Description
Blues Music Award-winner Mike Zito is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his debut album, Blue Room with a reissue through his current label, Ruf Records. Recorded live in a basement in St. Louis, this is Mike Zito at age 27 and his trio in 1998. Mike and his band played until 6 AM at all all-night club in St. Louis and then hit the studio at 9 AM as they had $1,000 and a day or two to make an album. Beer, rum, bravado and no sleep helped produce this album.
From his success as a solo artist, through his time with the Royal Southern Brotherhood and on to winning a Blues Music Award earlier this year, Mike Zito has accomplished a lot over the past two decades. Blue Room proves that he had the chops and the bravado to conquer the blues-rock scene from the moment he arrived. Zito says he would not change a thing despite the problems he faced. His first album stands the test of time and this newly remastered Ruf re-release shows us where this young man was and gives us an idea where he came from. It’s rough and tumble, it shreds and pounds and drives hard, but it’s full of emotion and grit. Perhaps not for the faint of heart, but it’s not fun living like that. Give it a spin on your CD player and see what the young Mike Zito and friends were doing in their heady days back in St, Louis.
