Mike Zito is a true friend of Svalbard, having visited several times during Dark Season Blues. This year, he’s bringing along his “guitar brother,” Albert Castiglia.
Zito (51) is from St. Louis, Missouri, but lives in Nederland, Texas. He has been playing guitar since he was five years old, but was already making a name for himself in the music scene of his hometown, St. Louis, as a teenager. He has had a long career as a solo artist, as a member of the “supergroup” Royal Southern Brotherhood (2010–2014), and with Mike Zito & The Wheel. This has earned him numerous awards at the annual Blues Music Awards in Memphis. Zito remained productive during the pandemic, releasing the album “Quarantine Blues” in 2020. Last year saw the release of the personal album “Resurrection,” produced by David Z (Prince).
This time, Zito is bringing another guitar hero and vocalist to Longyearbyen: Albert Castiglia (52), who was born in New York and raised in Miami, Florida—where, at the age of 21, he was named “South Florida’s Best Blues Guitarist.” Zito produced his album “I Got Love,” which was released in March of this year, and around the same time they embarked on what they call the Blood Brothers Tour. They each bring their own band, then join forces for a “finale.” Castiglia is also a Blues Music Award winner in the blues-rock category for the album “Masterpiece.”
Dark Season Blues©2022
