He attended Vernon Schrade Middle School as a child and went on to Rowlett High School 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. Castro was a junior majoring in Construction Science at Texas A&M University in College Station on a full academic scholarship when he auditioned for American Idol. Castro has sported dreadlocks for more than three years. Castro grew up playing drums. He taught himself to play the guitar in college. He had no formal voice training before auditioning for American Idol and had previously sung only 5 times in public, mostly during church services. Castro performed as a drummer with the rock band Charlemagne, w

View on Last.fm →