RICHIE KOTZEN Shows How He Developed His Signature Left-Hand Legato Technique (Video)

In the three-and-a-half-minute YouTube clip below, guitar virtuoso and singer/songwriter Richie Kotzen (formerly of POISON and MR. BIG) personally answers a Facebook fan site question on how he developed his signature left-hand legato technique.

Kotzen has booked three nights at the Iridium in New York City — April 20, April 21 and April 22 — with a Long Island warm-up show on April 17 at Ollie's Point in Amityville, New York as well as a gig on April 18 at Sound Stage in Baltimore, Maryland. The plan is to feature a different CD performed front to back each night.

Night one (April 20) at Iridium will be a performance of the original "Mother Head's Family Reunion" CD. This will be a 90-minute show starting with the performance of the CD as well as other material from previous releases.

Night two (April 21) at Iridium will be a two-set night. The first set will be a performance of "Into The Black" from front to back. Set two will be considered a separate show by the club and feature material from previous CDs, not including any of the songs from the three featured CDs.

Night three (April 22) at Iridium will be a single 90-minute set starting with a performance of the latest CD, "24 Hours", from front to back as well as other material not included in the previous performances.

Kotzen recently commented on the rumors that he has been tapped by Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ADRENALINE MOB) and Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG) to be the guitarist/vocalist of their new project following the recent departure of John Sykes (WHITESNAKE, BLUE MURDER, THIN LIZZY).

Said Kotzen in a post on his Facebook page: "I wanted to address the recent rumor about the project with Billy, Mike, and I... Although we did throw some ideas around, neither of us decided to make any public announcements, so [the] Internet buzz was a surprise. I will say I am a fan of both Mike and Billy. I'm sure a collaboration would produce some interesting results."

Although Portnoy and Sykes demoed a dozen or so songs at a Los Angeles studio last year, their vastly different work ethics and conflicting schedules were solely to blame for the dissolution of their collaboration. Portnoy explained on Twitter, "Sad but true... I tried my best to make it work... Me and [Billy Sheehan] couldn't wait around any longer... [Billy] and I are moving on and have already begun work with another guitarist/vocalist, keeping the original 'power trio' concept."