Leave Your Ego

"Leave your Ego, Play the Music, Love the People"

When I first heard that mantra, I was blown away.
This is what it was all about, this was the truth I had been seeking.
I was already a fan of Luther Allison and his music, but this was deeper.
This was Luther's saying, his mantra, his code.
It's simple, effective and something to always keep in mind for myself.
I took it on as my own and have tried over the past 10 years to remind myself, day in day out,
night after night of shows.....it's all about the people.
Ira Leslie with Ruf Records always shares a great story with me about being with Luther in
Memphis for the W.C. Handy Awards and how he cold not get Luther to the convention center
because he would not stop talking with all of his fans.

Luther Allison brought me deeper into the Blues and into music in general. His music and performances have taught me how to give 100% to every note, every note I sing and every note I play.
His energy is to be yourself always and shine the light for those that seek it.

I was blessed this year to have been a member of the 2018 Blues Caravan for Ruf Records.
The Blues Caravan has been going on for a long time, a new group each year of musicians that travel together and play music for the people. It has always sounded like fun to me, but this year took on a very special meaning for myself.......we would be celebrating the passing of Luther Allison. It was 20 years ago that he left this physical planet, but his music and message are still going strong.
When I was asked to join this years Caravan, I was told that Bernard Allison would be on the tour.
I had met Bernard the first time in 2006 in Omaha and I really loved his music and playing.
I said if Bernard is doing this, then I wanna do it too!
It was a real joy and learning experience to work with Bernard and the band.
There was a natural chemistry that grew out of playing each night and I truly love playing
music with him.

We just wrapped up the final shows last week and the Caravan tour is now officially over.
We began in January in Europe and hit it hard all year.
We also had an amazing young woman from Croatia with us, Vanja Sky.
She was fantastic and the three of us along with the incredible Roger Inniss on Bass and Super Mario Dawson on drums pushed hard every night to give the best show possible.
It took team work and a lot of stamina to keep the energy moving, but I think we did so in stride.
We were joined by Ruf Records newest artist, Ally Venable and her trio these last two weeks in the USA. Ally is amazing and has quite a future ahead of her.

All of the musicians and tour managers and the record label and agents and publicists....all did a great job!  It took a huge team to work this hard and make this work around the clock.
I am thankful to all for their dedication to this tour.

I am most thankful to the fans. I have the best fans!!!
Night after night, people filled the rooms around the world to see our show.
Some came to see Bernard, some came to see me, some to see Vanja and the band.....
but all left feeling the joy of Luther's music.
Without the fans, we have no show. It doesn't matte how good we can play, it matters if we
have an audience to play for....so THANK YOU!!!!!

I think I have come to realize the mantra of Luther in full face value after this years long road.
Every night I hit the stage, I turned my will over to the God of my understanding.
I was as honest as I could be, I did not try to be something I am not, I was me.
I worked hard to play my instrument to the level necessary to be onstage with the great musicians
I was working with. Finally, I made myself available to everyone that bought a ticket and walked into that show. I made sure I went out early each night to shake hands and say hello and straight out after each show. I made sure I made time for the most important piece of this puzzle.....the people.
Sometimes it's hard, I get tired or I am crabby and I don't want to give away all of my energy.....
but I did anyway. Every time I felt that way, I returned renewed, joyous. I was overwhelmed at all of the love people showered upon us.
This connection we have with the music, is very intimate, very real. It is spiritual ad unspoken.

I feel like I did something important this year, like we did something that mattered.
We celebrated the life and music of the great Luther Allison.
But I also realized that it always matters.
Every interaction matters. Every time I shake your hand or hug your neck or speak to you....it matters.
This joy is overwhelming, I have a responsibility....we all do.
Walter Trout told me years ago...."Mike, you have a responsibility to the music and to the people"
I take great pride in this today. I bring all of my energy with me, everywhere I go.
I am too much for some people, like a hurricane! I can annoy some and rub some the wrong way,
but it's only because they're afraid of the joy, and afraid to let go.
Through sobriety and recovery I have learned to be me and be comfortable in my own skin.
I do not hide, I do not act like something I am not, I am me....like it or not.

Thank you to all for a great year, one I won't forget soon.
I am excited for new tours and new experiences and to bring with me what I have learned
from this one.

Leave your Ego, Play the Music, Love the People

Peace, Love, Zito

Everything matters

I am lucky to meet people along the way out here on the road.
My friends come to see me and I make new friends every night.
People share with me, for some reason they trust me. They tell me about their
problems, losses, sickness, good fortune, new guitars they've bought :)
The list goes on.  I am always happy to listen and thankful they feel so comfortable with me.
I have a soft spot for recovery stories, and all too often I hear about someone losing a family
member to drugs or alcohol, it's very sad. But I also do hear about how someone has cleaned up
and they have 1 year or 5 years or 6 months clean and sober, it's always uplifting.

Recently someone reached out to me to share with me that they were working at the club
the last night I opened for Walter Trout in St. Louis
and was so messed up he had to sit me down and
read me the riot act. They told me they remember the night, and that I was really out there, a mess.
Recently they saw a video with myself and Walter speaking about that evening and how his helping me set off a chain reaction in my life and I have been clean and sober a long time.
This person told me that one of the bartenders that night at the club was a bad alcoholic as well
and he showed him the video. Today this man has years of sobriety.
Finally the message ended with this person telling me that his own son was having a terrible
time with drugs and that he was going to show him that video today.
That's amazing. It's like everything matters. Every word we say, every action, every non-action,
it all counts. We are connected to each other whether we like it or not.

I do believe in Karma, but maybe not the way most people do.
I do not believe Karma is a vengeful repercussion that is coming to get you for doing me wrong.
In my mind, Karma is the ripple in the pond. It strikes the water and makes a wave, small or large.
Either way, the waves matter, they are going somewhere.
Consequences are probably the most fitting way to describe what I am talking about.
Consequences always have a negative attached to them, but that's only half true.
We certainly have positive consequences as well.
Everything in this life matters.
It comes back to us, in one way or another.  Striving to be our best is really the only way to
succeed at happiness in this lifetime. But even through the worst of times, God has a plan.
The Universe is making good out of whatever we determine to be "wrong".
Trusting the process is what it is all about, I have to trust that this will lead to something positive,
and it always does.

Delbert McClinton told me "You're only as good as your last show"
and I have taken that to heart, in all aspects of my life.
I am only as good as the last conversation I had with you.
I am only as good as the last time I played with my kids.
Because that's what people remember, the last time they were with you,
the last thing you said to them.
Play like it's your last show, that's what his advice means to me.
Love like it's the last time you'll ever love again.

Life is short.....and life is long.
The big picture seems to be so sweet and over too quickly,
but the day in, day out is always in front of us. It's staring us in the face right now....
How will you speak to me today? How will we interact?
It's hard to be great all of the time, to be perfect and wonderful and full of love....I know.
It's not a possibility to be God, but it is a possibility to be "God-Like" if we try.
A is always for effort in the world of Karma and good intention, but doing and action gets the plus.

I will try to do my best today, you never know who is watching or how this will affect
someone near you. Everything matters.

Peace, Love...Zito

Here is the video of myself and Walter Trout:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-z2yckSdUs