Mike Zito w/ Gina Sicilia

Friday October 20, 2017 @ 8:00 PM

American bluesman Mike Zito and his band return to the Bridge Street stage with his latest album, "Make Blues Not War" (2016, Ruf Records) on Friday, October 20th at 8 pm! Blues chanteuse Gina Sicilia will open the show.

Modern life moves fast. Rolling news. Rapid-fire tweets. A relentless barrage of (mis)information. "Make Blues Not War" is an album that demands you sign out, log off, and turn yourself over instead to the old-fashioned pleasures of great music. “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.” Released in 2016 on Ruf Records, "Make Blues Not War" is Mike’s second release since leaving the mighty Royal Southern Brotherhood, his 13th overall – and perhaps his most energetic to date. “Make Blues Not War is a really fun album,” he says, “chock-full of blues with lots of guitar playing. It’s a very upbeat record with intense energy. Blues should make you feel good, and I think this record serves the purpose well.” That atmosphere of positivity began at the album sessions, as Mike tracked alongside Grammy Award-winning producer (and co-writer) Tom Hambridge at the Sound Stage Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. “It was so much fun,” he remembers. “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.”

Mike has spent over two decades on the run. He grew up in a hard-grafting blue-collar home in St. Louis, but after an early job at a downtown guitar shop exposed him to heavyweights like B.B. King, the Allmans and Eric Clapton (then Joe Pass, Robert Johnson and Blind Willie Johnson), he set out as a working musician. By 1997, Mike had released debut album Blue Room, and seemed to be going places. “The first time you hear yourself,” he recalls, “you think, ‘Wow, that almost sounds like music!’” Then came the bumps in the road. By the post-millennium, alcoholism and drug abuse were threatening to rob Mike of his talent and livelihood: a period starkly addressed on the title track from 2011’s acclaimed “Greyhound” album. “I just couldn’t stop,” he admits. “And a lot of the opportunities that I had back then – they kinda went away.” Thankfully, the epiphany of meeting his beloved wife put Mike on a new path. In 2012, he found fresh inspiration in the A-list lineup of Royal Southern Brotherhood, then struck out with acclaimed solo albums "Gone To Texas" (2013) and "Keep Coming Back" (2015). “I have many more hurdles to jump and more goals to strive for,” he says, “but I’m very pleased and thankful with how I’m developing as an artist.”

Now comes "Make Blues Not War": another step up for this fascinating journeyman. “I’m so proud of this new album,” says Mike. “It’s about the enjoyment I get when I listen to Johnny Winter and Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Luther Allison. Their music makes me happy and reminds why I wanted to play guitar and play the blues. To be free and honest, loud and proud. I hope everyone enjoys listening to this album as much as I enjoyed making it…”

Tickets to see iconic bluesman Mike Zito and his band are $20 for General Admission and $30 for VIP Reserved.

Links:

Tickets:

$20, $30