Richie Kotzen : rock singer, guitarist and songwriter

OK ... so if I am honest, it may have been the red pants Richie Kotzen was wearing on the Poison seven days live DVD that first caught my attention even though I have never been a Poison fan. Richie snared the gig with Poison after playing the band his song "Stand" which would become the first single released of Poison's 1993 album "Native Tongue" - I still prefer when Richie performs this song as he does on his latest release "Live in Sao Paulo".

Mother Head's Family Reunion is a well worn album in my collection and I loved the fact that Richie is technically brilliant and yet he can hold back to give the song a chance to breathe and exist in its own right. Not just a guitarist as many think - Richie is a musician, a singer and a songwriter dedicated to the craft.

I appreciate Richie's technical skill, however I love the fact that Richie is always a performer and the skill always is presented in a way that is entertaining - something lacking from many of the guitar tech workshops.

The fact that he is somewhat easy on the eye doesn't hurt at all either, which is an opinion that I am not alone in it seems as Michael Molenda points out in his article for Guitar Player Magazine ...

"Man Crush Alert! Yes, Richie Kotzen is stunning. Anyone who became entranced by music in the era of angelic or strange beauties such as Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Brian Jones will likely view Kotzen as the pure evocation of rock godliness. But, in Kotzen's case, you don't have to host some Tony Robbins-esque Outer Beauty versus Inner Beauty debate inside your head, because the man's guitar chops are as magnificent as his visage."

The photograph top left in this introduction was taken by Riru and you can view his photostream at flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/riru/.