Adrian Smith, Richie Kotzen expand RSD 2021 'Better Days' LP

New CD available Sept 16th

Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen, known as Smith/Kotzen, are releasing Better Days… And Nights, a CD comprised of four studio tracks and five unreleased live recordings. The project is an expansion of their Record Store Day Black Friday 2021 12-inch vinyl, Better Days EP. The limited edition record sold out across independent record stores worldwide.

The live songs were recorded during the band’s inaugural whistle-stop tour of the US and UK at the start of 2022, which attracted unanimously rave reviews from fans and media alike, celebrating the duo’s debut on stage together with stellar back-up from internationally acclaimed bassist Julia Lage and drummer Bruno Valerde.

“I think everyone in the band was extremely happy with how our very first tour turned out,” Smith shares. “We were all naturally a little anxious as we’d never played live together before but once we got out there, everything fell into place really easily and we all had a tremendous amount of fun. I can’t wait until we can do it again and get to play in many more places next time round.”

“We spent a lot of time discussing which of the songs from the live show to include on this CD,” Kotzen adds. “We wanted to capture an accurate snapshot of the special vibe we all felt on the tour and I think we’ve achieved this in the songs we’ve selected, and hope our fans will agree. We’re looking forward to seeing everybody again on future tours.”

Better Days….And Nights will be released globally on CD and digital formats through BMG on September 16th. The original EP tracks were produced by Richie Kotzen and Adrian Smith and mixed by Kevin Shirley. The live tracks were produced and mixed by Richie Kotzen and Adrian Smith. A live video for lead track “Hate & Love” was directed by Ryan Titley.

The debut album, Smith/ Kotzen was released by BMG worldwide back in March 2021.