Mike Zito

Mike Zito

Mike Zito (born November 19, 1970) is an American guitarist, singer, record producer, and songwriter from St. Louis, Missouri, United States. He is a co-founder of Royal Southern Brotherhood that features Cyril Neville, Devon Allman, Charlie Wooton and Yonrico Scott.
Zito started singing at the age of five and by his late teens he had begun his career in the St Louis area music scene. In 2008, Zito made his international debut on the Eclecto Groove label.
Zito released records on his own label and toured regionally and even performed some national dates until signing with Eclecto Groove Records in 2008. The same year, Eclecto Groove released Today. Today was produced by David Z. The musicians on the CD were a line-up of studio musicians that included bassist James "Hutch" Hutchinson, (Bonnie Raitt, Boz Scaggs, Joe Cocker); Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch keyboardist Benmont Tench; co-producer/drummer Tony Braunagel (Taj Mahal, B.B. King) and percussionist Michito Sanchez (Nelly Furtado, Steve Winwood). Also appearing on the CD are Joe Sublett (saxophone), Darrell Leonard (trumpet), Mitch Kashmar (harmonica) with Teresa James and Ce Ce Bullard (background vocals).
In 2009, Eclecto Groove released his second CD Pearl River. Zito and Cyril Neville collaborated on the title track. At the 2010 Blues Music Awards, "Pearl River" won "Song of the Year". Pearl River was recorded in New Orleans, Louisiana at Piety Street Studios. It featured Cyril Neville, Anders Osborne, Reese Wynans, Susan Cowsill, Lynwood Slim and Johnny Sansone, with the rhythm section of Lonnie 'Popcorn' Trevino Jr. (bass) and Eric Bolivar (drums).
In 2011, Zito fulfilled his recording contract with Delta Groove/Eclecto Groove with the release of Greyhound. Greyhound was nominated for "Best Rock Blues Album" at the 2011 Blues Music Awards in Memphis, Tennessee.
In 2013, Mike Zito signed with Ruf Records and released Gone to Texas, a deep and personal CD dedicated to the state that he says saved his life. On Gone to Texas Mike assembled his band, The Wheel, which features Zito – guitars and vocals, Scot Sutherland – bass, Jimmy Carpenter – guitars/sax, and Rob Lee on drums.