Anders Osborne: "I love Mike Zito! He has a rare voice that resonates with the soul. All his struggles, life experiences, and kind heart shine through in every note he sings. His guitar playing gracefully balances between modern blues virtuoso and good old soul musician. Mike continues to impress me with his straightforward and honest songs. His joy and grace shine through in every recording."
Mike Zito (born November 19, 1970) is an American guitarist, singer, producer, and songwriter from St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He is a co-founder of the band Royal Southern Brotherhood, featuring Cyril Neville, Devon Allman, Charlie Wooton, and Yonrico Scott.
Mike is one of the most celebrated artists in the modern blues scene, and deservedly so, but for him, maintaining his honesty, authenticity, and integrity is paramount. These qualities have defined Zito's career from the very beginning and continue to shape all his endeavors since.
"I have nothing to hide; people seem to appreciate my honesty most," he once said in an interview with Vintage Guitar magazine. "Anders (Osborne) told me early on, 'If you don't believe in what you sing, you'll never be a good singer.' I try not to write empty words; I try to make every word count."
From 2010 to 2014, Zito also played a key role in the supergroup Royal Southern Brotherhood. The group released two albums and a DVD, "Songs from the Road – Live in Germany," which won a Blues Music Award for "Best DVD of the Year." He also made his mark as a producer, producing albums for Samantha Fish, Albert Castiglia, Ellie Venable, Jeremy Johnson, Jimmy Carpenter, and many others.
Meanwhile, his album Make Blues Not War debuted at number one on the Billboard Blues Album Chart and earned him recognition as Rock/Blues Artist of the Year at the 2018 Blues Music Awards. First Class Life followed suit, also entering the charts at number one. Alternate Root magazine insisted that "First Class Life, which Mike Zito called his new album, can be heard in the sweet sound of Blue Soul, rising like heat waves from his guitar and voice." American Blues Scene wrote, "Mike Zito's return to the blues is, in a word, triumphant!" No Depression declared, "Zito has once again delivered the goods, first-class mail, no postage."
Around the same time, Mike Zito teamed up with Guy Hale to create a new label, Gulf Coast Records. Gulf Coast Records is based in Nederland, Texas, and specializes in regional roots, blues, and Americana. The founders' shared passion is supporting artists and helping them bring their music to the world.
In 2020, after a European tour was canceled, Zito flew to his home in Texas and began recording an album titled Quarantine Blues, which was released as a free download. It was written, recorded, and mixed in 14 days during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, featuring musicians from various cities, including guitarist Tracii Guns, a founding member of L.A. Guns, who collaborated with him from quarantine in Denmark.
In 2021, Mike released the album Resurrection on his label, Gulf Coast Records. The new disc was produced by renowned Grammy Award winner David Z, best known for his longtime work with Prince, as well as appearances on albums by Etta James, Billy Idol, BoDeans, Buddy Guy, John Mayall, and many others.
“I’m constantly buzzing with songs and musical ideas,” says Mike Zito about the creation of the new album. “I write what I can, when I can, and try to preserve everything for posterity. Some songs are just songs, and they don’t always mean anything to me, while others become deeply personal. For me to sing songs and feel them with real emotion, they have to be personal in some way. Even songs I didn’t write have to reflect some part of my thinking or my feelings about love, sex, life, death, the world… Resurrection is an album of feelings, emotions, and it’s deeply personal. The title track is about how I almost lost my love once, but she came back stronger than ever. This song has been with me for years, but only now does it make sense to share it with the world. After the year we’ve been through on planet Earth, I believe we all need a rebirth. This rebirth has given me the opportunity to become who I want to be in music and art.”
Resurrection was well received by critics and fans, and later won the 2022 Blues Music Award for Blues/Rock Album of the Year.
In 2022, Zito released the double live album Blues for the Southside. Recorded on November 26, 2021, at the Old Rock House in St. Louis, Missouri, and produced by Mike Zito, Blues for the Southside showcases Zito (guitar, vocals) and his all-star band at full strength, featuring special guests Tony Campanella, Dave Kalz, and guitar virtuoso Eric Gales. Following the release of Blues for the Southside, Zito joined forces with Gulf Coast Records.
In 2025, he won his second Blues Music Award for Blues-Rock Album of the Year for his recording Life is Hard.
