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 Richie Kotzen as well as Tal Bergman, and Adrian Smith’s Iron Maiden bandmate Nicko McBrain. Steered by the single "Black Light," the pair's second studio album, Black Light/White Noise, surfaced in April 2025.