Smith/Kotzen

The duo of Smith/Kotzen is
comprised of Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith and The Winery Dogs’ Richie Kotzen. They
had been riendly for a few years, occasionally jamming together and sharing a
love for blues-based classic rock when the two began working together in Turks
and Caicos in 2020. A full performing and composing collaboration in which each
took turns playing various instruments and swapping song ideas, the duo’s first
public release was “Taking My Chances”, which dropped in January of
2021. Steeped in bluesy hard rock while also taking cues from early R&B and a
touch of metal, Smith/Kotzen, their debut album, came out later that
year and featured drumming from Kotzen as well as Tal Bergman, and Smith’s Iron
Maiden bandmate Nicko McBrain.