It would almost be too easy to call The Winery Dogs just a “supergroup”: Singer and guitarist Richie Kotzen made history with Poison and Mr. Big, bassist Billy Sheehan played together with Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, Talas, UFO and many others and drummer Mike Portnoy is among other things cofounder of the prog metal icons Dream Theater. But The Winery Dogs are so much more than just a supergroup. Formations like these are usually fleeting stars, compiled of talented musicians who jam together for a while and hastily record an album, hoping they might capture the spark and immortalize it on tape. They are the sum of their parts. The Winery Dogs are entirely different – this trio is a genuine band, a unity that exceeds all expectations with its thrilling sound.

Their eponymous debut album is filled with straight rock’n’roll which is inspired by the band members’ favourite bands and combines the different styles each of them is noted for. This dynamic explains how The Winery Dogs play with their established styles and develop them into something really special. All this is completed by Sheehan’s acrobatic bass play and Kotzen’s swift solos, providing the sound with a certain recall value as well as absolute individuality. The foundation of The Winery Dogs was laid back in 2011 when Sheehan and Portnoy were working together with another guitarist and songwriter (John Sykes, Ex Thin Lizzy, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Whitesnake, Blue Murder). When it wouldn’t really gel a common friend – Eddie Trunk, host of the US radio show “That Metal Show” – suggested to contact Kotzen in order to ask him if he was interested in founding a new band.