Eddie Trunk and Zoom present Richie KotzenTuesday July 28th, 2009 8pm
BB King's Blues Club
237 W 42nd St
New York, NY 10036
Tickets go on sale this Saturday April 18th. Advance pre-sale tickets are $10 through May 4th, but will go up to $15 -
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!About Richie Kotzen:
Touted as one of the best guitar players in the world, with a voice on par with some of the greatest rock/soul singers and also known as a really gifted songwriter, Richie Kotzen has had an incredible journey into the world of music.
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. When he turned eighteen he headed west to San Francisco and recorded his first album for Shrapnel Records. That year, Kotzen was featured on several magazine covers including Guitar World, who voted him one of their Top 3 Best New Guitarists of the Year.
After recording three albums for Shrapnel Records, Kotzen moved to Los Angeles and just out of his teens he was asked to join the hugely popular rock band Poison. He co-wrote and recorded their 1993 album, Native Tounge, the band’s fifth. According to the band’s Wikepedia entry, Native Tounge “was strongly influenced by Kotzen's fresh songwriting contributions and guitar performance. It marked a change for the band as they abandoned their anthemic party tunes to focus on more serious subjects, and was far more blues-rock oriented than glam metal.” Kotzen wrote the band’s hit song “Stand,” which charted on both Billboard’s Top 40, Mainstream Rock, and Hot 100 charts, as well as Reached #4 on MTV’S Most Wanted. In addition to the in-studio experience, Richie’s time in Poison afforded him the opportunity to tour the world and introduced him to an international audience.
After Poison, Kotzen continued recording 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 released a self-titled album on Sony Records and spent the summer in Europe playing all of the big festivals, including the Montreaux Jazz Festival. Vertu afforded Kotzen with the opportunity to really stretch himself and push the boundaries of his playing, while introducing himself to yet another new audience – the Jazz/Fusion enthusiasts. “It was an honor and a great experience to be in a band with Stanley Clarke and the other members of Vertu,” states Kotzen.
Later that year Kotzen joined the immensely popular rock band Mr. Big, best known for their #1 hit single “To Be With You.” Kotzen co-wrote and appears on 2 Mr. Big albums, Get Over It & Actual Size. Mr. Big has enjoyed an incredible amount of success worldwide, but they are particularly revered in Japan. Some of Kotzen’s biggest highlights with the band occurred there, including playing The Osaka Dome with Aerosmith for the coveted Millenium Countdown, and experiencing his first #1 single with the song “Shine.”
Richie’s involvement with Mr. Big has made him a huge fan favorite in Japan. Due to his immense popularity there, in 2006, the Rolling Stones invited Kotzen to be the opening act for the Japanese leg of their Bigger Bang Tour.
After leaving Mr. Big, Kotzen once again began writing and recording his own material and returned to his already successful solo career, releasing over a dozen albums. He continues to make amazing records and continues to tour around the world, playing stadiums, festivals, and clubs. His current tours have spanned several continents, including Europe, South America and Asia. He has played with many other well known musicians, has performed on television programs such as “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Live with Regis and Kelly,” and continues to appear in countless books, magazines and websites, being acknowledged as one of the top guitarists in the world!
Kotzen is one of the few artists to be honored by Fender Guitar with not one, but two signature model guitars. The Kotzen telecaster guitar has repeatedly been the #1 selling signature model guitar for Fender Japan. Cornford Amplification also honored Kotzen with his own signature series guitar amp (the RK 100) which in 2005 was voted Amp of the Year in the UK.
Kotzen has amassed a catalogue of more than 25 albums and he is just getting warmed up.
“Touring and making music is my life. It is all I have ever done. I am very grateful to all the people around the world who have made that possible,” Richie humbly states.
For more information visit:www.richiekotzen.comwww.myspace.com/richiekotzenwww.zoomfx.comwww.bbkingsblues.com 
