RICHIE KOTZEN Shares Music Video For 'Nomad' Title Track

Guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Richie Kotzen has premiered the official music video for "Nomad", the title track of his highly acclaimed new solo studio album, out now via BMG. The clip sees Kotzen bathed in the Californian sunshine as he performs the song in the same hills above Los Angeles where the album cover was shot.

"I'm very happy to have arrived at a place where we can share the single 'Nomad' with a visual to go along with it," says Kotzen. "I originally wrote and recorded this song some time after releasing my album '50 For 50' and I always knew it was something that deserved special attention against the kind of music I'm know for releasing in more recent years. It was sort of driving me a bit nuts having this tune in the back burner for so many years and not having the right platform to release it. Now here we are not only putting it out with a video but also as the title of my latest album, so I suppose it was held up for good reason.

"Being primarily known as a rock and sometimes jazz fusion guitarist, I found myself taking a different direction on the solo. I really did not want to find myself soloing over standard chord changes which seem so fitting for a song with this type of singable chorus. By introducing an entirely different set of changes for the solo I was able to stretch out in ways that I normally could not by playing over the typical or expected progression.

"As a guitar player, I feel like I am really connecting by turning off the distortion pedal and soloing with a more pure clean tone. For my taste I feel like this song is the 'guitar moment' of my new album and I'm excited to share this new video/single with you all."

Written, recorded and produced by Kotzen, "Nomad" features eight new tracks showcasing Kotzen's multi-faceted musical styles with Kotzen playing almost every instrument on the album. On "Nomad", Kotzen expresses his diverse techniques and influences, from hard rock to '70s-infused soul and funk, jazz fusion to R&B. It's all intertwined with his own unique playing and songwriting approach, while retaining his ever-evolving signature style.

"I came up exposed to soul, funk and R&B music extensively but at the same time I was a hard rock fan all the way," explains Kotzen. "So I've got this sort of interesting dynamic happening with my music where you hear elements of PARLIAMENT or Curtis Mayfield but then at the same time you've got the BAD COMPANY early Rod Stewart influence as well. Then when I started taking the guitar more seriously, I was drawn into fusion bands like THE DIXIE DREGS, RETURN TO FOREVER and Allan Holdsworth's work. It is a wacky mixture but that is the formula for Richie Kotzen."

Earlier this year, Kotzen released the first two tracks from the album, hard-driving single "Cheap Shots" and follow-up single, "On The Table", a heavy-hitting rocker that had been living on his hard drive, waiting for the perfect lyric to complete it. A subconscious memory of his Brazilian father-in-law's first English words "The book is on the table" sparked inspiration and perfectly tied it all together.

While "Nomad" has no shortage of heavy guitar rockers, the sheer diversity of the album as heard on tracks such as "Nihilist", "This Is A Test" and the title track "Nomad" showcases not only Kotzen's musical range and vocal prowess, but his fearless imagination as a producer/arranger. Already globally renowned as an extraordinary guitarist, with "Nomad" Kotzen stands tall as a truly remarkable all-round lyricist-producer/arranger and singer.

"Nomad" track listing:

01. Cheap Shots
02. These Doors**
03. Insomnia
04. Nomad*
05. Escape
06. On The Table
07. This Is A Test
08. Nihilist

* Dan Potruch plays drums on "Nomad"
** Kyle Hughes plays drums on "These Doors"

Michael Kachko, BMG senior vice president says: "After working with Richie on the successful SMITH/KOTZEN project, we knew what an incredible songwriter and artist he is so we were excited to hear what he was working on as a solo artist. When he played us the new material, we knew immediately we wanted to be involved."

Kotzen states: "I was very much elated with the news that BMG wanted to release this album as I envisioned it without artistic compromise. I love the fact that the BMG team put their creative trust in me and my vision without re-design. So many times the business side of things can really interfere with the creative progress of a writer and with a team like this the focus is on what can we do to help you beyond what you've already done as a recording artist. The attitude seems to be, 'you've done the work as a writer, producer [and] musician, now let us take the ball and run'. This feels like the beginning of an amazing journey for me and a bit of a re-set in an industry that is becoming more complex to navigate for a lone artist."

Photo credit: Jürgen Spachmann