Forty Deuce (band)
| Richie Kotzen | |
|---|---|
Kotzen in 2011
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Richard Dale Kotzen, Jr. |
| Born |
February 3, 1970 Reading, Pennsylvania United States |
| Genres | Hard rock, blues rock, 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 |
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. Kotzen was signed to California-based Shrapnel Records from 1989 until 1997.
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)".
After that, Kotzen 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.
...
Wikipedia