Interview: Mike Zito

Photo: Mike Zito by Danny Artimisi

By Martine Ehrenclou

Multi Blues Music Award-winning guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and co-owner of Texas-based Gulf Coast Records, Mike Zito is one of the most beloved contemporary blues artists today. Along with a number of his own critically acclaimed albums, Zito is known for producing stellar artists. He started his own record label, Gulf Coast Records with Guy Hale in 2018 where he produces and records artists such as Albert Castiglia, Tony Campanella, Billy Price, Diana Rein, The Proven Ones, Jimmy Carpenter, Kid Andersen, Anthony Geraci, Kat Riggins, and more, many of whom are Blues Music Award winners and nominees themselves.

Fans flock to Mike Zito’s live shows to watch the guitar master at work but also to soak up some of his Texas charm and humor.

Given the popularity of his live shows, it makes perfect sense that Mike Zito would release a double live album. Recorded at the Old Rock House in St. Louis, Missouri, Blues for the Southside is set to release February 18 on Gulf Coast Records and produced by the man himself. The album features Zito on guitar and vocals and his stellar band made up of Matthew Johnson (vocals/drums), Lewis Stephens (piano/organ), Doug Byrkit (vocals/ bass), with special guests including label mate guitarists Tony Campanella and Dave Kalz, plus guitar wizard Eric Gales.

The song list for Blues for the Southside includes tunes from Zito’s earlier albums such as First Class Life, Gone To Texas, Make Blues Not War, and his Tribute to Chuck Berry, plus his take on songs popularized by Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tampa Red and a brand new song, the album’s title track.

When asked about Blues for the Southside, Mike explained that having his own record label gives him the freedom to do what he wants. “My plan was that I was going to do a double live album and record all the material from other albums, songs that people are familiar with. The band has just been sounding so good.” He added, “I’m just trying to keep things coming out there and keep it fresh. Sometimes you want to try new ideas or sometimes there’s more guitar or less guitar or it’s bluesier or rockier. This is just going to be a bluesy live album. It was a one-night only recording. There’s no overdubs, no fancy tricks. We just set up and played. I had some guests.”

I said, “That was part of the coolness about the album. I enjoyed hearing the crowd in the background plus Eric Gales stepped in and played with you on “Voodoo Chile.”

“That was really fun. That was not part of the plan. The plan was to have local guitar players there on my label, Dave Kalz and Tony Campanella– they were going to come out and play a song. And the day of the show, Eric called me and he goes, ‘Are you in St. Louis?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘I’m here rehearsing for the Allman Family Revival show with Devon Allman.’ I said, ‘Really?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, I might come see you. I might surprise you.’ I didn’t tell him anything else. We’re very good friends. He showed up and I said, ‘Hey, man, I’m making a record. Do you want to get up here and play something?’ He got up (on stage) and asks, ‘What are we going to play?’ I thought, ‘Oh, I know exactly what we’re going to play. We’re going to play the original Voodoo.’ And I thought it turned out great, he’s just amazing.”

I jumped in. “You both sounded amazing. When you guys were trading off guitar solos toward the end, it was outstanding.”

Mike said, “Well, thanks. Eric is known for a lot of notes and it’s very technical and he does it so well. Not that it’s not heartfelt, of course it is. But on this particular track, I don’t know if it was that he was playing one of my guitars but he’s pretty gutsy. He’s really digs in, kind of raw and bluesy. I think it’s special.”

“Were you playing your Strat or your Tele?” I asked.

“I played the Strat the entire show and I used a Marshall twin amplifier,” he said.

“Do you trade off between Teles and Strats?”

Mike said, “I played a Tele forever because back in the day when I worked at the music store, we were a Fender dealer. That’s what I had access to. I fell in love with Fender guitars. Because Stevie Ray Vaughan and everyone played a Strat, I purposely played a Tele. I just got it in my head that I need to do something different. Lately, I started playing a Strat again. For all the songs and the sounds, it kind of gets everything.”

About recording Blues for the Southside at the Old Rock House, I asked if recording the show there was special for him.

Mike shared, “It was in my hometown of St. Louis where I was born and raised and lived there for 33 years. That’s exactly where I wanted to do it, on the south side. I wanted to get all of my friends and family and all the people I went to school with–I knew they would all come out. When they know you’re doing something like that, everybody wants to come be a part of it.”

Photo: Mike Zito by Scott Lukes

Continuing Mike said, “There was a few choices where I could do it. Why would I do it anywhere else? It was the venue The Old Rock House on Hickory Street. My father grew up at 11th and Hickory, just blocks away, and I grew up 10 minutes away from there. It was just really cool. My sister was there, my brother was there, all my cousins were there.”

“That’s so nice,” I said, envisioning a close knit community who came out to hear Zito and his band play.

“Yeah. My youngest son goes to school in St. Louis. He was there and then all of these people–I call them kids still, but were in our fifties. (Laughter) But all the kids I graduated high school with, there was just a big group of people. We had a great crowd. It was really, really fun. I think they’re very excited that it’s coming out. Everywhere people might be proud of where they come from, but South St. Louis is rough. It’s kind of a grind. It’s a lower middle class party town and people are kind of proud that they’ve made it. They didn’t die. (Laughter) It’s a rougher place than normal. That’s where I grew up. People are kind of proud of it. I thought that was a great idea, Blues for the South Side.”

Mentioning the new song on the album, the title track, I said, “It’s a beautiful instrumental.”

“Thank you. I thought we could do one song, something new and put it on there. I don’t do a lot of instrumentals. It’s kind of a minor rock instrumental. We never really rehearsed it, it’s never been recorded–I just showed them (the band) the changes and we played it a few times and it was like, ‘Let’s just make it raw and real, like the rest of it.’ I thought it turned out really cool,” he said.

We discussed his cover of “Texas Flood” which definitely has the Mike Zito stamp on it. He makes the song his own the way he sings it. He admitted that he tries to keep in mind more of the Bonnie Raitt or Delbert McClinton way of singing it. “And then just straight full force Stevie Ray guitar force thing. I love playing it.”

With a touch of a Southern drawl, Mike has a very relaxed way of talking, almost as if he’s out on his back porch, guitar in hand. “Anytime you have some of these songs in the show, people love it because they’re hearing something they know. That’s one of the things I’ve learned over my career. People ask, ‘Why did you do a whole record of Chuck Berry?’ ‘Because for the rest of my Iife, I can play a Chuck Berry song in my show and I got 20 to choose from.’ (Laughter) It’s kind of part of what we do now. These great songs that have been done before, not all of them flush out like this. When they do, they come along with us.”

I asked Mike about who he’s producing albums for now.

He said, “I did produce Albert Castiglia’s new album. It comes out at the end of March and it’s called I Got Love. It’s really, really good. I’m going to go into the studio in March with Kat Riggins and we’re going to do her new album. I love producing, but I don’t have much time.”

For a multi-talented artist who not only records and releases his own albums and tours with his band, produces other artists’ albums and runs a record label, Mike Zito seems to thrive on the energy and creativity of being engaged in multiple projects.

Watch Mike Zito perform “First Class Life” shot by 1Anitras Dance.

For more information on Blues for the Southside and Mike Zito see his website here.