Mike Zito

Born in 1970 in St. Louis, Missouri, Mike Zito started singing at five and was working the local scene by his late teens. The guitarist, singer, producer and songwriter also co-founded Royal Southern Brotherhood with Cyril Neville, Devon Allman, Charlie Wooton and Yonrico Scott. On the group's debut, he and Allman trade twin guitar leads, a nod to the Allman Brothers Band's dual guitars.

His international debut came in 2008 with Today on Eclecto Groove, produced by David Z. The 2009 follow-up, Pearl River, included a title track co-written with Cyril Neville that won Song of the Year at the 2010 Blues Music Awards. Royal Southern Brotherhood released Heartsoulblood on Ruf Records in 2014, the year Zito left the group to focus on his own career. His solo work includes Gone to Texas (2013) and First Class Life, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Blues Albums chart in 2018. His second Blues Music Award came in 2025 for Life is Hard.