Guitarist Richie Kotzen (The Winery Dogs) recently spoke with Total Guitar, discussing his views on the art of playing guitar. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Kotzen: "The key to improvisation is trust. You have to turn all the outside distractions off and stop judging what you can and can’t do. It sounds scary but that’s the only way. What makes me listenable as a guitarist, if I am listenable, is my emotional connection to the instrument. 

There are plenty of guitarists that can pick more accurately, or do a lot more technically, and I don’t think my legato is even that sensational - but it’s how everything combines over the right chord changes… that’s when I become interesting. I’m a lot more of an ensemble, in-the-moment player. I’m not the guy to pick up a guitar and dazzle everyone with this intense thing that I worked out, composed over four days and practised until I can play it perfectly. That doesn’t interest me. I’d rather watch someone else do the work and enjoy them doing it. 

Sitting down to practise is the most torturous thing - what excites most of us is the creative process. (The Winery Dogs bassist) Billy Sheehan is the perfect example of a disciplined musician - he can still sit for hours on end and get things perfect. It makes me think I need to fuckin’ practise in order to keep up with him, but I always end up wanting to watch basketball or do something else. 

I put a lot of time in as a child to learn all the techniques - so as a teenager and adult, it was just about what I can create. I just bought a new house, I’m creating here too - having a blast moving walls and changing floors. That’s the fun bit, I guess!"

Kotzen recently released a brand video for “Riot”, which was shot on location in Los Angeles, CA by Vicente Cordero. The video, which also features bassist Dylan Wilson and drummer Mike Bennett, can be found below.

As Richie Kotzen explains, “I’m very excited to share another new song with you all! We made a music video to go with the song and really wanted to focus on the performance of the band more than a storyline. One of the things I love about this track is the interplay between the guitar, bass, and drums. Although I wrote the musical lines we are playing, my goal was to somehow capture the live energy of my band on the final recording. Dylan, Mike, and I have been touring together for seven years and there are some live recordings out there,  but we never spent much time together in the studio recording. I feel like this new recording is a great example of all three of us playing at the top of our potential. I hope you enjoy the new song and the new video!”

Kotzen’s 21st solo album, Salting Earth, was released in April 2017 via his own custom label, Headroom-Inc. The majority of Salting Earth is the result of Kotzen’s one-man production machine, with the exception of Julia Lage adding background vocals to “Make It Easy,” a tasty, sing-along groove stew.

“It’s really not deliberate when the record is finished and suddenly I’m the only performer on it,” Kotzen admits. “It actually comes out of my process of writing and documenting my ideas. It started back in the late-’80s when I had a makeshift studio in my parents’ barn. I grew up fairly isolated, and I soon realized in order to get this music out of my head and onto a format where I could listen to it, I’d have to figure out how to do it alone.”

Kotzen’s previous solo release, 2015’s diverse, far-reaching Cannibals, was a well-received hit among his core fan base, and Salting Earth cuts like the aforementioned “End Of Earth,” “Thunder,” and “Divine Power” all showcase the scorching guitar solos and soaring vocals that one would expect from a Kotzen solo album. That said, there’s also quite a vulnerable side on display here that’s perhaps best demonstrated in the stripped-down approach to the album’s closing salvo, “Grammy.”

Richie Kotzen and his band continue to tour extensively throughout the US and Europe this summer. A complete list of tour dates can be found here.

(Photo - Julia Lage)