through Rock & Roll finds love

and purpose in SETX

Long before the days of YouTube and guitar lesson apps like Yousician and Fender Play, Mike Zito was sitting in his St. Louis home, strumming away at his beginner’s electric guitar — a Christmas gift his mother purchased from the JC Penney catalog that year.

“I heard Eddie Van Halen when I was 7 years old and had to have a guitar,” Zito says.

From the sounds of it, Zito was also inspired by his mother’s poetry. He cherishes a book of poems written by her and speaks of doing the same himself as a child, jotting down songs and stories that filled his head.

Zito didn’t have many guitar lessons, so he wrote his own songs. His first guitar teacher (only two lessons) was with Richard Fortus, guitarist for Guns N’ Roses (along with Slash).

Mike Zito will be performing at Madison’s on Dowlen June 22. Call 409-924-9777 to reserve your seat.

What Mike did though, was soak up knowledge wherever and whenever he could, like working at a music store for a decade.

“I got to be around working musicians and watch them play and ask them questions,” he says. “It was like my college.”

Speaking of school, in high school Zito did what most high school musicians did, he joined a band.

“[I] became the singer. We played parties and battle of the bands,” Zito says. “When I turned 19, I got my first gig as a guitarist in a working band that played every weekend.”

It was about that time that Mike fell in love with the blues. Mike’s hometown of St. Louis has long been associated with music and the performing arts, especially it’s association with blues, jazz and ragtime.

“I listened to rock n roll all my life but always liked the bluesy rock n roll,” Zito says. “As I got a little older, I realized a lot of that music was originally recorded by Black blues artists. I started digging into the original music more and found I liked it even better.”

Once Zito was of legal age, the sounds coming from the clubs downtown was a revelation.

“I found a whole world of blues and Black blues artists playing at clubs every night in the city — I fell in love,” Zito says. “The music just moves me.”

For more than a decade Zito continued playing in bars and clubs in St. Louis, honing his guitar skills along with his voice.

“Mostly playing cover music,” Zito says. “In 1997

I recorded my first album ‘Blue Room.’”

Since then, he’s recorded 22 full-length albums, including 2013’s Gone to Texas, dedicated to the state he says saved his life.

“When I arrived in Texas in 2003, I was a bad drunk and drug abuser,” Zito says. “I just couldn’t stop for very long and always screwed things up. I couldn’t keep a job and was semi-homeless off and on.”

He says his wife, Laura, knew something was wrong and encouraged him to go to recovery meetings.

“I did, reluctantly at first, but over a few months I realized that’s where I needed to be,” he says. “My entire life in Southeast Texas has been built around sobriety and recovery. It’s a beautiful life here.”

Zito says the move to the Lone Star state was integral to him having a successful career.

“Marrying my wife and getting clean and sober changed everything. I began working very seriously in 2004 and since then it’s really taken off,” he says. “I’ve had several record deals, played with many of my heroes and toured the world countless times.”

Mike says he was playing a club in St. Louis in 2000 and Laura, a native of Nederland, was visiting family in the area and came in to celebrate her birthday. A few years later, she returned, and saw him play again.

“This time I got her phone number,” Mike says. When Mike moved to Dallas in 2003 to work for Fender Guitars, he utilized that number.

“I called her for a date when I was coming through Southeast Texas and the rest is history,” he says.

Today the pair own their own label, Gulf Coast Records, based out of Nederland with a focus on regional roots, blues and Americana genres.

“It’s been quite a ride,” Zito says.

The ride currently includes a tour and collaboration album with fellow musician Albert Castiglia called “Blood Brothers,” which opened at No. 1 on the Billboard Blues charts.

“It’s very fun to be out on the road with good friends making music and bringing joy,” Zito says.

A joy that he says comes from truth — something he deeply wants to convey to his fans through his music.

“I have to have a connection with the song. It’s hard to fake singing,” Zito says. “I want them to know how I feel, and I want to share that feeling with them. Even if the song is simple and silly, if I believe in the song, then I can perform with honesty.”

Writing his own songs has helped him succeed in