{"id":4135,"date":"2020-02-04T11:20:59","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T18:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utetheater.com\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=4135"},"modified":"2020-04-14T10:33:08","modified_gmt":"2020-04-14T16:33:08","slug":"mike-zito-vanessa-collier","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/utetheater.com\/event\/mike-zito-vanessa-collier\/","title":{"rendered":"CANCELLED – Mike Zito & His Big Blues Band with Vanessa Collier"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unfortunately due to continued concerns and regulations regarding social distancing during the COVID-19 outbreak, this event has been cancelled. There is no rescheduled show date at this time. Ticket holders have been notified via email. If you have any further questions, please use our contact form<\/a>. Thank you for your continued patience!<\/p>\n

Mike Zito, Winner of the 2018 Blues Rock Artist of the Year at the 39th Annual Blues Music Awards serves as the band leader and front man of this Big Blues Band Show featuring a special Rock-n-Roll Tribute to Chuck Berry along with Zito’s original music and a sensational brass section including Special Guest Artist Vanessa Collier. As a master musician and multi-instrumentalist, Vanessa Collier, weaves funk, soul, rock, and blues into every powerful performance and she is downright impressive.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He may be one of the most lauded artists in the contemporary blues arena today, and rightfully so, but for Mike Zito, the thing that counts the most is maintaining his honesty, authenticity and integrity. Those are the qualities that have steered Zito\u2019s career since the beginning and continue to define every effort he\u2019s offered since.<\/p>\n

Zito\u2019s latest album — his 16th — released November 2019 on Ruf Records and descriptively titled Rock N Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry, finds him broadening his boundaries still further even as it marks a return to his roots. The album consists of 20 Chuck Berry classics performed by Zito and an impressive array of 21 guest guitarists, among them Joe Bonamassa, Walter Trout, Eric Gales, Robben Ford, Sonny Landreth, Luther Dickinson, Albert Castiglia, Anders Osborne and, significantly, Chuck\u2019s grandson, Charles Berry III.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a very special project for me,\u201d Zito says. \u201cI lived in Chuck\u2019s hometown of St. Louis for 32 years, and I worked at a small musical instrument store where his drummer also happened to be employed. Chuck\u2019s son would drop by on occasion as well. He was an icon, and rightfully so. I\u2019ve been playing his songs since I was a kid. Needless to say, he was a tremendous influence on my career, and, of course, on many other musicians\u2019 as well.\u201d <\/p>\n

Produced by Zito himself, the album was recorded at his own Marz Studios and mixed and mastered by David Farrell. \u201cWe recorded the basic tracks and then sent them to each guest musician,\u201d Zito recalls. \u201cThey added their contributions and then sent the files back to us. The process took a year to complete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naturally, patience and perseverance have been Zito\u2019s stock and trade since the beginning. He began playing guitar at the age of five, and by the time he reached his late teens, he was already a fixture on the local St. Louis music scene. He initially released his music independently and then signed with Eclecto Groove Records in 2008. “Pearl River,” the title track of his 2009 album for the label, won Song of the Year at the Blues Music Awards and marked his first collaboration with Cyril Nevill, with whom he\u2019d later work in the Royal Southern Brotherhood. A steady succession of critically acclaimed albums followed, culminating in 2011\u2019s Greyhound, which was nominated for Best Rock Blues Album at that year\u2019s Blue Music Awards ceremony in Memphis. Two years later, he signed with Ruf Records and released Gone to Texas, the story of how he gained his sobriety, offered an emotional homage to the state that left an indelible imprint on his entire life. It also marked the debut of his band, the Wheel.<\/p>\n

From 2010 to 2014, Zito also played an integral role in the super group of sorts, Royal Southern Brotherhood. The group released two albums and a DVD, Songs from the Road – Live in Germany, winner of the year\u2019s Blues Music Award for Best DVD. He also made his mark behind the boards by producing albums for Samantha Fish, Albert Castiglia, Ally Venable, Jeremiah Johnson, Jimmy Carpenter, and many others.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the accolades keep coming. His album Make Blues Not War debuted on the Billboard Blues Album Chart at number one and garnered him recognition as the 2018 Rock Blues Artist of the Year at the Blues Music Awards. Last year\u2019s First Class Life followed suit, also entering the charts at number one. Alternate Root magazine insisted that \u201cThe First Class Life that Mike Zito titles his upcoming album can be heard in the sweet sound of Blue Soul rising like heat waves from his guitar and his vocal.\u201d American Blues Scene said \u201cMike Zito\u2019s return to the blues is, in a word, triumphant!\u201d No Depression declared, \u201cOnce again, Zito has delivered the goods, a first class package with no postage due.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, with Rock N Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry, Mike Zito again does what he does best, making an album that\u2019s humble, heartfelt, skilled and sublime….and, to paraphrase Chuck himself, letting it rock all at the same time.<\/p>\n

\"\"The 2nd Annual Colorado Big Blues Band Tour will feature Mike Zito and his Big Blues Band with a special tribute to Chuck Berry and adding Special Guest Vanessa Collier to rock it out even more! If you haven\u2019t been fortunate enough to meet Vanessa and witness one of her head-turning, fiery, and passionate performances, you should definitely make sure you do. As a master musician and multi-instrumentalist, Vanessa Collier, weaves funk, soul, rock, and blues into every powerful performance and she is downright impressive. With soulful vocals, searing saxophone, and witty songwriting, Vanessa is blazing a trail, racking up an impressive arsenal of honor\u2019s, and has already singled herself out as an artist of distinction. Vanessa will join Zito for this one-of-a-kind, only in Colorado special tour.<\/p>\n