Brand New Blues....

Well, to borrow from my dear friend Cyril Neville,    Brand New Blues.......

It's a new year and an exciting one to say the least - 2015!

Wow- starting to sound like Back to the Future around here, or Back to the Future 2 to be correct.
I love the holidays, and thoroughly enjoy time off with my family, but like a lot of us,
I am also eager to get the holidays over with and get moving forward with the new year.
And we didn't waste any time - I am currently out in the cold northeast of New England on tour with
The Wheel.  This will be the first full year of touring with this exciting band.
We have a lot of festivals and tours booked and are working on a new studio album.
I think this will be a defining year for me and the band.
But as I read my daily reflections and give a thought or two to my spiritual life, I am reminded
that nothing is given or completed magically, it requires effort on all parts - especially from me.
Just like getting clean and sober, my problems do not just go away when I stop my drinking
and drugging - in fact when that all ends, I am left with the nothing but the problem, me.
My life required intense restructuring from the ground up!
As I have learned to trust in the spiritual process, I have also learned to get my hands dirty and
walk through all of the day in/day out struggles of life.
Nothing is handled until we handle it.
For example - I am so excited about the process of my new album.
The band is fired up, I have great ideas in mind and a conception and even quite a few songs
written - but I am far from ready.  I could walk into the studio this week and we could complete
an album, but it would not be my best album.  I need more time to do the work.
and a lot of the work in life is time. It takes time to get from one step to the next.
If I have done all I can do, I probably just need to sit on my hands and wait.
When I haven't found all of the pieces of the puzzle and I have looked everywhere,
I need to wait and with time the last piece will be revealed.
I do not believe that my God is a magician, but I do believe that I need to leave room
for "Magic" in the process. And most of the time "leaving room" means waiting.
My time is conceptual, God's time is not.

So I am taking time to pray and meditate and learn to love the process.
I know that more "Magic" is on it's way and will be revealed when THE time is right :)
I have faith that things will work out for the best and I am excited to see what the future brings.
I pull on my boots and get to work - more shows to play, more practicing to be had,
much more to learn and I learn to reach for help when I need it.
I cannot do this all on my own, I need the help of others and I need to help others
in the process.

Peace, Love, Zito

What a year......

Well.....it's that time again.
If you're reading this, then you lived another year - way to go!

"It always beats the alternative" thats what people say of living vs dying.
But of course, no one really knows this to be true.
We are all just afraid of what we do not know, and quite possibly dying is WAY better.
Like Louis C. K. says - there are so many more dead people than their are people alive.
But alas, we are alive and thats the way it is - so suck it up!

I have to thank you and God for a great year!
It has been another year of crazy touring, making new friends and fans all over the world,
and getting closer to my family.
I thank God for keeping me and my family healthy and safe.
I thank you for your continued support and friendship with my music career.
Laura took over our online store this summer and she has been busy ever since.
Thats all in part to you placing orders and supporting our new business venture.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Mike Zito and The Wheel took to the stage at Dosey Doe in Houston, Tx. in January
and filmed my first ever dvd "Songs From the Road".
What a night that was - I will never forget it!
The audience was so excited and lifting the band up. The band hadn't played together in quite a while
as I was touring with RSB all year in 2013. We did not rehearse, we just went for it and the audience
carried us through to new heights.
My niece, Amanda Irizarry was there to be the head camera and work with director, Mark Bergeron.
I am so proud that she edited the entire dvd and she did a great job!
I knew that night that I needed to get back to focusing on my own music and take this great band
out on the road full time.
I put in my notice with the Royal Southern Brotherhood back in February.
I loved playing in RSB, but I never felt quite comfortable in that group.
I love each member of the band so much, I connect with each member on a personal level,
but I never quite connected with the group, together, musically.
I realize that now. It was me, not them.
It was a hard decision to make, considering we had just recorded our third album
"Heartsoulblood" together in December.
But I knew it was time to make that choice and move on, so I gave my notice in February of this year.
I gave a 9 month notice - I said I would stay until the Blues Cruise in October.
The guys were confused at first, not happy, but understanding and eventually they knew it
was what I needed to do and they supported me.
RSB took off as it always does and we toured like crazy all of spring.
I worked on editing and producing my dvd for Ruf Records.

I hooked up with Truefire in April and filmed my first ever guitar instructional course.
"Blues Americana" came out over the summer and I am so proud of our work together.
I have been a long time fan of guitar and instruction and working on getting better and learning in general. I grew up in a music store and learned guitar from the Hot Licks video series.
Creating this course was one of the milestones i my musical career, it means a lot to me.
The folks at Truefire are awesome and helped me every step of the way.

Mike Zito and The Wheel were honored to be nominated for Rock Blues Album of the Year
and we performed in May at the Blues Music Awards. RSB won for the DVD of the year!
I took my wife Laura with me to Germany with The Wheel to perform at the Grolsch Blues Festival in Schoeppingen in June for her birthday.
Then RSB headed back to Europe for summer festivals in Italy.
I had a fantastic family vacation for a week at Crystal Beach in Texas. We rented a house for the week and all hung out swimming, playing and even caught an Astros game in Houston.
RSB rocked the Notodden Blues Festival for the second year in a row in Norway.
We had the honor of backing up the one and only, Delbert McClinton. That was a hoot!
Delbert is pretty cantankerous and I love it.
We also got to do our "Exile on Royal Street" tribute to the Rolling Stones - that was a killer show.
I always thought that was a great idea - RSB doing cool tribute shows.
So I took that idea and decided that The Wheel would do a CCR Tribute show in the fall.
I love John Fogerty and I had just recorded "Fortunate Son" with Sonny Landreth for a Blues Tribute to CCR on Cleopatra Records.
I did my last European tour with RSB in September of this year.
It was along 3 and 1/2 week tour with very few days off and no end in sight.
RSB definitely worked their asses off.  But it was a good tour with great shows and I really enjoyed
the music for it was some of the last times I's get to play this music with this band.
The guys were not always so friendly on this tour, I guess they were maybe upset or just ready
for me to go.  I tried to stay light hearted and have fun.
We set out on the October Blues Cruise and I brought my daughter Riley and my son Sam.
They are both in the teenage bracket now and I thought they would enjoy this musical adventure.
We had the time of our lives - me and the kids really bonded and I think they really liked the blues music.  I played my last shows with RSB on that cruise and they were pretty uneventful.
There was no big goodbye, no hearty handshakes, no big hugs and good lucks....just finished.
Cyril was sweet to me and I was thankful for his kindness.
Not that I expected a big going away party, but I started that band and wrote a lot of the songs
and I guess I did expect friendship to prevail over the trivial.
It would have been nice to have been made felt that I would be missed and that they wished me well.
I assume they all did, but were not in the frame of mind to give it away at that time.
Either way, I have no hard feelings and I enjoyed my tenure with the band.
But I also enjoyed playing with Los Lobos on that cruise!!!! That was a dream come true.

The Wheel got together after the cruise and we took off on a midwest run to start playing again
and get ready for our big tour. Mike Zito and The Wheel and Samantha Fish took off the end of October for what would be the longest tour we had ever  had to date.
We flew to Basel, Switzerland to embark on an almost 5 week European/UK/Scandinavian tour.
WOW - what a tour it was. We played 28 shows on that tour and none of them sucked!
The band was in full force except the roar of Lewis Stephens. We were unable to bring Lewis with us on that tour, but he is absolutely to be on the next!  Sam and I put this tour together and we had a 60's style show in mind, like a revue.  She would come out with the trio and do 45 minutes. I would come out for one tune with  her on her set. Then a short break and The Wheel would take the stage for 60 minutes and she would come out and sing a song with me. Then we both and the band would take the stage for the encore and just rock out and have fun. The crowds loved this show! It really worked well. Everyone got along so well and we all worked hard to make the show better every night.
Sam killed it, she was on fire! The audiences love her and it gave me a shot in the arm to go out there and really give it my all. The UK fans were over the top, filling the rooms night after night.
I truly believe we hit our stride in the UK and have began a fan base that will last a long time.
We had great shows in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and a very memorable show at Buckley's in Oslo, Norway. Magnus Berg came out and played "Sugar Sweet" with me and tore it up on guitar. Make sure you check this young man out, he is really good.
We packed in sold out shows in Germany that was really over the top.
The show in Basel, Switzerland for Blues Now with my friend Patrick Kaiser was amazing.
All in all, this was the best, most successful tour I had done to date and it showed me that
I had built a great following with RSB and the fans wanted more.
I came home feeling really good and excited for the future.
I cannot thank the band and most of all, Sam, for doing that tour with me.
Everyone was so fun and got along so well.

I got back and took a week or so off to just relax with my girls at home.
My good friend and mentor, Tinsley Ellis had been talking with me about going out and playing
some shows together. I have always loved Tinsley and thought it was a great idea.
We found a short window in December to head up to the northeast and do a string of shows.
It was Tinsley and I and his rhythm section. We played some of my songs and some of his songs
and ended with some great old blues tunes. I LOVED these shows with Tinsley.
He is a blues master and it was so much fun to play with him and his great band. I look forward to more of these shows together next year.

In the midst of this I got the call from my friend, Paul Nelson, to come out and take part in the Johnny Winter Remembrance show in Saint Louis.
Johnny was my hero and we became friends these past 5 years.
I was sad when he passed but happy for him to have left us back on top.
I jumped at the opportunity to play his music and celebrate this legend. We had a great show
in STL and Paul asked me to stay on the bus and head up to Chicago the next night for the show
at Buddy Guys Legends. I couldn't resist and I made the trip with Paul, Marion and the boys.
Ronnie Baker Brooks was fantastic and I finally got to spend some time with this great blues man.
The show in Chicago was legendary. Buddy came out and they commemorated one of Johnny's guitars to hang on the wall at Legends. Johnny's brother Edgar was there to play with us and that was amazing! Having been transplanted to Southeast Texas, Edgar Winter and White Trash are a staple in the music down here. I got to spend a little time talking with Edgar and when he asked where I lived
I answered "Nederland, Tx." His jaw about dropped...."What? Really? You knew my brother?"
and then when I told him I moved there a dozen years ago he asked the same thing his brother would always ask me "Why?" Edgar sang "Tobacco Road" and tore it up, he was stunning.
What a few days that was with Paul and I cannot thank him enough for the invite.

I always try and finish the year with time off for family around the holidays.
I gave myself 3 weeks at home for Christmas this year, and I needed it!
I played some local shows with friends that have been really fun and just great to be back home
seeing friends and family and taking a break.  RSB was nominated for the Blues Music Awards "Rock Blues Album of the Year" for "Heartsoulblood". I am very excited for our nomination and I am proud of our last album together.
My family had the best Christmas together ever. Just peaceful and easy and lots of family time.
All of my kids are here now. Zach flew in from Saint Louis and Sam and Riley joined us a few days ago. We have been laying around playing games and watching movies and eating WAY too much food. I keep thinking I might be in trouble in some way.. isn't that weird.
My mind is always working and when I give it a break for a few days I start thinking I am missing something or forgetting something, but I am not, I am just crazy :)

My wife is amazing and I fall in love with her more each day.
She is my best friend and she makes this family work beyond belief.
It's not easy to have 5 kids and 2 ex-wives and 7 animals, but she takes it all in stride.
I truly believe she is my soul mate and helps keep everyone in line and working together.
We are a true team and I am excited for our future together!

We are working hard on our New Years Eve show at Dosey Doe - Tribute to CCR!
I think I have all of the lyrics down and Zach is working on some guitar parts.
We have our dear friends, Patrick and Beatrice Kaiser, from Switzerland coming to spend a few days
with us in Southeast Texas. They have never been here and I wonder what they will think.....
Switzerland is so perfect and clean and "organized"....HA!
They are staying in Port Arthur at a nice hotel, but...... Port Arthur and Southeast Texas are so NOT
perfect and clean and organized.....but it is beautiful in so many different ways. I know they will enjoy the culture shock...............I hope they like Mexican food.

I am sitting at my dining room table as I write this. The girls are eating cereal and Laura is playing on her phone. The big kids are still asleep and Sasha, one of our cats, is looking out the window.
It's cold and damp and rainy outside, thats as close as we get to a "Winter" here...and thats is fine with me.  I am so thankful for this life, for my family and friends.
I am thankful to you for supporting me and my career. You make my dreams come true, corny as it sounds, it's true.  Without you, I would not be able to continue making music and provide for my family.
It's hard to believe that 12 years ago I was really down on hard times.
I was not doing well at all.
But today I am doing better than ever and I thank God for this second chance at life.

I am VERY excited to jump into 2015.
We have so much planned already - tours, big shows and another studio album for MZ and The Wheel. I have a lot of songs written and demos I am working on. The guys are working on music too.
We are all gearing up for this next album and a full year of touring as The Wheel.
I am heading back to Florida in January with Truefire to film my second instructional course
that will come out sometime in April or May.
So many things we are working on and I can't wait to share them with you......

Happy Holidays - Thank you for the best 2014 ever!

Peace, Love, Zito

Happy Holidays

A sincere and heartfelt Happy Holidays to you and yours this season.

Not sure what religion or non-religion or spiritual program or Festivus you're working......
but I think we can all agree to wish each other a happy season.
Buddha suggest that if we cannot do something to help one another, at the very least, do nothing to
harm anyone.  I try and live by those words of freedom.
When I wish no one harm, do no one harm, and try and help when I can.....I live a relatively serene life, free of drama or pain and suffering.
Life is painful at best, so I try not to contribute to my own pain.
When I go to sleep at night I think back over the day and examine my behavior.
Did I do someone wrong? Speak ill of someone? Act inappropriately?
If I can answer no to these questions....I can sleep peaceful.
If I have behaved badly, I can take time to make amends to the person the next day.

The bottom line here is that I want a good nights sleep.
Peaceful sleepers have the world in their hearts.
When I have nothing to worry about, and I have followed principles to guide my behavior,
I am at peace with myself and my maker.
I trust the process and let it all go.......I fall asleep easily and rest.

We all do not agree and have the same views of religion or politics or behavior.
But we all certainly know right from wrong, or should know if we are adults
living on Planet Earth.
So lets all agree this holiday season to have respect for one another, have faith in humanity,
and at the very least....not harm one another. It only hurts us the most and hurting ourselves
makes no sense at all.
I pray you and yours have peaceful nights of sleep and healthy days of joy.

Happiest of Holidays - Peace, Love, Zito

Have a little faith......

"Have a little faith in me"

I love that John Hiatt song, but I love every John Hiatt song.

Faith is a word that stands true for me.
I have it tattooed on my left arm, it's been there a long time.
I sometimes forget I have that tattoo, but I am gently reminded when the time is right.

Faith is defined as "confidence or trust", also as "Observance of an obligation."

Most of the time Faith is reserved for religion, at least in conversation.
We may use the word to describe our hope for an outcome, but I think rarely do
we actually consider the true meaning of the word as part of a responsibility.
In a religious or spiritual realm, faith describes our utter belief beyond proven fact.
We may not have proof of our belief in tangible human terms, but we have a strong feeling
in our soul and in our heart that our belief is real and alive.
Of course this rings true for faith in our fellow man, our husbands and our wives, in our children,
our President, and so on.  When we believe in a person, that they can succeed and will overcome,
we have faith in that person. We trust them, their integrity, their abilities, they have moxie.
Having faith in a person, the outcome of a situation, in life in general, is all based upon a belief
beyond our realm.  We are not so sure what the outcome will actually be, but we have "faith"
it will work out for the best.

"Faith without works is dead."   James 2:14-26

I am not much of a Bible quoter at all, but this certainly rings true.
Faith is absolutely in my mind, an action word.
I must HAVE faith. Acceptance is the spiritual principle for me in having faith.
I pray for the outcome of a situation, I have faith that it will work out the way it is supposed to
in Gods will, not mine, and I accept the result as spiritual in nature.
Faith is absolutely put on me. I am responsible for the action.

My faith may also require me to take some steps toward a goal.
I pray about opening a new business. I have done my part, planned and organized.
I am still not certain that the outcome will be absolute in my favor, but I have faith
in the outcome and in my planning and my organization that this will all work out.
I take the next steps on faith and open my business.

Faith is most certainly an action for me.
When I commit to having faith, I am taking a step forward based solely on my belief
and acceptance of the outcome.  I must be willing to fail to truly have faith.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Life is not for the weak at heart, it's a pretty tough game, and we all have to play to win.
I know that sounds corny and almost high school football-ish, but it's just the cold hard facts.

To me, Faith is getting involved in life, taking chances, and helping others.
When I get out of my head and spend some time helping others, doing chores,
taking care of my family, I am faith in action.
I am almost certain of the spiritual outcome when I help others.
I will feel very good about myself and my life.  I have absolute faith in the process.
So why don't I spend all of my time helping others?
Because I am human, I am selfish and self centered.
We all are, like it or not. when we can break that cycle, even just for a few minutes a day,
we get a better sense of who we are from the observers point of view.

Faith is always available to me, in abundance.
God keeps nothing from me in the spiritual world.
I only keep it from myself. The answers are readily available to any of life's problems,
if I am willing to look for them in the principles.
But my ego will always go to "Why me" and cause a little pain and suffering.....
because faith works best when I am hopeless.
Once I have put myself through enough pain, I will begin to search for the answer spiritually.
I will see my part in the situation, and begin to have faith that it will all work out.
Again, acceptance is the key principle to having true faith.

Life without faith sounds horrible. No matter what your beliefs are, belief in something
seems to give a human being hope and principles to living life on planet earth.
No one knows where we go from here, whether it is to a grand Heaven or just 6 feet under......
Faith can help make the transition easier for all of us while we're still breathing.

So, Have a little faith today. Believe in yourself, in your family and in life.
Life is better today than any other day in your life.
Stop comparing and start living. Have faith and hope and bring love to those around you.
Happiness is a state of mind.

peace, love, Zito

Reckless Abandon

I have a hopeless, desperate, romantic obsession with reckless abandon.

That is quite a sentence.

All my life I have been romantic about the idea of carelessly letting go of

the rules of the world and letting it all hang out.

It’s certainly an effect of all the 80’s movies I grew up watching, I’m certain.

I followed the rules my entire childhood and adolescent life.

Even into my early twenties I was doing what I was supposed to do for the most part.

The idea of not going along with the pack, taking the low road…the long hard low road

sounded more exciting to me, and yet I did just the opposite.

I loved music and musicians that were different and exciting.

Eddie Van Halen was always my first guitar hero and will forever be.

His guitar playing was so wild and crazy and such a departure from the stale,

straight forward playing I heard in other rock n roll.

Jimmy Page was the same way, precise but sloppy at the same time.

Songs that were about leaving it all behind and stepping into the unknown based on a whim of romance or leaving your hometown…..wooo they would really get to me.

The entire “Darkness on the Edge of Town” album will change me every time.

Music fueled my fire for reckless abandon.

If I heard the right song that had that desperation in it, that longing for letting go,

it took me to another world in my heart where I made decisions based on feeling

and not on good judgment.  Music still does the same thing to me today.

There are certain albums I can’t listen to all the time because they will really change my focus.

I of course obviously idolized these musicians and the stories of getting all messed up and playing crazy and out of control. All of my hero’s were drug addicts and alcoholics.

I really thought at some point that I would never be on the level of these guys, especially guitar players, if I didn’t start drinking and doing drugs. Once I began drinking in my early twenties

and playing gigs, I would just let go and get really crazy. People would freak out.

The next day they would tell me how awesome I played and how I was a genius.

Of course my ego began to believe all of this and I became consumed with the “Inner Genius”.

The more I drank, the better I played and so the saga began.

I truly thought that Jimi Hendrix was that good because he was on drugs.

It was a romantic story of loss of life and amazing talent brought about through the use

of drugs and alcohol. It never occurred to me that he was just maybe that good because he practiced and played the instrument all the time…..

I did that as well, but for some reason I couldn’t get past all of the rules in my head until I had a beer. The problem is that once I had a beer, I wanted a LOT of beers, and then whiskey.

Eventually it turned into cocaine and then it all went out the window.

Now that I am on the other side, of course, I see more clearly.

I understand that yes SRV was playing his ass off on drugs, but a lot of time the drugs

were playing the guitar, not SRV. Maybe he played less notes when he was sober and more precise, but they were much more considerate and emotional.

This all brings me to the point…….

A lovely man gave me an SRV recording last week in the UK.

He was a sweet man and I was very thankful for the cd. It was a live recording from

somewhere in California in 1984. But as he handed me the disc he said

“This is Stevie at his best, all messed up drugs and playing incredible!”

“I think he was much better on the drugs than he was when they cleaned him up.”

I knew what he meant and he certainly meant no harm.

He meant he loved the “Reckless Abandon”.

It’s a shame. They have both versions to compare - the messed up Stevie,

and the cleaned up Stevie.  At this point I will always take the cleaned up Stevie.

He was alive and playing from the heart. 

He didn’t die from drug abuse and made it through to live another day.

He was writing songs about recovery and sobriety and living just for today.

It was beautiful and had meaning way beyond his reckless guitar playing.

But I understood what he meant.

People are always romanced by the loss and the pain and the suffering.

It is part of the human condition. It’s who we are.

That reckless, desperate feeling can be accomplished without drugs or

the loss of life. It takes as much letting go to let go and let God.

To trust in the process and accept the outcome. To not follow the rules in my head,

but follow the feeling in my heart. It has taken years to get to this point in my life,

and especially in my music and playing. To not think so much and trust what the

Spirit decides for me to play today.  When I write a song, if I’m lucky and feeling good,

I just try and let the song come to me with no pre-conceived ideas or patterns.

Instead of thinking about the next note I’ll play during a solo, I just play.

Sure, sometimes it’s not always as good as I would like, but over time and a commitment

to continue trusting the process, my hands begin to go where they want and it sounds good.

I close my mouth when I want say stupid shit and let words that are more helpful come out.

I trust the process today, it’s the ultimate feeling of reckless abandon.

I let go and let God handle it all, the best I can.

It’s desperate and amazing and hopeful.

I have no idea whats coming next, but I know if I’m doing the right thing……

something good is coming my way.

I practice my guitar and try and be physically and mentally prepared for the stage,

then when I get there - I let it all go. Let’s see what happens next.

If I’ve done my homework and I am feeling good physically, mentally and spiritually,

I am almost certain to have a wonderful and exciting experience musically.

Today I am moved by emotion and freedom, trust and faith.

It takes a lot of humility and whole lot of awareness to let it all go,

and I am thankful for the gift of being here.

The mind is a terrible thing.....

Remember that commercial from the 80's with the egg?
"this is your brain..... (throws egg in frying pan).....this is your brain on drugs."
That was a good one, during the golden age of Nancy Reagan telling us to "Just say no".

There was another one I think for the United Negro College Fund
and the end slogan was always "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."
(which is still their slogan and a damn good one!)

"the mind is a terrible thing" has always been my slogan :)

I am continually baffled by the arc of mental illness.
It's amazing that we literally survive our own minds in this day and age.
I am a firm believer in mental illness and it's effects on folks and their families.
I love to discuss and learn in detail the cause and effect of mental illness,
specifically "Crazy"........is that a medical term? I don't know.
I love to watch movies about "crazy people", read books written by "crazy people".....
these are my people!

I just read about a Czech scientist who has a very deeply rooted theory that the protozoa
that is in cat feces is laying dormant in peoples brains and changing the way they think and feel.
Cat people are being manipulated by this protozoa.
WTF???

I am a very big fan of the podcast "Stuff You Should Know"
they have a website as well -  http://www.howstuffworks.com/
Really cool show that talks on a million different subjects where the guys do all of the research
and teach you about the subject firsthand, in a very fun, entertaining way.

So, recently I listened to their podcast "How panic attacks work"
I was VERY interested to say the least.
Strangely enough, scientists have linked a gene to causing this horrific experience.
If you have too many of this "fear" based gene, you could be a more fearful person
and in turn be more likely to have panic attacks, or panic disorder.
OR.....anyone can have a panic attack, even only once in a lifetime.
If you have a traumatic experience take place when you are a child, your brain could "wire in"
that experience and save it for years later......so 30 years later, when the time is right and everything lines up in your brain, a certain set of circumstances could trigger this release and you might have a one time only panic attack.   Thats just freaking crazy shit right there!
Now, get this - a panic attack is basically your fear factor kicking in, without any real fear or danger actually taking place, but your nervous system is being told by your brain that you are in imminent danger. The worst part is that your primary nervous system, that would usually kick in and calm you down and focus all your strength on "flight", running away, knows that there is nothing wrong, so it does NOTHING! So you just get this huge boost of adrenaline and freak out going and it doesn't stop or slow down or get focused, you just FREAK OUT.

WOW, I love learning how crazy works.
That is so unbelievably nuts. People deal with this everyday if they have Panic Disorder.
It's what causes phobias to elevators, buildings, airplanes....etc.
If you have a panic attack somewhere, you NEVER want to go there again.
Obviously they have medicine to help calm your ass down - like anti-depressants.
But the best form of relieving this craziness, is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.

"The cognitive model states that individuals with panic disorder often have distortions in their thinking, of which they may be unaware, and these may give rise to a cycle of fear."

So, therapists spend time with the patient explaining to them that they are actually "crazy".
(they might be a little more politically correct than yours truly)
Then they begin to work with them by letting them know that possibly their minds have been
thinking on their own and making decisions for them that are not actually based in fact.
Eventually, the outcome is to get the people to accept that something is wrong with their minds
and accept that they have panic attacks.  If you are fearful of an elevator, they get you to first imagine being on an elevator and eventually to actually get on one and see that everything is ok.
This takes a long time. If the person with this disorder can come to the state of acceptance,
they can eventually manage these attacks and sometimes they go away completely.
The best scenario is for the person to have a panic attack and be able to say to themselves
"It's ok, I'm just having a panic attack, this will pass."
Basically, getting a grip on their mind and teaching themselves to recognize their disorder.

If you realize you are crazy, you're now not as crazy as you once were.

Of course, I always relate all of this crazy to my own crazy.
Because, before I worked any steps or got into a recovery program......
I was just doing what my brain told me to do and basically thought I had no choice in the matter.
In fact, I would do things I said I would never do again, against my own will.
I would wake up and wonder why the hell did I do that???
I couldn't figure it out at all.
People told me I was a horrible person, I was selfish and self-centered and didn't care about
anyone else, just about myself. They were absolutely correct, but I didn't understand to the lengths
this selfishness extended.
The last time I got high, I was clean for 30 days.
I told myself I was going to do this new drug that a friend had and that I would only go for a few hours and then I would come home. I had to be at work the next day.
I made it perfectly clear what my intentions were and how I would handle myself.
I stayed high for 6 days and never came home, except to steal some money to buy more.
When this spree had ended and I woke up a day or so later......I KNEW something was wrong with me.  How did this happen? I did not intend for this to be the outcome and then I realized
that EVERY time I drink or do drugs, this is the same result.
This is how all the bad shit has taken place - I cannot control myself once I put in.
And then it really hit me, my mind knew this was true and continued to tell me do it anyway.
My mind would convince me it would be different this time.
It used elaborate hoaxes and stories to get my attention. I believed it every time.
I realized I was CRAZY.
I desperately needed a "Psychic Change".

Just like the Panic Disorder sufferers, or the crazy Cat people,
I needed a change of mind and heart.
What I found is that Spirituality could forever cure my mind into "right thinking".
Because no one in their "right" mind would do what I had been doing.
I slowly learned to change my thinking from selfishness and self centeredness to thinking of
others first and being considerate.  I learned to say "No" to the drugs and the alcohol because I realized it was bad for me.  That in turn helped to make better decisions in all walks of my life.
My mind still thinks some really crazy stuff, but I realize that it is crazy thinking, and move one.
I don't just do what my mind tells me to do today.
I considerate my options, I consider the outcome of my actions, and if need be - I pray about
making the right choices. When I put God first before everything I say or do, I always make the right choice.  I accept my mental illness today, it has in turn forced me into a spiritual life.
This acceptance has been a life changing decision, and I so grateful for the chance to
think clearly.

Closure

Well as many of you know,
I am finishing my time with the Royal Southern Brotherhood and continuing on
with my own group and career.
I have been making my own records since the late 1990's and to this date I have 10
albums of my own, both independent and on labels.
I am not bragging, but my point is I have been doing my own thing for a long time
and I have always intended on keeping that my main focus.
I love playing in the RSB group, it's been a lot of fun and I have learned a lot.
It's always nice to get an opportunity to pull you out of your element and put you
in a different position to truly appreciate what you're capable of doing and what it
takes to make a marriage work with others. I really consider my time with this
"Supergroup" as a likening to being cast into the NFL after playing College level.
Maybe you were the Quarterback on your team back at Ohio State, but we've decided
you're gonna be a Wide Receiver here.
I have said all I have to say about the musicians individually and my love for each of them.
I truly appreciate the fans worldwide for all of the support.
This group has actually brought me closer to fulfilling my own personal dreams by
bringing me to a larger limelight.  I am so thankful that today I can walk away proud
and confident of where I am going and what I am doing.

All of this being said, it brings up a wonderful spiritual concept of closure.
Many times in our lives we walk away from loved ones, marriages, parents
but we carry with us the division for a long time after we have actually left.
We think of what could have been, should have been and never really accept what it
was.  An angry teenager leaves the home too early because they are mad at the parents
and that anger carries on for years and is never quite settled.
Even later in life there is a division between the parents and this child from something
that happened long ago.
I do my best to think of matters spiritually and take everyone into consideration.
Obviously in the end I do whats best for me and my family, but I am thinking of how
it will affect others as I am doing so. I am looking for the easier, softer way in every situation.
If I can let everyone know that this closure is not personal, not angry but out of love,
everyone should be equally understanding and supportive.
Of course, this is not always true. Not everyone is basing their thoughts and considerations
on spiritual principles and they get their feelings hurt and take it very personal.
When we leave on an angry note, a divorce, it is painful and can take years to amend.
But if we can look ahead before we walk away and become brave enough to know that this is
whats best for all involved, it can be beautiful and bittersweet.
Maybe the teenager and the parents realize later in life that this was the best thing for both of them.
The child needed to learn some lessons the hard way and the parents needed to let go and give it
to God.  Trusting the process is usually, always the best bet in the end, but certainly not easy.
It requires a lot of faith and prayer.
I think to achieve true closure is to accept things as they are and be grateful for what it was.
Celebrate the good times and the bad times (which were probably not that bad after all).
Life is ever changing, and if we don't change with it, if we don't adapt to the world around us,
we will begin to die.  The true explorer, the witness in us all, has a need to walk away.
Sometimes walking away gives us the perspective to see things for the absolute truth.
We could always have done better or worse, that doesn't really matter anymore.
It is what it is and so be it.
Life is so short, and to live conflicted is just painful at best.
Take chances, believe in who we are or want to be, walk away and try a new door....
They are constantly opening for us when we look where we are going,
but if we stare at the ground or wrap up in our ego's, we lose sight of our
path.

Not that my leaving this group is such a grandiose experience, it's just part of life.
Time to move on and celebrate the good times we shared.
I am thankful for my life and the support I have to make my dreams come true.
In a world full of pain, I am one of the luckiest men alive.

Peace, Love Zito