FOUND: Richie kotzen - What They Never Told You

“I’ve been trying to prove myself constantly. When you get billed as some hotshot player, people will stand with their arms crossed as if to say, ‘Prove it’”: How Jared James Nichols took Blues Power to Dave Grohl's Studio 606 and super-sized his sound

On this year’s Louder Than Fate, Nichols is spreading his creative wings, and – with some help from a one-of-one amp made for Jeff Beck – venturing into new musical pastures

Guitar World · May 27

“I’ve sat down with other guitarists – you just end up playing blues licks all day and not writing anything. But we went to work straight away”: Richie Kotzen and Adrian Smith on absurd volume, improv and how long a solo should be

We meet Smith and Kotzen pre-show totalk gear, their new album Black Light/White Noise, and find a pair whose chemistry makes this a hard-rock project with legs

Guitar World · May 14

“They’re 16 bars, and that’s it. There’s no extended solos”: Adrian Smith on why making music outside of Iron Maiden lets him stretch his soloing wings

In Smith/Kotzen, he’s relishing the chance to improvise and color outside of his usual lines, but admits that keeping up with Kotzen isn’t easy

Guitar World · Apr 3

“Ace was the reason... His image made me go, ‘This is what I want to do with the rest of my life’”: John 5 on his final conversations with Ace Frehley, working on Peter Criss’ new record, and the signature guitar so good he’s written a song about it

The Mötley Crüe guitarist reflects on losing his greatest influence, reveals what’s great about the former Kiss drummer’s upcoming album, and his hopes for another tour with Richie Kotzen

Guitar World · Dec 3, 2025

“I have such horrible OCD. Ever since I was a little kid, if I couldn’t get something, I would stay home from school fake sick and play it over and over”: John 5 on staying true to the Crüe, pushing his playing and why he’s surrounded by ghosts

The virtuoso explains what made him the perfect fit for Mötley Crüe, how he’s channeling Paul Gilbert and Robert Johnson on his latest solo album, and what’s next for his signature Fender Telecaster

Guitar World · Oct 1, 2025

“I love using toy guitars that you have to wrestle with. It adds to the performance – you’re pulling from the instrument”: Dean DeLeo on why his favorite STP songs are the ones he didn’t write, and barging into Allan Holdsworth’s dressing room

The Stone Temple Pilots guitar icon explains how he stumbles upon songs, why nothing’s quite like a Telecaster, and how his latest spellbinding collaboration, One More Satellite, came to be

Guitar World · Jul 15, 2025

“When I picked up the Fender, it immediately responded to what I was putting into it. So I went out and bought a Tele and a Strat on the same day”: Fender's highly sought-after Richie Kotzen signature Stratocaster has just been rolled out worldwide

The guitar had previously been available as a Fender Japan-exclusive release

Guitar World · Jun 18, 2025

“The most important thing is to be true to yourself so that, when you play, it sounds like you”: Fender gives Richie Kotzen’s head-turning MIJ signature Strat a global release

Ash-bodied with a figured maple top, offered in Transparent White and Red Burst finishes, equipped with DiMarzio pickups, Kotzen's Strat could be a modern classic

MusicRadar · Jun 17, 2025

“People on their mobiles, getting bombarded with this information –it’s kind of like brainwashing”: Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen are waging a two-man war on the modern world with Smith/Kotzen

Transatlantic supergroup Smith/Kotzen is the sound of two worlds colliding

Louder · May 13, 2025

“You're by far the best guy that we've tried. I would love to have you in the band”: So why did Trent Reznor turn down Richie Kotzen for Nine Inch Nails?

But Stanley Clarke “didn’t give a shit” what band he was in

MusicRadar · Apr 9, 2025