Former POISON/MR. BIG Guitarist To Release New Solo Album In September

September 1, 2004

Former POISON/MR. BIG guitarist Richie Kotzen will release his new solo album, "Get Up", on September 25.

Described as "an absorbing collective blend of Kotzen's musical influences and diversity," "Get Up" reflects the guitar styles that have defined Kotzen's career as a virtuoso.

"In the past a lot of my records have been a bit all over the map style-wise and on this CD I wanted to sort of pull it all together," Kotzen stated. "I wanted to make a CD that really defined who I am as a solo artist and I think I finally did it on this one."

The album's first single, "Losin' My Mind", is a straight-forward rock song with influences that stem from some of the more classic rock records Richie listened to as a kid. "Bands like BAD COMPANY, FREE, early VAN HALEN and CREAM are the inspiration for this song as well as the other rock tunes on this album," Kotzen explained. On the other side of the music spectrum, the last song, "Special" is definitely Kotzen's Philly roots coming through. "I think that the influence for this song is more like the SPINNERS, O-JAYS and CURTIS MAYFIELD," he added. "Growing up outside Philadelphia and listening to those old soul stations I ended up with that sound being a heavy influence in my writing even though the core of what I do is rock."

With his talents, Kotzen has played with some of the best musicians; securing such major collaboration with the band MR. BIG and renowned jazz great STANLEY CLARKE as well as his own solo projects. "I have been lucky in the sense that I have been able to play with guys who I could learn from," Kotzen stated. "The biggest musical lesson for me was playing in a band with Stanley Clarke and Lenny White. Obviously these guys are jazz musicians and I am not, but I learned so much from the time we recorded and toured together. My favorite rock bassist is Billy Sheehan and we were in MR. BIG together for three years, which was awesome."

"Get Up" was recorded and produced in Kotzen's studio Headroom-Inc in North Hollywood, CA. Kotzen purchased the commercial building in mid-2002 and opened up the studio/production company. In a very short time, the client list has grown to include such names as Gene Simmons (KISS),Dave Navarro (JANE'S ADDICTION, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS),Keanu Reeves, ME'SHELL NDEGE'OCELLO, TOTO, DOYLE BRAMHALL II and more.

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