News

Richie Kotzen UK Tour

• 25th Sep 2009

Touted as one of the best guitar players in the world, with a voice on
par with some of the greatest rock/soul singers in modern music's
history, Richie Kotzen is truly a living legend. He continues his
incredible journey this October, with a 10-date UK tour!

“Kotzen toured and recorded with bassist extraordinaire Stanley
Clarke, and replaced the notorious Paul Gilbert in Mr. Big…Solo
records poured out of him as well as shred-fusion projects with Greg
Howe. He also owns his own commercial recording studio, gets cool gear
for free and writes the kind of songs that make you wish you had
written them.” -Oscar Jordan, Premier Guitar

Kotzen's musical destiny was clear from childhood, when he developed a
fervent interest in guitar at just 7 years of age. By the time he left
his teenage years, Richie already had 3 solo studio albums under his
belt, and joined the multi platinum glam metal band Poison. He
recorded the 1993 album “Native Tongue” with the band, and ventured on
a world tour in support of the record, sealing his status among Rock
music's greats.

After working with Poison, Kotzen continued to record solo albums on
labels including Geffen, Shrapnel and JVC, until, in 1999, he was
invited by jazz legend Stanley Clarke to form the band Vertu. They
recorded a self-titled album for Sony, and spent the summer in Europe
playing an array of festivals, including the acclaimed the Montreux
Jazz Festival. In the same year, Kotzen joined the immensely popular
rock band Mr. Big, best-known for their No.1 hit “To Be With You”. In
1999, they played the Osaka Dome in Japan alongside Aerosmith, and
Kotzen wrote 2 studio records with Mr. Big before achieving his first
solo No.1 single in Japan with “Shine”.

10 years later, and Kotzen still tours around the world, with
universal superstar status. He has played with Kiss legend Gene
Simmons, and made acclaimed appearances with Keanu Reeves' band
Dogstar. A musician's musician as well as a charismatic performer,
Kotzen is one of the few artists to be honoured by Fender Guitars with
two signature model guitars, one of which became the best-selling
signature model guitar for Fender Japan. Cornford Amplification have
also honoured Kotzen with his own signature series guitar amp, voted
“Amp of The Year” in the UK in 2005.

As a solo artist, Kotzen has amassed a 25-plus album discography, and
is far from being out of steam! An artist who packs out venues in his
own right, he also supported the incredible Rolling Stones on their “A
Bigger Bang” tour in 2006.

Richie Kotzen knows, more than anybody, the importance creating and
performing holds for him as an artist: “Touring and making music is my
life. It is all I have ever done. I am very grateful to all the people
around the world who have made that possible”. His appearances in the
UK this October will certainly reaffirm just how much this gratitude
is reciprocated by his fans!

UK TOUR :

Thurs Oct 8th – Camden Underworld – London
Fri Oct 9th – The Fiddlers – Bristol
Sun Oct 11th – Mr Kyps – Poole
Mon Oct 12th – The Robin 2 – Wolverhampton
Tues Oct 13th – The 12 Bar – Swindon
Thurs Oct 15th – Rios – Leeds
Fri Oct 16th – Club Academy – Manchester
Sun Oct 18th – Trillians – Newcastle
Mon Oct 19th – The Classic Grand – Glasgow
Tues Oct 20th – The Caves – Edinburgh