Riverhead rocker Castronovo headlines The Suffolk to raise funds for The Retreat

Musician Raymond Castronovo will take over The Suffolk in Riverhead for his third benefit concert on June 26, this time raising money for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and sex trafficking.

Mr. Castronovo, who owns the Zenith Group construction company in Riverhead, said he sees the concerts as a way to use music to support groups doing difficult work on Long Island.

“I want to be able to help others with our music,” said Mr. Castronovo, who lives in Laurel. “To help others, to give to some of these places that could use the money, is worth it to me.”

All proceeds will go to The Retreat, a Long Island-based nonprofit supporting survivors.

The show will begin at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening an hour earlier. Its headlining performance is by Mr. Castronovo, including new music from his upcoming Love Street EP.

Singer Ada Dyer will also perform. She has played with artists such as Chaka Khan, Lenny Kravitz, U2, Cher, Sting, Bruce Springsteen and more.

Mr. Castronovo’s previous benefit shows have raised tens of thousands of dollars for causes close to him. A cancer survivor himself — having been diagnosed with leukemia 20 years ago — he raised more than $50,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in 2022. Two years later, the singer raised more than $40,000 for New Ground, a Levittown-based group that supports homeless veterans.

“I play music because of my love of music,” he said. “I could go and keep the money, but I don’t get satisfaction that way. I want to be able to help and take care of people.”

Tickets, donations, and sponsorship opportunities are available at StreetwiseNY.com/shows. 

Mr. Castronovo, who grew up in Canarsie, Brooklyn, decided he was going to teach himself to play the guitar when he was 12.

As a teenager, he would bounce around Manhattan clubs with his friends, Tom and Mike, performing and calling themselves RayTomIx. They began to gain some traction, and a few record labels even reached out expressing interest.

But getting married and raising two children forced him to put his musical aspirations on hold.

“My father owned a brick laying company and a concrete company, and I worked and worked and worked,” he said. “At some point, I said to myself, ‘I can’t do that my whole life.’”

After a few years, he got a job with a larger construction company and worked his way up until the owner approached him and offered to teach him how to run the business.

The Zenith Group was formed in 1995, but as he’s been winding down his time from the construction company over the last few years, he’s been getting back into the musicalgroove.

“I told my daughter, ‘You guys are grown up, I got nobody to stop me,’” he recalled. “ I’m going to give it another shot.”

Mr. Castronovo worked hard at it for four or five years and then began putting out feelers to people in the industry to try to work his way back up. He ended up creating his own record label, which he named DayQuest Records. 

“I said, ‘I’m going to be the first guy to sign up,’” he joked.

From there, he formed his band, StreetWise, and began writing original music. The band released their first album in 2021, titled “Crossing Bridges.” Their second album, “The Other Side,” came out in 2022, and their third, “The Road Ahead,” came out in 2023.

Their fourth album, “Appetite for Unity,” came out in 2024 and are currently working on their fifth recording. Mr. Castronovo has a bold statement for the new album.

“I’m bringing disco music back,” he said.

The band released a new song, “The Touch,” back in March, and it brought along a brand new dance, too, of the same name. 

“Why do I want to do that? Because people today dance like robots,” he said with a smile.