Richie Kotzen (The Winery Dogs) and Julia Lage (Vixen) recently filmed a video for DiMarzio Pickups, telling viewers about how they met, and Julia's new DiMarzio Sixties P Bass Pickup.
In September, BMG issued a brand-new CD release from Smith/Kotzen, Better Days…And Nights, comprising five previously unreleased live tracks, plus for the first time ever on CD, the four studio tracks featured on their sold out, limited edition 12” vinyl EP, Better Days, released in conjunction with Record Store Day in November 2021.
The live songs were recorded during the band’s inaugural whistle-stop tour of the US & UK at the start of 2022, which attracted unanimously rave reviews from fans and media alike, celebrating the duo’s debut on stage together with stellar back-up from internationally acclaimed bassist Julia Lage and drummer Bruno Valerde.
Adrian Smith comments, “I think everyone in the band was extremely happy with how our very first tour turned out. We were all naturally a little anxious as we’d never played live together before but once we got out there, everything fell into place really easily and we all had a tremendous amount of fun. I can’t wait until we can do it again and get to play in many more places next time round.”
Richie Kotzen adds, “We spent a lot of time discussing which of the songs from the live show to include on this CD. We wanted to capture an accurate snapshot of the special vibe we all felt on the tour, and I think we’ve achieved this in the songs we’ve selected, and hope our fans will agree. We’re looking forward to seeing everybody again on future tours.”
The original EP tracks were produced by Richie Kotzen and Adrian Smith & mixed by Kevin Shirley. The live tracks were produced and mixed by Richie Kotzen & Adrian Smith.
Better Days ...And Nights tracklisting:
Days:
"Better Days"
"Got A Hold On Me"
"Hate And Love"
"Rise Again"
Nights:
"Hate and Love" (Live)
"Got A Hold On Me" (Live)
"Scars" (Live)
"You Don’t Know Me" (Live)
"Running" (Live)
"Got A Hold On Me" (live) video:
"Hate And Love" (live) video:
