Ryan's Gig Guide - June 2018

Richie Kotzen has never been an artist known for playing by the rules.And for this ever adventurous triple-threat song- writer/guitarist/vocalist, that meant putting on the brakes after a nonstop flurry of band-related activity in order to refuel the creative process for the ten heartfelt and hard-hitting songs that comprise his vi- brant new solo album, Salting Earth, out April 14 via his own custom label, Head- room-Inc. In other words, Kotzen tossed convention on its ear by actually taking one step back in order to move two steps forward.“It’s something I really needed to do in order to reset myself,” Kotzen ex- plains. Kotzen’s “charge to recharge” was offi- cially put into play following the mega-suc- cess of the 2015–16 tour behind his band TheWinery Dogs’ sophomore effort, the oh-so appropriately named Hot Streak. And the man’s reset manifesto wound up hitting all the right buttons too.The proof is on display deep within the grooves of Salting Earth, which veers from the balls- out, heads-up declaration of the opening track “End of Earth” to the burning-sky harmonic thrust of “Thunder” to the Prince-like funk-jazz swing of “This Is Life” to the acoustified take-me-as-I-am self-re- flection of the album’s final song, “Grammy.” For the artist within, the music mined for Salting Earth ultimately came down to being about the relationship between song and vocal.“That’s really it,” Kotzen agrees. “Every other choice is made based on what I feel suits the composition and what will support the lead vocal.That is the foundation on how my music is built. I suppose it’s just how I hear things. If you think about it, when your mind hums a tune, you are humming the melody.When you sing ‘Happy Birthday,’ you don’t sing the drumbeat, do you?” Bringing Salting Earth live to the people is Kotzen’s next holy mission.“My real outlet is touring — playing live as much as I can, wherever I can, whenever I can,” he says enthusiastically.“It’s one of the few things you can’t copy, steal, or download. It’s an engaging human experience that’s a give- and-take between both the performer and the audience, and there is nothing else like it on this earth.” Kotzen is clearly eager to hit the road.“I know this is going to be a long album cycle of touring, and already we are talking about going to places I’ve never been be- fore — like Australia, for example,” Kotzen notes.“With the new record being done and knowing dates are being booked around the world, I can feel my creative energy surging once again.” Said energy surge has been seeded quite liberally all throughout Salting Earth, an album that shows Kotzen as the pillar for how to harness newfound creativity in the best light imaginable. Come and dig his Earth. RGG have a pair of tickets to give away for this gig. Just send an email to the address below with 'KOTZEN' in the sub- ject title to be in with a chance of winning. media@rggmag.com Tuesday 19th June The Robin 2, Bilston Wolverhampton  Ritchie Kotzen  WIN www.ryansgigguide.com rgg June 2018 13