NEW YORK (www.richiekotzen.com) - Get Up reflects the guitar style's that has defined his career as a virtuoso. 'In the past a lot of my records have been a bit all over the map style-wise and on this cd I wanted to sort of pull it all together,' states Kotzen. 'I wanted to make a cd that really defined who I am as a solo artist and I think I finally did it on this one.'
Get Up is an absorbing collective blend of Kotzen's musical influences and diversity. He decided to write more rock based music with R&B undertones than metal. The first release single 'Losin My Mind' is a straight forward rock song with influences that stem from some of the more classic rock records he listened to as a kid. 'Bands like Bad Company, Free, early
Van Halen and
Cream are the inspiration for this song as well as the other rock tunes on this album,' Kotzen explains. On the other side of the music spectrum, the last song, 'Special' is definitely Kotzen's Philly roots coming through. 'I think that the influence for this song is more like the Spinners, O-Jays, and Curtis Mayfield. Growing up outside Philadelphia and listening to those old soul stations I ended up with that sound being a heavy influence in my writing even though the core of what I do is rock.'
Kotzen reveals his true diversity with the rhythmic labors of 'Such A Shame' to a poignant ballad 'Remember'. The album continually travels between moments of classic-rock-driven 'So Cold' to the uplifting 'Fantasy'.
Get Up is an album that has been in the works since Kotzen started playing guitar. The guitar virtuoso burst onto the heavy metal scene as a teenager with a lightning-fast guitar techniques. With his talents Kotzen has played with some of the best musicians; securing such major collaboration with the band
Mr. Big and renowned jazz great
Stanley Clarke as well as his own solo projects. 'I have been lucky in the sense that I have been able to play with guys who I could learn from. The biggest musical lesson for me was playing in a band with
Stanley Clarke and Lenny white. Obviously these guys are jazz musicians and I am not, but I learned so much from the time we recorded and toured together. My favorite rock bassist is Billy Sheehan and we were in
Mr. Big together for 3 years which was awesome.
Get Up was recorded and produced in Kotzen's studio Headroom-Inc in North Hollywood, CA. Kotzen purchased the commercial building in mid-2002 and opened up a brand new recording Studio/Production company called Headroom-inc. (Headroom-inc.com) and in a very short time the client list has grown to include such names as
Gene Simmons (Kiss), Dave Navarro, Keanu Reeves, Me' shell Ndege'Ocello, John Wait, Toto, Doyle Bramhall II and more.
Get Up will be released on
September 25th 2004. Expect the first single "Losin My Mind" to hit airwaves sometime soon. Get it now @ www.cdbaby.com or www.richiekotzen.com.
