Mike Zito - Make Blues Not War

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.�As the momentum gathered, the songs flowed, with Mike painting in every shade of blue, from the frantic showboating of �Crazy Legs� to the slow-burn of �Red Bird� and the smoky slide of �Girl Back Home�. �It was time,� he 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.�Likewise, when it comes to Mike�s lyric sheet, these songs search for the silver lining in a troubled world. �I love writing songs and sharing deep feelings,� he says, �but I also like having fun and cutting loose � that�s what this album is all about. �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.� �Road Dog,� adds Mike of the album�s wistful slow-blues travelogue, �is really the most serious tune on the album. It�s about the drama of life on the road. I know it can seem clich�d sometimes, but it�s the life I lead. I miss my family, miss my wife, but this is what I do. I always leave.�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��