Smith/Kotzen available March 26th

Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen have announced their debut self-titled album will be available on CD, black LP and limited edition red and black smoke effect colored vinyl on March 26th via BMG. The announcement comes on the back of the release of the video for the album’s first single, “Taking My Chances.”

Recorded on the Turks & Caicos Islands in February 2020, produced by the pair and mixed by Kevin “Caveman” Shirley, this nine track opus is a consummate collaboration between these two highly respected musicians who co-wrote all the songs and also share lead vocals and trade off on guitar and bass duties throughout the record.

Exploding with powerful melodies and harmonies, the album embodies the spirited attitude of 70’s classic rock with a melting-pot of influences ranging from blues, hard rock, traditional R&B and more, blending the pair’s backgrounds and life experiences to result in a thoroughly contemporary sound.

The record features special guest performances by Smith’s fellow Iron Maiden bandmate Nicko McBrain on drums for the track “Solar Fire,” and Kotzen’s longstanding friend and touring partner Tal Bergman on drums for “You Don’t Know Me,” “I Wanna Stay” and “‘Til Tomorrow,” with Kotzen picking up the sticks on the other five songs.

“Richie and I started working together a couple of years ago,” Smith says. “We’d been jamming as we’d been friends for a few years before that. We both share a love for classic rock and bluesy rock so we decided to get together and start writing some songs and it went from there. Pretty much everything on the album is handled between Richie and myself including the production. We had developed a really strong idea of how we wanted it to sound and I’m very pleased with how it turned out. There’s a lot of cool songs on there that we are really happy with.”

“We had a very fluid process in writing,” Kotzen adds. “Sometimes Adrian would send me a riff and I would immediately hear some kind of melody or a vocal idea. And sometimes it was the other way round so it was a kind of circular motion. We’d get together whenever we could and throw some ideas around and it just evolved, which was great because there was no pressure and nothing other than just a natural course and I think the record really speaks for that.”

With “Taking My Chances” having been greeted with enormous excitement and acclaim by rock fans and media worldwide on its release in December – and now with the accompanying video shot in both LA and London – Smith/Kotzen fully cements the new partnership between these two extraordinary talents and sets the scene for this innovative and exciting collaboration to light up 2021 and the world of rock music beyond.

CD, | LP | Colored LP

1. Taking My Chances
2. Running
3. Scars
4. Some People
5. Glory Road
6. Solar Fire
7. You Don’t Know Me
8. I Wanna Stay
9. ‘Til Tomorrow