Richie Kotzen, the guitar genius who’s played with everyone from MR. BIG to POISON and THE WINERY DOGS, recently sat down with Tommy London and Tor from The Mighty VH Podcast to geek out over the one and only VAN HALEN 🤩. And, let me tell you, it’s a wild ride full of axe-shredding goodness and behind-the-scenes stories that will make you go 🤯.
So, it turns out that Richie met Eddie Van Halen for the first time, and it was basically a meeting of the guitar gods 🙌. They talked about everything from Eddie‘s Revolutionary guitar playing to his underrated skills as a songwriter 🎶. And, of course, they dove deep into the soul influence in VAN HALEN‘s music, because let’s be real, those guys could bring the funk 🕺.
Richie said: “I think you touched on it a second ago when you talked about that R&B kind of feel and that thing. For me, it’s a crazy thing to say, but any genre of music that doesn’t have something of that in it kind of goes over my head 🙅♂️.” And, honestly, same, Richie, same 🤷♂️. He also talked about how Eddie‘s playing had a certain “swagger and swing” that made it so unique and influential 🕺.
But what really got Richie going was when they started talking about the importance of finding your own style as a guitar player 🎸. He said: “When I was learning an Eddie lick, or if I listened to Yngwie and tried to learn an Yngwie lick, I would listen and get the gist of it, but I would never go down the rabbit hole far enough to really emulate it to the point where someone would say, ‘Wow, that sounds just like so-and-so’ 🙅♂️.” And, honestly, that’s some wise words from a guitar legend 🙏.
The conversation also took a turn when they started discussing Eddie‘s skills as a songwriter 🎶. Richie said: “Oh, of course… You’re listening to the song 🎵.” And, let’s be real, Eddie was a genius when it came to crafting a catchy tune 🎶. But Richie also talked about how the music industry has changed and how some modern musicians are missing the artistic value of creating great songs 🎵.
He said: “Today, it’s a very bizarre situation 🌪️. It’s strange 🤔. And I don’t wanna say anything that’s discrediting or it sounds like, ‘Oh, Richie, you’re just too old’ 🙄. But back in the day when I was coming up, with VAN HALEN, you had [Eddie] being him and innovative and all that, in the context of great songwriting, which he was giving and doing 🎶.” And, honestly, it’s hard not to agree with Richie on this one 🤷♂️.
Anyway, if you’re a fan of Richie Kotzen or just a lover of all things VAN HALEN, you need to check out this interview 📺. It’s a wild ride full of guitar goodness, behind-the-scenes stories, and some seriously sage advice from a music legend 🤟♂️. And, as a special treat, Richie recently released a new song called “Catch A Star” 🌟, so be sure to give that a listen 🎵. 🎸🔥🎶
