Mike Portnoy and John Sykes?!?

PORTNOY / SHEEHAN / KOTZEN To Issue Debut Album In May As THE WINERY DOGS

Drummer Mike Portnoy (ADRENALINE MOB, FLYING COLORS, ex-DREAM THEATER), bassist Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, TALAS) and guitarist Richie Kotzen (ex-POISON, ex-Mr. Big) teamed up in the summer of 2012 for a new project which has now been officially dubbed THE WINERY DOGS. An official release for Japan via Victor Entertainment has been confirmed for May, with other territories due to be announced soon. They have officially launched a Facebook page for the band, which can be viewed here.

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No vocalist? So, it's instrumental-only stuff? I'll pass...
 
No vocalist? So, it's instrumental-only stuff? I'll pass...

From http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/m2780180.aspx :

When asked to describe the musical direction of the project, Portnoy said, "It's a classic-rock kind of power-trio sound. If you picture the classic-rock bands of… the classic ones — [LED] ZEPPELIN, CREAM, [JIMI] HENDRIX, GRAND FUNK [RAILROAD] — if you take that classic-rock power-trio sound of the early '70s, and then you sprinkle it on top with some of the modern kind of sounds of SOUNDGARDEN and ALICE IN CHAINS or BLACK CROWES or LENNY KRAVITZ… It's in that vein; it's kind of a [mixture] of all of those bands. But on top of it all you've got the phenomenal playing that Richie and Billy do, and I could play a couple of things on the drums as well [chuckles], so... And all three of us are singing — Richie is the lead vocalist, obviously, but me and Billy are also singing."
 
From http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/m2780180.aspx :

When asked to describe the musical direction of the project, Portnoy said, "It's a classic-rock kind of power-trio sound. If you picture the classic-rock bands of… the classic ones — [LED] ZEPPELIN, CREAM, [JIMI] HENDRIX, GRAND FUNK [RAILROAD] — if you take that classic-rock power-trio sound of the early '70s, and then you sprinkle it on top with some of the modern kind of sounds of SOUNDGARDEN and ALICE IN CHAINS or BLACK CROWES or LENNY KRAVITZ… It's in that vein; it's kind of a [mixture] of all of those bands. But on top of it all you've got the phenomenal playing that Richie and Billy do, and I could play a couple of things on the drums as well [chuckles], so... And all three of us are singing — Richie is the lead vocalist, obviously, but me and Billy are also singing."

Thanks for the precision. With vocals, I'll surely check it out...
 
Been jamming to a lot of Richie Kotzen lately. Dude rips as a guitarist and is an awesome songwriter. And his voice is awesome. I am definitely looking forward to this, even if the band name does suck ass...
 
After watching these three videos, I'm sold on the album. I think this is easily the best post-Dream Theater band that Portnoy has going right now. It sounds to me like a Chris Cornell-fronted Mr. Big, which is actually a pretty cool idea. I always knew that Kotzen had a pretty good voice, as I'm familiar with a decent chunk of his early material, but it seems like age has really done his voice well. I really hope they do some stateside shows.


Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert