MIKE ZITO Source: Big City Blues Magazine Date: 06/2008 Writer: Roger and Margaret White

The blues world is full of good guitar players, and Mike Zito holds his own with the best. He may not be the fastest or hardest of the lot, but a player is nothing without the song, and he's that rare blues player that writes more than blues and could just catch a wider audience. Zito has soulful rich vocals and material with a hook that gets under your skin and holds deep. “Today” is a musical autobiographical look into the trials and tribulations of Mike Zito. His rich soulful voice conveys heartfelt pain and joy, and his lyrics are so gripping you almost get lost in the song and forget what a good guitar player he is. His biting guitar leads the band without over powering the group featuring co-producer Tony Braunagal from the Phantom Blues Band on drums, Benmont Tench of the Heartbreakers on keyboards and Hutch Hutchinson on bass. They're all studio aces and this record has the sound of a working band. 

Zito kicks off the CD with an alternative country rocker “Love Like This”,  Mike testifies about his wife and son with an  intensity that expresses more that just the words conveys. Within the well written lyrics of “Universe”  Mike questions more than the meaning of  life and the space between one love and all mankind. Marching along on a steady beat, grinding guitar and slower counterpoint of vocals and piano before taking flight with a guitar solo that blasts off like a rocket. A world beat rhythm drives “Blinded” (by the life) but the lyrics tell it all, a man who can't see past the flash of show biz. “Slow It Down” comes from the bottom of his soul as he exorsizes the vices and pain in his life before moving on to “Today”. The upbeat title song “Today” really kicks things up a notch with  it's catchy guitar lines, confident growl and the hopeful lyrics, looking forward and finding happiness and himself in the bargain. Mike tells of life in St. Louis where he grew up in “No Big City” taking on a tougher stance and harder edge, Mike's voice shows his sensitive side in the midst of it all. He let's his blues devils loose on “Deep Down in Love” his guitar screams above a blast of horns and sets a chugging groove for them to follow while he sings more about lust than love. That emotion keeps flowing in “Dirty Things” (you do), the frustration Mike conveys on his vocals expresses a rockin' tension while the guitar cries the blues. The easy swinging ode to his current home “Hollywood” really heats up on the guitar solos that are as bright and flashy as the lights of that big city. The expressive vocals and the jazzy guitar licks of “Holding Out For Love” makes for a bitter sweet funky groove that slides right into “Little Red Corvette”. The Prince number is an interesting cover with Mike's soulful presentation as a soft ballad and Tench's lilting piano driving it home. The final number “Time to go Home” Mike  slows it down, sings about packing up the guitars, toting the baggage he's picked up along the way and thanks friends who've been supportive on the road. Thinking about his girl “you can't miss home, till you've been on the road”. His journey has taken him home and going full circle you could go right back to the first song and play it all again.