Richie Kotzen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
hideThis article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these
issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)

This biography of a living person needs

additional citations for verification. (April 2016)
This article possibly contains original research. (April 2016)

Richie Kotzen

Kotzen in 2011

Background information

Birth name Richard Dale Kotzen, Jr.

Born February 3, 1970 (age 49)

Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Genres Hard rock, blues rock, Progressive metal, funk

rock, instrumental rock, pop rock, heavy metal, jazz

 fusion, blue-eyed soul

Occupation(s) Musician, singer-songwriter, producer

Instruments Guitar, vocals, piano, bass guitar, drums, keyboards,

mandolin, dobro, violin, banjo

Years active 1987–present

Labels Shrapnel, DGC, MCA Records, Spitfire

Records, Headroom-Inc

Associated acts Arthur's Museum, Poison, Greg Howe, Vertú, Mr.

Big, Forty Deuce, Wilson Hawk, The Winery Dogs

Website www.richiekotzen.com

Richard Dale "Richie" Kotzen, Jr. (born February 3, 1970) is an American guitarist, singer,
songwriter and producer. Kotzen has a prolific solo career, with a back catalogue of more than
twenty album releases, was a member of the glam-hard rock band Poison from 1991-1993, Mr.
Big from 1999-2002, and since 2012 has been the frontman of the band The Winery
Dogs.[1][2][3] Kotzen was signed to California-based Shrapnel Records from 1988 until 1991.

Contents

 1Biography
 2Guitar playing style
 3Instruments and equipment
 4Discography
 5References
 6External links

Biography[edit]
Richie Kotzen began playing piano at the age of five. At the age of seven, he was inspired to learn
the electric guitar by the band Kiss. He started his career in a band named Arthur's Museum. Kotzen
was eventually discovered by Shrapnel Records' Mike Varney, and he recorded his first solo album
by the age of 19, the first of two instrumental records, simply entitled Richie Kotzen. He created the
video Rock Chops for REH video in 1989, highlighting many of his formative techniques, including
using wide-intervals and fluid sweeping. One year later, a second solo album called Fever
Dream was released, which was the first one to also feature his lead vocals. Since then, Kotzen has
released a long series of more than twenty albums with musical influences ranging from Rock, Hard
Rock, Pop, Blues, Blue-eyed-soul, R&B and Funk to Jazz Fusion.
In 1991, at age 21, Kotzen joined glam-hard rock band Poison, co-writing and performing on the
album Native Tongue. This album produced two top-twenty singles which Kotzen co-wrote, "Stand"
and "Until You Suffer Some (Fire and Ice)".
Kotzen then focused on his solo career, regularly releasing song oriented, r&b/soul & funk influenced
melodic rock albums such as Mother Head's Family Reunion, Wave Of Emotion, Something To
Say, Break It All Down and What Is. He also made guest appearances on several albums by artists
like Glenn Hughes, Stevie Salas, T.M. Stevens and others. In 1995 and 1997 he collaborated
with Greg Howe on two Jazz Rock Fusion albums.
In 1999, Kotzen replaced Paul Gilbert as guitarist in the mainstream hard rock band Mr. Big,
performing on their album Get Over It. He also contributed guitars to their subsequent release Actual
Size. The record included the Kotzen song Shine, which debuted at number one on Japanese radio
charts.
In 2001, while still in Mr. Big, Kotzen recorded and release another solo album called Slow, which
contains a mix of some crunchy funky and bluesy rock tunes and softer R&B/Pop songs like "I Don't
Wanna Lie", for which a music video was filmed. On some of the songs on Slow Kotzen
experimented with the use of a drum computer, while on others he played drums. After Mr. Big
disbanded, Kotzen continued his solo career. He released his next solo album Change, in 2003. The
title track, a soft ballad, and the song Get a Life, a rock song in the style of Mr.Big, were featured in
TV commercials throughout Japan.
In 2002, Kotzen bought a commercial building in Los Angeles and established a recording studio
and production company. He has since produced his own acclaimed solo albums and collaborated
with various figures in rock (e.g. Gene Simmons), jazz and fusion, including jazz legend Stanley
Clarke, with whom he realized the project Vertú.
The 2004 follow-up-album to Change, Get Up featured a more edgy, aggressive rock sound. It was
more hard rock oriented than any of his previous solo outputs since Fever Dream and contains the
ballad "Remember", which became a minor hit.
In 2005, Kotzen teamed up with three Japanese punk rockers to form the short-lived Forty Deuce-
Project, which only lasted long enough to record and release one album.
Later in the same year, Kotzen collaborated with Funk Rock Fusion guitarist Steve Saluto on his
album Rough Beat, where he contributed 50% of the vocals and co-wrote some of the songs. The
album was first released on December 31, 2005, and got re-issued in 2009 under the
name Resurrection, coming with five additional tracks.
In 2006, Kotzen was the opening act for The Rolling Stones in Japan on their Bigger Bang tour.
During the year 2006, Kotzen produced and released two solo studio albums, first Ai Senshi Z×R, an
album on which he played several English sung rock covers of theme songs from the
Japanese Gundam anime franchise, and only nine months later Into The Black, containing ten self-
penned rock songs. The latter starts with the angry song "You Can't Save Me", in which he uses the
F-word extensively, what eventually turned it into a fan favorite.
In 2007 Go Faster was released, which alternatively was named Return Of The Mother Head's
Family Reunion in Europe and Japan. On the album, Kotzen showcases a firework of edgy, driving,
yet melodic funk influenced blues rock songs with strong hooks and passionate guitar playing. It
includes the eight-minute-song "Fooled Again", which became a live favorite on the following tours,
and the soft pop ballad "Chase It" with its significant mandolin riff, for which a music video clip was
filmed in Venice.
In 2008, Kotzen's first live album, simply entitled Live in São Paulo was released, followed by the
acclaimed Peace Sign album in 2009, for which Kotzen played and recorded all instruments himself.
In 2009, Kotzen also teamed up with songwriter/producer Richie Zito for a short-lived project they
called Wilson Hawk. Wilson Hawk produced one album called The Road, on which they celebrate
some R&B & soul influenced pop music in the style of the late 60s and 70s and many soulful pop
ballads.
After the "Peace Sign" world tour, Kotzen released one single in 2010 (the Rod Stewart
reminiscent Angry Boy).
In 2011, Kotzen released a full-length Solo album titled 24 Hours, which features ten catchy, fresh
70s funk & r&b influenced melodic rock songs with strong hooks and vibes, garnished with a lot of
fiddling around. The release was followed by another tour.
In 2012, he joined forces with Mike Portnoy and Billy Sheehan to form the rock supergroup The
Winery Dogs who released their self-titled debut album on May 15, 2013 in Japan, with a worldwide
release on July 23 of the same year. A world tour followed.
After that, Kotzen went on an acoustic solo tour and started working on his 20th solo effort, which
became the Cannibals album, that was released on January, 5th, 2015. Cannibals features a more
relaxed, and often r&b influenced rock/pop sound. Kotzen's girlfriend, bassist/vocalist Julia Lage,
added some background vocals and also appears in the music video for the song "In An Instant". On
the song "I'm All In" Kotzen shares the vocals with Doug Pinnick of King's X and Kotzen's daughter
August Eve is featured on the ballad "You", playing the piano. For "You" also a music video was
recorded.
Only nine months later, on October 2, 2015, The Winery Dogs released their second album Hot
Streak, followed by another world tour.
By the end of 2016, The Winery Dogs went on hiatus and Kotzen focused on his next solo
record Salting Earth, which came out on April 14, 2017. From August until late September Kotzen
completed a European tour.
On January 25, 2018, Kotzen released a video for his new single called The Damned via youtube,
which was filmed at Paramount Ranch in Agoura, California by director Vicente Cordero. On June, 5,
2018, a second video single called Riot was released via YouTube, which was again directed by
Vicente Cordero. On December, 11, 2018, Kotzen announces a Winery Dogs Tour through the US
for May, 2019, via his official Facebook page.

Guitar playing style[edit]

Kotzen has described his style as a mix of rock, blues, heavy metal, jazz, fusion, and soul music.
Kotzen utilizes a heavy amount of legato and sweeping in his playing. As his main influences, he
lists Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Van Halen, Jason Becker (who produced his first
album), Allan Holdsworth, and many other jazz and fusion players. Kotzen, since around 2007, has
opted to stop using guitar picks and been playing exclusively with his fingers ever since.[4]

Instruments and equipment[edit]

Kotzen has used Fender electric guitars for most of his career, most notably his signature
model Telecasters and Stratocasters, as well as other custom-made models. Currently, there are
two Richie Kotzen signature models made by Fender Japan – a Stratocaster (STR-145RK) and a
Telecaster (TLR-155RK). Both guitars feature ash bodies with laminated flame maple caps, maple
necks and one piece maple fretboards with abalone dot inlays and 22 super jumbo frets. The
Telecaster model features a DiMarzio Chopper T pickup in the bridge position (single-spaced
humbucker) and a DiMarzio Twang King in the neck position. The Stratocaster is fitted with three
custom made DiMarzio single coil pickups.[5]
At the beginning of his career, Kotzen used Ibanez guitars and Laney amplifiers before switching to
Fender guitars and Marshall amplifiers in the early 1990s. He used Marshall Super Lead, JCM800
and JCM900 models as well as Yamaha DG Series amps in the late 90's. Yamaha DG1000 preamp
with Marshall EL34 100/100 power amp, and Yamaha DG130H, Yamaha DG100 combo etc.
In 2005, Cornford Amplification issued a Richie Kotzen signature model – RK100, a single channel
tube amp head developed and designed in collaboration with Kotzen to suit his expansive playing
style. Cornford ceased production of all amplifiers, including the RK100, in 2013.[6] There were also
matching signature model speaker cabinets, equipped with one or four Celestion Vintage 30 12"
speakers. Both the amplifier head and the speaker cabinets were the only Cornford models
generally supplied with Kotzen-spec black Tolex covering. The 4 x 12" cabinet also includes a
special locking jack socket on the rear. Now Richie uses Victory Amplifiers. He has his very own
Signature Victory Amp. Kotzen prefers not to use many pedals (or effects, in general) when playing
live. However, over the years, he has been using several versions of Sobbat Drivebraker and
Glowvibe pedals on top of Marshall amps when not playing with the Cornford. He also uses reverb
and delay effects of his signature series Zoom G2R effects processor, which is connected in the
effects loop of the amplifier.[7] In 2014, Tech 21 started selling the Richie Kotzen Signature RK5 Fly
Rig, which was developed in close collaboration with Richie, who used the final prototype for the
bulk of his 2014 tour with the Winery Dogs.[8]

Discography[edit]
Main article: Richie Kotzen discography

 Richie Kotzen (1989)

 Fever Dream (1990)
 Electric Joy (1991)
 Mother Head's Family Reunion (1994)
 The Inner Galactic Fusion Experience (1995)
 Wave of Emotion (1996)
 Something to Say (1997)
 What Is... (1998)
 Bi-Polar Blues (1999)
 Break It All Down (1999)
 Slow (2001)
 Change (2003)
 Acoustic Cuts (2003)
 Get Up (2004)
 Ai Senshi Z×R (Music from the anime series Gundam) (2006)
 Into The Black (2006)
 Go Faster/Return Of The Mother Head's Family Reunion (2007)
 Peace Sign (2009)
 24 Hours (2011)
 The Essential (2014)
 Cannibals (2015)
 Salting Earth (2017)

References[edit]
 1. ^ Portnoy, Mike. "MP Studio Diary for Portnoy/Sheehan/Kotzen
sessions - Day 1". Mikeportnoy.com. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
2. ^ Portnoy, Mike. "MP Studio Diary for Portnoy/Sheehan/Koten
sessions - Day 14". Mikeportnoy.com. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
3. ^ "THE WINERY DOGS: Official Logo, Band Photo
Unveiled". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
4. ^ "Interview: The Winery Dogs — Richie Kotzen, Billy Sheehan and
Mike Portnoy — Talk Debut Album, Gear, Technique and
More". Guitarworld.com.
5. ^ "Signature Gear". Richiekotzen.com.
6. ^ "Cornford Amplification". Cornfordamps.com.
7. ^ "Rig Tour: Richie Kotzen, The Winery Dogs". YouTube.
8. ^ "Richie Kotzen Talks Tech 21 Signature RK5 Fly Rig, 'Cannibals'
and Dog Camp 2015". Guitarworld.com.

External links[edit]
 Official Richie Kotzen site
 Richie Kotzen on IMDb
 Official Shrapnel Records site
 Richie Kotzen Live in Argentina
 In-depth 2014 Richie Kotzen interview on Guitar.com[dead link]
 richie kotzen | Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New
Releases, Photos, Videos (Official MySpace page)
 Richie Kotzen discography at MusicBrainz

Richie Kotzen

nion (1994)

Experience (1995)
Mother Head's Family Reunion (2007)

997)

ged in Brazil (2008)

2004)

he Shrapnel Years (2006)

show
Richie Kotzen's bands & collaborations

-4fdc-831d-2dcdfd3bb21e
F): 59276685
Categories:
 American heavy metal singers
 American heavy metal guitarists
 Singers from Pennsylvania
 Poison (American band) members
 Mr. Big (American band) members
 Living people
 1970 births
 Musicians from Reading, Pennsylvania
 Guitarists from Pennsylvania
 21st-century American writers
 21st-century American guitarists
 American male guitarists
 American male songwriters
 The Winery Dogs members
 21st-century American singers
 21st-century male singers
 Vertú members
Navigation menu
 Not logged in
 Talk
 Contributions
 Create account
 Log in
 Article
 Talk
 Read
 Edit
 View history
Search
Go

 Main page
 Contents
 Featured content
 Current events
 Random article
 Donate to Wikipedia
 Wikipedia store
Interaction
 Help
 About Wikipedia
 Community portal
 Recent changes
 Contact page
Tools
 What links here
 Related changes
 Upload file
 Special pages
 Permanent link
 Page information
 Wikidata item
 Cite this page
In other projects
 Wikimedia Commons
Print/export
 Create a book
 Download as PDF
 Printable version
Languages
 Deutsch
 Español
 Français
 Bahasa Indonesia
 Italiano
 Nederlands
 日本語
 Português
 Русский
4 more
Edit links
 This page was last edited on 17 November 2019, at 23:45 (UTC).
 Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional
terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia