Out now is the latest video from Smith/Kotzen, called “Scars.” The track, which is a collaboration between Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith and Winery Dog's Richie Kotzen, will be featured on the two old friends' first joint eponymous set, which drops on March 26th.
According to the official announcement for Smith/Kotzen, “Produced by Richie and Adrian and mixed by Kevin 'Caveman' Shirley, this nine-track opus is a consummate collaboration between these two highly respected musicians who co-wrote all the songs and also share lead vocals and trade off on guitar and bass duties throughout the record.”
We caught up with Richie Kotzen — a veteran of both Poison and Mr. Big — who gave the backstory how he and Adrian Smith formed their musical alliance: “For years, we've been hanging out every time he would come to L.A. And he's got a room at his L.A. house where he's got all his guitars set up and the amps and everything. So, year after year, we'd go in there and jam, and hang out and people would stop in. Just, like, a fun thing to do — usually around the holidays. And then his wife Natalie suggested, 'Why don't you guys get together, try to write something?' And that's really how it started. So we wrote, I think the first thing I remember doing was 'Running' — and now we've got this record.”
The pair recorded the album in both Los Angeles and tropical climes of Turks and Caicos: “As far as Turks — he's been goin' down there for years. So, it was suggested we go down there and, 'y'know, rented a house. And I had a Pro-Tools rig and went to work. 'Fell into a nice rhythm, and before you knew it, y'know, sadly, we had to leave the island (laughs).”
For more info, log on to https://www.smithkotzen.com/