BLACK FRIDAY RECORD STORE DAY EVENT SEES SMITH/KOTZEN EP RELEASED TOMORROW
Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen are tomorrow releasing a four track EP, ‘Better Days’. This follows the success of their self titled debut album that was released earlier this year.
The four track EP which is released in conjunction with Record Store Day’s Black Friday event is made up of four previously unreleased tracks and will also be released as a global limited edition 12” black vinyl.
Watch the video for title track, Better Days below:
The full track listing is:
Better Days
Got A Hold On Me
Hate And Love
Rise Again
The final two songs on the EP were recorded at Windermere on Turks & Caicos Islands in March 2020. Better Days and Got A Hold On Me followed at The House recording studio in Los Angeles in April 2021 when Smith/Kotzen were finally able to reconvene after lockdown and to shoot an accompanying video for the title track. As with the Smith/Kotzen album, the EP was produced by Richie and Adrian, and mixed by Kevin Shirley.
Richie comments “When Adrian came over to LA earlier this year, we got together and started throwing ideas around and we very quickly came up with the new songs. ‘Better Days’ almost seemed to write itself. It’s got a nice groove to it. Adrian came in with the riff and we came up with a melody for the chorus together, pretty much working to the same formula we used when writing the S/K album, bouncing ideas off each other.”
Adrian adds “’Better Day’s is a song I’m really excited about. I think its slightly different to the songs on the Smith/Kotzen album – it’s kind of heavy but melodic. I’d played Richie the riff and I was looking for a reaction, and I got one! Kind of like the old grey whistle test scenario – there was a spark and we started building the song from there. I’d have an idea, then Richie would have an idea and we’d go back and forth, like building blocks.”
The record will be available from all good Independent record stores and available as a download from https://Smith-Kotzen.lnk.to/BetterDaysEPPR on November 26th.
