1. Hollywood
2. Pull the Trigger
3. It's All Good
4. Gravy Jam
5. Lovering
6. Shoes Blues
7. Ways About You
8. Soundcheck
9. Lightening Bug
10. Rocket Man

Blues Music Award-winner Mike Zito is celebrating the 20thanniversary of his debut album, Blue Room with a reissue through his current label, Ruf Records.

In the late 90s, Mike Zito was eager to graduate from being a successful blues/rock cover band leader to a songwriter and performer of original material. With only $1,000 to cover costs, he went into a basement recording studio outside of his native St. Louis. During a marathon session with bassist Doug Byrkit and drummer Brian Zielie, they recorded 10 tracks in a day. Only the vocals were overdubbed. The result was an album chocked full of raw energy, which clearly announced Zito’s arrival on the blues-rock landscape.

Blue Room opens with the furiously funky “Hollywood,” where the musical virtuosity of all three band members is intentionally thrown in our faces. (Remember, this was a young man trying to prove he was a rock star.) The song’s narrative follows a 27-year-old Zito as he saunters down the seedy streets of LA, pointing out unseemly characters and their questionable behavior along the way. His voice is rough because the band had gigged the night before recording, but he powers through, fueled by attitude and beer. Zito holds nothing back on his first recorded guitar solo; likewise, the rhythm section’s performance is equally frenetic and deliciously over the top, demanding our attention.

The unhurried blues/rock power riff intro to “Pull the Trigger” slows the pace of the album, but not the intensity. Again, a discernibly strained Mike Zito makes his vocal performance happen through sheer will, as he pleads with his woman, “Lord, now don’t you point that thing at me/I know I done you wrong/But baby, have some sympathy.” The gun shot at the end of the song leads us to believe that he may not have successfully pled his case.

“It’s All Good” is a funk/rock masterpiece that dive bombs its way in on a screaming guitar lick. From there, the band kicks it hard. Byrkit and Zielie pump out wicked grooves, as they alternately blend elements of Led Zeppelin and James Brown.

With all of that funky goodness going on, it’s no surprise that there was enough of that groove left over to record the instrumental which follows, called “Gravy Jam.” The riff leaves plenty of holes for Zielie to show off his superior drumming chops and Byrkit’s slap-bass solo is a jaw-dropper. Throughout, Zito toggles back and forth effortlessly between tight rhythms and blistering leads.

“Soundcheck,” another instrumental, delivers exactly what the title suggests. We can imagine hearing the band playing this slow blues-rocker while warming up before a gig. The fade out ending is reminiscent of something we’d hear on the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Electric Ladyland album.

Other songs on Blue Room foreshadow the compositional breadth that Zito fans would come to hear from him in later years. “Shoes Blues” shows him in his finest roadhouse form, as he introduces his rowdy guitar solos by exclaiming, “Here’s the blues!” On “Ways About You” Zito seamlessly melds reggae, jazz and rock. “Lightening Bug” is built on his tight, soulful rhythm guitar skills.

Zito ends the album with a beautiful reworking of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s “Rocket Man.” His relaxed vocals are soulful and impassioned and the atmospheric guitar, bass and drums are exquisite. The back half of the song is dramatic and urgent, as Zito accents hard on power chords before driving it home with scorching lead guitar.

From his success as a solo artist, through his time with the Royal Southern Brotherhood and on to winning a Blues Music Award earlier this year, Mike Zito has accomplished a lot over the past two decades. Blue Room proves that he had the chops and the bravado to conquer the blues-rock scene from the moment he arrived, and his debut album is definitely worth revisiting. ---Martine Ehrenclou, rockandbluesmuse.com

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1 	Introduction	
2 	Don't Break A Leg
3 	Greyhound
4 	Little Red Corvette
5 	Rainbow Bridge
6 	Pearl River
7 	Hell On Me
8 	C'mon Baby
9 	Judgement Day
10 	Dirty Blonde
11 	Subtraction Blues
12 	Gone To Texas

Drums, Percussion – Rob Lee
Piano, Organ – Lewis Stephens
Vocals, Bass Guitar – Scot Sutherland
Vocals, Guitar – Mike Zito
Vocals, Saxophone – Jimmy Carpenter 

Songs from the Road by Mike Zito and the Wheel is Mike’s latest album under his own name. This is a burning set of blues-based rock, Americana and soul. This live album is part of a two disc set that also includes a DVD of the show at the Dosey Doe in Houston, Texas. The playing is tight and flawless while the mix is clean and clear. You hear every nuance of Mike’s soulful voice, and what a voice it is! Mike has the soul of Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, with the thick grit of Duane Allman, Delbert McClinton and Bob Seger.

The album opens with the funky blues jam “Don’t Break a Leg” but Mike quickly shifts gears to the Springsteen/Seger-esque “Greyhound,” a song about life on the road. Mike changes the mood once again during the mid to slow tempo soul ballad, “Little Red Corvette.” Yes, a cover of the Prince song. This is definitely one of the album’s highlights. Mike’s treatment is reminiscent of Ben Harper’s remake of Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing.” He takes this familiar song to a whole new place and suddenly a song about getting laid in a Corvette takes on a very romantic feel.

Mike picks the tempo up a bit for the tex-mex “Rainbow Bridge” and then it’s all blues for “Pearl River” and “Hell on Me.” The latter is a minor key swing number and features Mike tearing up his Tele through a wah-wah and roto-vibe. This is some of his best guitar work on the album.“C’mon Baby” is another soul ballad ala Sam Cooke. “Judgement Day” is a hard-driving rock and soul number, followed by the swinging “Dirty Blonde” and zydeco-flavored “Subtraction Blues.” The album ends with the southern rock piece “Gone to Texas,” which reminds me of The Allman Brothers with a saxophone.

The most outstanding thing about Songs from the Road is Mike Zito’s voice. His delivery is spot on and dripping with soul on every track. The Wheel does a masterful job of complementing Mike’s voice. Jimmy Carpenter’s sax and Lewis Stephen’s piano and organ shared solos, along with Mike’s guitar work, really opens up the sound. This is an excellent representation of what Mike Zito and the Wheel can do in a live setting. ---Lou Lombardi, bluesrockreview.com

Mike Zito to doświadczony gitarzysta i wokalista, którego nazwisko w bluesowym światku wiele znaczy. "Today", "Pearl River", "Greyhound"... Każda solowa płyta Amerykanina wyznaczyła nowe kierunki dla blues-rocka, nierzadko będąc obowiązkowym punktem odniesienia dla młodszych muzyków. W 2012 roku powołał do życia zespół The Wheel.

Zito zawodowo śpiewa od piątego roku życia. Tak, to nie żart! W 2006 roku serią ukazały się trzy owoce jego młodzieńczej aktywności artystycznej - płyty "Superman", "Americas Most Wanted" i "Slow It Down". W 2008 roku podpisał kontrakt z Eclecto Groove Records. Wtedy też w ręce fanów blues-rockowego grania trafił album "Today", a kariera Mike'a zmieniła się nie do poznania. Pochwałom ze strony słuchaczy i mediów nie było końca. Zaledwie rok później jego dyskografia powiększyła się o kolejny album, z którego utwór tytułowy, "Pearl River", przyniósł mu upragnioną Blues Music Award w kategorii Piosenka Roku.

W latach 2010-2014 Zito był wokalistą i gitarzystą popularnej supergrupy Royal Southern Brotherhood, która wstrząsnęła światowym rynkiem muzycznym, m.in. wyborną debiutancką płytą i statuetką Blues Music Award za najlepsze wydawnictwo DVD, relacjonujące trasę koncertową w Niemczech. Najnowsze krążki, znakomitą "Gone To Texas" i koncertową "Songs From The Road", Mike nagrał wraz z założoną trzy lata temu formacją The Wheel. ---biletyna.pl

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1. Highway Mama 05:20
2. Wasted Time 03:24
3. Redbird 07:00
4. Crazy Legs 03:52
5. Make Blues Not War 04:10
6. On the Road 03:45
7. Bad News Is Coming 06:29
8. One More Train 03:50
9. Girl Back Home 03:01
10. Chip off the Block 03:32
11. Road Dog 05:26
12. Route 90 03:50

Mike Zito – guitar, vocals
Rob mcNelley - guitar
Tommy McDonald – bass
Tom Hambridge - drums
+
Walter Trout - electric guitar (1)
Zach Zito – guitar (10)
Kevin McKendree - organ, piano, clavinet (1, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12)
Jason Ricci – harmonica (5, 8)

This album reminds me of the teenager who got the car keys for the first time and went out on a joyride. He was driving so fast, careening around curves and managing to narrowly avoid at least three accidents in the first half hour, but he maintained just enough control to pull through, grinning from ear to ear confidently the whole time. Mike Zito seems to have a similar unleashed feeling here, making the loud, rocking, intense guitar album he always wanted to make. Lyrics and nuances take a back seat to flat out shredding. In fact, Zito only has co-songwriting credits on four of the dozen tunes. As Zito puts it, “It was so much fun. It’s a completely live album, where the musicians all set up and we just hit record and went for it. The energy was awesome and sometimes we’d just be laughing so hard, because it was all so intense and exciting.”

This is Zito’s 13th album overall– the last three of which he recorded with his band, the Wheel– and he continues to forge his own career, having left Royal Southern Brotherhood in 2014. He enlisted the support of Grammy-winning producer Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy) for this project, which had been talked about for a while. Hambridge also co-penned nine tunes with his regular writing partner, Richard Fleming, or with Zito.

“It was time,” Zito says, “to get back to the blues and playing my guitar. Tom and I had spoken about making a kick ass blues-rock album for years. I like having fun and cutting loose – that’s what this album is all about.” The assembled musicians include Hambridge’s Nashville cohorts Rob McNelley on guitar, Tommy MacDonald on bass and keyboard whiz Kevin McKendree on most tunes. Check out his piano chops on “Chip Off the Block.” Walter Trout guests on “Highway Mama,” and harmonica ace Jason Ricci on the title track and “One More Train.” “Interestingly, as Mike puts it, “Chip Off The Block” was written for my oldest son, Zach Zito, who is the featured guitarist on this track. It’s his first introduction into the music world and he did a great job. I couldn’t be more proud of him. He graduates college next spring and joins me on tour in summer – I can’t wait.” The slower “Road Dog” is the most serious song on the album and has perhaps the best guitar solo. I also find a similarity in that he nods to Luther Allison in “Bad News Is Coming” just as fellow ex-RSB bandmate Devon Allman did on his solo outing, Ragged and Dirty, also produced by Hambridge.

“We hear about everything 24/7 now,” says Mike Zito. “The news never stops and it’s all become propaganda. But when you turn off the news and turn on some blues, the world is a beautiful place. I think music is the cure for all ailments. Always has been. Always will be.”

Let’s hope you have good speakers at home and in your car. This one might just blow ‘em out. ---Jim Hynes, elmoremagazine.com

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01 – Natural Born Lover
02 – Big Mouth
03 – One Step at a Time
04 – Shoes Blues (with Teresa James)            play
05 – 19 Years Old (with Nick Moss & Curtis Salgado)
06 – Pearl River
07 – Dead of Night
08 – C’mon Baby
09 – Sugar Sweet (with Ana Popovic)
10 – Superman
11 – All Last Night
12 – Hey Joe
13 – Ice Cream Man                             play

LineUp:
Mike Zito - guitar, vocals
John Morris - bass
Rob Lee - drums

Mike Zito's passion for music has long been fueled by his love of the guitar and the icons who helped propel the instrument to its legendary status. While growing up Zito was initially captivated by the innovative guitar sounds of Eddie Van Halen, but later discovered the soulful blues inspired playing of Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. A job fresh out of high school working at the local music store, Tower Grove Music, near his home in St. Louis, Missouri, further solidified his enthusiasm and devotion to his craft. The journey towards stardom and a life long career in music was officially underway. After years of tirelessly touring and four independently released projects under his belt, 2008 heralded the national debut of Zito’s album "Today" on Eclecto Groove Records. Boasting top notch production values with the guidance of producers David Z. (Prince, Buddy Guy, Etta James, Jonny Lang) and Tony Braunagel (Eric Burdon, Taj Mahal, Phantom Blues Band), along with assistance from a team of world class musicians including keyboardist Bentmont Tench (Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash) and bassist James “Hutch” Hutchinson (Bonnie Raitt, Boz Scaggs, Joe Cocker), Zito realized his most satisfying and accomplished work to date.

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