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Release Date : April, 24, 2026
By Phillip Smith; May 1, 2026
There’s always an excitement
in the air for me when Mike Zito releases a new album. Like Bruce Springsteen his records are masterfully
written and pieced together to create a genuine album-oriented listening
experience. With his latest album Outside
or the Eastside, Zito pays homage to his hometown St. Louis, Missouri,
where his beginnings as musician and songwriter are firmly rooted. Self-produced, this eleven track album
features Zito on vocals/guitar, Scot Sutherland on bass, Lewis
Stephens on keys, and Matthew R. Johnson on drums.
With a tasty bit of shredding, the title-track “Outside or the Eastside” blasts the record open for a rippin’ good song where Zito takes a visit to East St. Louis on a Friday night and concludes “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here”. The warm bassline and hypnotic rhythm of “Kiss You All Over” pulls me in tight for a passionate and right-to-the-point declaration of infatuation. Zito paints a gritty yet vibrant picture of the city from the viewpoint of “Grand Avenue”. He brilliantly brings the scene to life with pimps, hookers, muggers, cops, and bums topped off with a namedrop to White Castle for the action going on in the parking lot. I smile at the way he poetically puts it, “There’s lots to see but not much to do on Grand Avenue”. Zito fiercely goes for the electric blues jugular in “Too Broke to Spend the Night”. It’s an amazing listen. I also love the fiery cover of the Willie Dixon-penned classic “Close to You”. Like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Zito takes the song and makes it his own.
Zito has set a new bar for himself with Outside or the Eastside. This record lands as a personal favorite and absolutely cooks from beginning to end.
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| Photo by Cliff Moore |
For more information about Mike Zito, visit his
website at https://www.mikezito.com/
For past PhillyCheeze reviews featuring Mike Zito >
phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/search?q=mike+zito