To quote the title of one of this evening’s tracks, Bonn was well and truly ‘Gone to Texas’ on Thursday (18 Oct). Well, at least, Texas had certainly come to Bonn in the shape of two of its premier Blues Rock ‘n’ Rollers. To the uninitiated, Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia go back a long way together, hence the tour title ‘Blood Brothers’. With so many long-term fans in attendance at the Harmonie it certainly seemed like a family affair.
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With typical Blues fortune, 3songsbonn.com has a picture on the front page of an international magazine for the first time – and it’s in a month that most shops are closed.
Still, I’m pleased to see my image of Mike Zito on the cover of the UK based ‘Blues in Britain’ for April – pleased also that it’s helping to promote one of the best and nicest musicians on the music circuit.
Now, I’m not at all sure why anyone would try and sell new versions of some of the best Rock and Roll songs ever put down on plastic. But if anyone is going to be that crazy, then it might as well be someone that is doing it for the fun rather than the money. In which case, Mr Mike Zito gets away with the ‘blasphemy’ of re-playing already perfect Rock n Roll songs with perfection on his new release A Tribute To Chuck Berry
Humility isn’t a word you would choose to use for anyone describing their tour as ‘Blues Giants’. For Tuesday’s Harmonie visitors it was very much a case of ‘put up or shut up’ as they say. In the event it was very much the former as past visitors Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia brought with them one of the strongest, bluesiest, bands to grace the stage in recent years. A spoonful of Blues at it’s electric best in fact.
From the Knuckleheads Saloon in Kansas to the Harmonie Bar in Bonn. Samantha Fish has come a long way in a short time. Before her recent Bonn show with Mike Zito she supplied some tips for keeping sane on the road, along with news on the next disc she’s working on. Call it Blues? Best call it the next Samantha Fish disc – categories are for music shops – not for music fans. 3SongsBonn had a few minutes to talk with the blonde bombshell from Kansas.
“I am not writing this blog because I think I am a spiritual guru or because I believe I have special insight into the recovery programs that might save your life – I am writing this blog to save mine“.
Mike Zito pulls no punches in the introduction to his online blog ‘A Bluesman in Recovery’. It’s his description of a successful battle against drug and alcohol abuse. It’s a bold, honest statement; and it’s also typical of Zito’s sincerity as I discovered when he took the time for a short interview before his recent appearance at Bonn Harmonie. Along the way I also discovered why he felt it was time to quit a Supergroup and why the future of the Blues is a healthy one…
