Mike Zito on moving forward and pointing backwards

There was no grand concept behind Mike Zito’s latest album, Make Blues Not War. No statements to be made about the state of the world, no underlying theme running throughout the 12 tracks.

“I’m just gonna be Mike Zito, I hope you like it,” laughed the guitarist, who brings his band to the Iridium in New York City on Sunday, October 29. “I’m sober, and it’s taken 10–12 years to get comfortable with being confident just being myself again and not trying to be something else because I think that’s what I should be.”

Well, that “no concept” approach worked, as Zito is still touring behind the album a year after its release. But he knew he was on to something as soon as it came out, as he battled neck and neck with the Rolling Stones’ Blue & Lonesome album atop the blues charts.

“I snapshotted pictures on my phone to send to my wife and go, ‘Okay, look, this is never gonna happen again,’” laughed Zito, who was humbled by his placement alongside the British legends.

“It landed at just the right time for me personally,” he said. “The way that the stars aligned, mine got a push just two weeks before theirs came out, and theirs coming out assisted me. It’s amazing that people are going to iTunes to buy a Rolling Stones record and when they pull the Blues section up, they see the Rolling Stones and then see all these other acts. In all of those terms it’s fantastic because they get turned on to some new music.”

For the St. Louis native, that’s really what it’s all about, passing the music along from generation to generation, or as he puts it, “To move forward and point backwards. Even as a kid in high school or when I was 20 years old, I would see Stevie Ray Vaughan and he would have somebody with him on stage, like Buddy Guy, and that would get me turned on to Buddy Guy. I would see Bonnie Raitt and she’d have Ruth Brown or Charles Brown on stage with her and I didn’t know who those people were. I just knew who Bonnie Raitt was and I liked her music. But she’s telling you where the music comes from. And I think that’s the most important thing because that’s what’s keeping the blues alive, and that’s what it’s all about.”

And when it comes to Make Blues Not War, Zito’s aim was simple: capture everything on record that made him love music in the first place.

“The record I made is the most honest record I made in ten years,” he admits. “It’s exactly who I am, that’s what I like, that’s what I do, and I think one of the most important things about making good music is trying to be honest. Yes, I needed to go down roads and work on my songwriting and singing and try different avenues. I didn’t try them because I thought this is what will sell, so to speak. But at the end of the day, I always grab my guitar and just want to rock out and that’s what I’ve been doing since I was eight years old. This record, I just wanted to be a kid again and do what I fell in love with when I was a kid. It’s fun and energetic, and the response has been, ‘This sounds like you.’”

That’s the greatest compliment the father of five can receive, and now he’s spreading that gospel around, doing what he loves the most while reminding people that the blues isn’t about feeling bad. The way he sees it, it’s just the opposite.

“The blues is not supposed to be music that makes you sad,” Zito said. “It’s supposed to be music that you listen to that lifts you up when you’re not feeling well. That music always makes me feel good and I always come back to it. I just love it and I’ve never been so interested in fame. I just want to play guitar for a living and fortunately, I get to do that.”

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