Richie Kotzen
<Richie Cotzen>

BIOGRAPHY

A guitarist, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist born in Pennsylvania, USA on February 3, 1970. He studied piano since childhood and was influenced by KISS and started playing guitar. He established a bars style of playing regardless of hard rock, funk, fusion and genre, and became a leading technical guitarist in the United States in the 1990s.

In 1992, he joined POISON as a successor to C.C. Deville. After leaving, while gaining a career as a solo, he participated in numerous sessions, including the jazz fusion base giant Stanley Clark, and became widely recognized by music fans, and since 1999 after leaving Paul Gilbert, he has also participated in MR.BIG. He worked with the Billy Scene and worked as a guitarist/songwriter until the band broke up in 2002.

In 2013, he formed a three-piece band "The Winery Dogs" with Billy Scene, Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater). I'm the front man. All three visits to Japan, which had been held in conjunction with the album release, were very exciting.

In 2021, he launched a joint project "Semis/Kotzen" in collaboration with Adrian Smith, a guitarist/songwriter of Iron Meiden, a long-standing friend and close friend. The release and tour of the works have been highly evaluated and have a strong impact, and it has been decided that the NEW album will be released in March 20133.

In 2024, he released his 23rd solo album, NOMAD. He showed his multi-talented talent as a producer, arranger, and songwriter, as well as his guitar and other performance skills and singing voice as a vocalist. And I hope that this tour will show you pride as a top-notch live performer who always stands on stage. Don't miss the Japanese performance for the first time in eight years since 2017!