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Guitar Hero Richie Kotzen's New Peace Sign CD Is a Another Shining Moment for the Talented Artist As The Artist Wraps His Most Extensive European Tour To Date

Guitar Hero Richie Kotzen's New Peace Sign CD Is Another Shining Moment for the Talented Virtuoso As The Artist Wraps His Most Extensive European Tour To Date and Looks Toward a Slate of Live US Appearances

Los Angeles, CA (Billboard Publicity Wire/PRWEB ) November 16, 2009 -- Richie Kotzen has an amazing ability to create projects that awe critics and inspire aspiring musicians, especially guitarists. The rocker has done it again with the release of his new CD, Peace Sign. Richie has been touted as "one of the best guitar players in the world" with a voice on par with some of the greatest rock/soul singers. He has also enjoyed a truly incredible journey in the world of music. Among numerous accomplishments, in 2006 as a solo artist, Kotzen was the opening act for the legendary Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour in Japan. And in addition to writing and being featured on #1 charting albums and tracks, Kotzen has amassed an impressive 25 plus album discography.

A true icon of the music world, Kotzen is one of the few artists to be honored by Fender Guitar with not one, but two signature models. The Kotzen Telecaster has repeatedly been the #1 selling signature model guitar for Fender Japan. In 2005 Cornford Amplification honored Kotzen with his own signature series guitar amp, the RK100, which was voted AMP of The Year in the UK. Kotzen just recently designed and programmed his own signature model guitar effect pedal for Zoom/Samson.

His latest release, Peace Sign is already showing signs of being considered a critical success as the rave reviews are pouring in: "This type of album doesn't come along every day folks... `What we see here is perhaps the natural progression of Richie's career. Somehow, his voice has gotten even better, and his guitar skills are still up there with the best. He does an excellent job playing bass and drums as well. The result is a solid groove upon which the songs are built. Speaking of songs, they're incredible. "My Messiah" is a straightforward rocker that would be right at home on Richie's "Get Up" CD. "The Best of Times" is perhaps my favorite track of the album, and features a great chorus. "Holding On", "Larger Than Life", "Catch up to Me", comprise the slower parts of the CD, and really showcase Kotzen's incredible voice. "Peace Sign", "Your Entertainer" and "We're all Famous" are very funky, and highlight the groovy rhythm of the album. "Long Way from Home" is another solid rocker. Simply put, this is a must-have for Richie's fans. The songs are very well written, and are backed up not only with breathtaking fretwork, but also the best voice in rock music, period. With 25 plus studio albums under his belt (not counting side-projects), I can only hope that Richie will stay around long enough to pump out 25 more." - digstation

Regarding the new project, Richie has a few thoughts. He says "I'm really excited about this new CD. I'm not sure how I did it, but somehow I think it has a really live sound, even though I'm playing all the instruments on all but four songs. I think it is because of the music I grew up on. Bands like Cream, The Stones, and of course Hendrix all had that 'live -- create it on the spot' sound so I suppose that is the way I hear music.

He continues, "And real music fans should notice that on this recording, there are very few parts where I double the rhythm guitars - maybe only two songs where I went for that vibe. On most of the tracks there is one rhythm guitar and one lead guitar. That has always been my thing --especially under the solos. I rarely lay rhythm guitar tracks under my solos because I figure I can not do both at once when I'm playing live. Plus I don't like the competition between frequencies of the lead and rhythm guitar at once."

Regarding his signature solo work, Richie adds, "All my solos are on the spot solos. I never work out solos. I always go for it in the moment and somehow they write themselves as I go. I do this because vocally, it's a feel thing for me. There is a certain point usually after singing for about twenty minutes where my voice relaxes and I feel like I can pretty much sing whatever I hear. So much of what I do relies on being inspired by the song. If I'm not feeling the song, then it is impossible for me to do any kind of performance worth listening to."

Kotzen has thoughts on favorite tracks for the album. He says, "My favorite tracks are: Paying Dues, Long Way From Home, Peace Sign, Larger Than Life, and Lie To Me. Actually I pretty much like them all - LOL. I feel strongly that the thing that makes this CD work is the sequencing. I'm especially referring to the European and American version as the Japan version is sequenced differently."

With a style that has developed over the years, Richie comments, "Over the years my style has evolved -- since I was 18 when I made my first CD. On this record, the opener, My Messiah has that late 80's, early 90's sound which is derived from the time when my first cd came out. As the disc plays, it goes from the more rockin' thing into the more funk influenced stuff. When listening to Songs like Your Entertainer and We're All Famous, you can hear the influence playing with Stanley Clarke has had on me. Then towards the end, the CD mellows out with the slower tunes like Catch Up to Me and Lie to Me."

Richie concludes, "Artistically speaking, I'm fully satisfied with what I performed and accomplished on this release. Then of course -- if I wasn't -- I would never have made it available."

Regarding visuals, youtube and videos, Richie has left that up to the kids - in particular, Richie's 12 year old daughter August E. who has shown the knack for artistry in the area of video/film. August E. and Richie's collaboration for the song Paying Dues off of CD Peace Sign is already a smash on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhCqEfkKa5s

About the video, Richie boasts, "Many of my listeners know I have a 12 year old daughter named August who sang background vocals with me on my previous CD, 'Go Faster' which was released in 2008. Since then she has been getting into making short films, uploading them to Youtube and other sites and eventually and editing them on imovie."

"This time around I wanted to make some kind of 'in the studio' type video for my song 'Paying Dues'. One day we were hanging around the house with nothing to do and I said, 'Why don't you film me and we make this video together?' We came up with four different set-ups - one with the drums, one with bass, one with the guitar and another with vocals. Basically the idea was to show me performing live like a straight-forward music video. August then said: 'You need to wear something different in each set up since you are playing a different instrument in each set up of the video.' She helped me pick out what to wear, she set up the shots, and then said 'Go Daddy! 'We did a bunch of takes, a bunch of camera angles and then slapped it all together in the final cut." "Basically we knocked it out on a Saturday and by Sunday night, bang -- it was up on youtube. So now I told her pick a song off the CD and make your own video on it without me in it. I'm curious to see what song she picks and what it ends up looking like."

Catch Richie online at www.richiekotzen.com. Go to richiekotzen.com live dates section for updates! And see more about the new CD Peace Sign at: http://www.digstation.com/AlbumDetails.aspx?albumid=ALB000035563

More on Richie Kotzen: It all started at the age of seven when Richie learned to play the electric guitar in his hometown of Reading, PA. He formed his first band at the age of twelve and played live gigs around Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. Soon after his eighteenth birthday, he headed West to San Francisco and recorded his first album for Shrapnel Records. That very year, Kotzen was featured on several magazine covers including Guitar World and was voted one of the Top 3 Best New Guitarist's of The Year by that publication's readers.

After recording three albums for Shrapnel Records, Kotzen moved to Los Angeles and just out of his teens, he joined the multi-platinum glam metal band POISON and started living the dream! He recorded the CD Native Tongue with the band and ventured off on a world tour in support of the album. His song Stand, reached #4 on MTV's Most Wanted and charted on BILLBOARD MAGAZINE's top 20. That record soon reached platinum status soon there-after.

Following POISON, Kotzen continued recording solo albums on various labels including Geffen, Shrapnel and JVC until 1999 when he was invited by jazz legend Stanley Clarke to form the band VERTU. They recorded a self titled album for SONY and spent the summer in Europe playing the Montreux Jazz and other festivals. Richie says, "It was an honor and a great experience to be in a band with Clarke and the other members."

Later that year Kotzen joined the immensely popular rock band MR. BIG, best known for their #1 hit song To Be With You. In 1999, Mr. Big played the Osaka Dome in Japan with AEROSMITH for the coveted Millennium Count Down Concert. Kotzen wrote 2 studio records with MR. BIG and had his first #1 single in Japan with the song, Shine.

With the completion of Peace Sign, Richie continues to make killer solo records and tour around the world. He has achieved superstar status in several countries, playing stadiums, festivals, and clubs. He has played with many other well known musicians like Gene Simmons from KISS, and Keanu Reeves band DOGSTAR where he has made cameo performances on stage, including Television performances with the band on Jay Leno and Regis and Kelly. Richie is frequently included in books, magazines, and websites as one of the top guitarist's in the world! Kotzen has amassed a 25 plus album discography and he shows no signs of slowing down. He concludes, "Touring and making music is my life. It is all I have ever done and I am very grateful to all the people around the world who have made that possible." Richie resides in Los Angeles and enjoys spending time with his daughter August. His hobbies include basketball and playing poker. At times you might catch him jamming with other musicians, some local, some superstars.

Upcoming Live Dates Include:

17.11 SPIRIT 0F 66 - VERVIERS (BELGIUM)
20.11 EXIT - PRAGA (CZECK. REP)
21.11 KULTURBASTION - TORGAU (GERMANIY)
22.11 MEGA CLUB - KATOWICE (POLAND)
24.11 PROGRECIA - WARSAW (POLAND)
26.11 BLUES GARAGE - HANNOVER (GERMANY)
27.11 BALLROOM - HAMBURG (GERMANY)
28.11 UHLENSPIEGEL - LEONBERG (GERMANY)
30.11 REIGEN - VIENNA (AUSTRIA)
01.12 A35 - BUDAPEST (HUNGARY)
02.12 HEINEKEN TOWER BRATISLAVA (SLOVAKIA)
04.12 STONEHENGE - SOAVE/Verona (ITALY)
05.12 CORALLA-SCANDIANO/REGGIO EMILIA (ITALY)

Media Contact: Craig Melone at Handsonpr@aol.com and 310-341-3201

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