Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith and The Winery Dogs frontman Richie Kotzen shared a new single, “Running.” It’s a heavier track compared to the first two singles from their upcoming album Smith/Kotzen, “Taking My Chances” and “Scars.” The full project is due March 26 on BMG.

“Running” is a song about time passing while escaping present problems. Kotzen sings during the chorus with his remarkably raspy vocals, “And in the end I guess I’m running/Yeah I’m running from myself/So I can feel alive.” Aside from the catchy melody of the lyrics, the song’s all about hard rock power chords and guitar solos.

“It’s a really cool sort of driving track, one of the heavier ones on the album and we’re excited to get it out there ahead of the album release,” Smith stated via press release. “We’ve both been thrilled by the reaction to our music so far and are very much looking forward to meeting up again as soon as we can, to write some more songs together.”  

Kotzen added, “Running was the first song Adrian and I worked on. Adrian came in with that heavy verse riff which led me to conjuring up what lives as our chorus to the composition.  Running is surely one of my top three favorites on the Smith/Kotzen album and I really look forward to playing this one live.”

Smith has been one of Iron Maiden’s guitarists since 1980, joining after their self-titled debut. He took a break from the band during the 1990s but he and lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson returned in 1999. 

The biggest band that Kotzen was a part of was Poison. Although he was only with them from 1991-1993, he was their lead guitarist at that time. He was also briefly a guitarist for Mr. Big, and has been the frontman for The Winery Dogs since the trio formed in 2012. As a solo artist, he’s released over twenty studio albums.