MIKE ZITO "TODAY" Liner Notes by Mike Zito

This album is a dream come true for me. I’ve been writing songs, practicing guitar night and day and singing for most of my life. I’ve spent a lot of time in my mind, hoping for the day I would get the chance to record my songs with great musicians in a real studio with a real producer for a real record label. With all that, I couldn’t have been prepared for the magic that has taken place while making “Today.”

I love these songs. They’re my life, my feelings, my being and my craziness. But most of all they’re my awareness. I’m not sure where these songs come from, but I’m thrilled they came to me to write. From a young kid in St. Louis listening to everything I could find and later moving to Texas, music has been everything. My influences are so vast: the spirituality of Hendrix, the purism of Clapton, the passion of Stevie Ray Vaughan, the reckless abandon of Van Halen. I also love the singers and songwriters, the real voices: Johnny Cash, Neil Young, John Prine, Shelby Lynne, Lyle Lovett, Mick Jagger, Tina Turner and John Hiatt—there are so many.

All of it went into “Today.” It’s what I have sounded like in my mind forever. It’s a journey through a life that has just really begun. One of some bad choices, wrong thinking but then, thankfully, waking up. A time of love lost and love found inside myself. I have discovered that everything happens for a reason, and the trick is learning to trust the journey.

Peace,
Mike Zito (March 2008)