By Andrew Bansal
The Winery Dogs is a new band that brings together the talents and collective brilliance of three monstrous musicians Mike Portnoy on drums, Billy Sheehan on bass and Richie Kotzen on guitar and vocals. The trio released their self-titled debut album earlier this year, and are currently on a US headline tour. The music of the band retains the individual qualities of each of the three virtuosos but also presents something new that comes from their collaborative writing. So far, whoever has heard the album and/or seen the band live has had nothing but positive things to say, and if you’re even remotely a fan of any of these guys, this band is more than worth checking out. Recently, I spoke to Richie Kotzen about the formation of the band, what it’s like for him to be working with Sheehan and Portnoy, his gear setup, guitar playing style, touring and more. Check out the conversation below, along with a couple of their music videos.
The Winery Dogs debut album was released earlier this year and you’ve done some shows since then. What has the journey been like for you so far, playing with Billy Sheehan and Mike Portnoy in this band?
It’s been a lot of fun! I’ve got to say that I’m really pleasantly surprised with how well the record has been received. The reality is, we were in the studio and we kind of did what we wanted to do. We didn’t really have a plan other than just recording the songs that we wrote together. We did that, we recorded the album here at my house and handed it off to Jay Ruston to mix. And suddenly we’re getting this great response. So we’re all pleasantly surprised and excited, and looking forward to doing more shows. It’s been really cool.
Sheehan and Portnoy are such virtuosic musicians. When you started writing and recording this album with them, was it a challenge for you at all?
Well, not to sound like I’m tooting my own horn but I’ve been lucky enough to play with amazing musicians for most of my career. I made records with Jeff Berlin and Greg Bissonette, I was on tour with TM Stevens, I was in a band with Stanley Clarke and Lenny White, and had some amazing guys play on some of my solo records. So luckily and thankfully, I’ve been able to work with players that are really at a superb level. That has done a lot for me as a musician, specially playing with guys like Billy Sheehan and Stanley Clarke, that have their own definitive sound on their instrument. There is so much to learn from everyone, even guys that aren’t on that level. You still learn stuff in music from playing with other people, and that’s the great part of it.
Exactly. So, I guess you must have been asked this before but I’m just curious as to how you actually got involved in The Winery Dogs.
Well, I got a phone call from Eddie Trunk and he basically told me that Billy Sheehan and Mike Portnoy wanted to do a power trio-style band and needed something that could sing, write songs and play the guitar. Eddie has been a longtime supporter of mine, so he suggest that they call me. So I got on the phone with Portnoy and we just kind of started throwing ideas around. It sounded like a good plan to at least get together and see what we could come up with creatively. So we did it at the studio that I have here at my house, and on the first day I think we wrote may be three or four songs. They weren’t finished songs but they were templates for songs, and according to Mike Portnoy, the first thing we ever played together was the riff that became the basic idea for the song ‘One More Time’. That’s a riff I just had lying around, started playing it and that was one of the first things we actually worked on together.
That’s awesome, man. Your guitar playing over the years has been a pretty diverse mix of styles, with rock, blues, jazz and all of that. But in terms of the guitar playing you’ve done for this particular band, how do you describe it? Is it more rock-oriented or is it still a mix of everything?
I think my playing on this record is more consistently aggressive. We do have some mellow songs on the record but in general, it’s a more aggressive record. It’s heavier than what I normally do. I do play songs on my own that are heavy, but record is more consistent in that quality. It’s stylized in a sense that when you listen to the record, you really know that you’re listening to three guys playing together. But also, if you’re familiar with my work or Billy’s work or Mike’s work, you can identify who’s playing. You know that’s Billy Sheehan playing bass if you’re familiar with him. You know it’s Mike Portnoy playing drums and the same goes for me. It’s really important and what that means is, although all three of us have a distinct sound, none of us lost our identity in the process of making the record, which I think happens a lot when you get into these situations where three guys go in a room and record an album. It’s hard for everyone to have a voice equally, but I think we’ve achieved that on this record.
In terms of your gear, have you done anything specific to achieve the sound on this album or have you kept to your standard setup?
I did pretty much what I normally do. I was using Fender amps and I linked them together. For example, a lot of the times you’re hearing the Fender Vibro-King mixed in with the Vibro-Lux custom. It just depends on what tone you’re going for. Occasionally I mix the Marshall into that also. I have a 20-Watt Marshall that I use, and it has a really cool sound. I used my Fender signature model guitar which is the actual guitar that I play. If you go into a Sam Ash store and pick that guitar up off the rack, that’s the guitar I play. It’s great for me because if I go somewhere and lose my guitar, I can just order one.
Right! I also read somewhere that for the signature model you actually use the Fender Japan guitars.
Yeah, there is no Fender US guitar. In other words, my guitar has been in production since 1996 and it’s made in Japan. So, the guitar that I play and tour with and the one you see me with is just one of those guitars that they sent me, and I’ve got a couple of them. They make them in Japan and they do a great job. The only do two things when I get the guitar. I take the finishing off the neck. Fender won’t ship the guitar without some kind of finishing on the neck because of the liability of something happening to the wood and it getting damp or whatever. So I take the finish off, and I also do a drop-D tuner. And then, this other device that I found is very cool. There’s this company called N-Tune that makes these little discs that you put under the volume knob. You lift that up and you can tune the guitar, so the tuner is built in the guitar. And you can put that in the guitar without doing any modifications or routing. It fits in perfectly. So those are the modifications I make. Other than that, I’m playing the same guitar that everyone else plays if they buy it.
You started out as a guitar player at a very young age, but obviously this Winery Dogs record, amongst other things, shows that you’ve really developed as a vocalist. These days do you consider yourself as much a singer as a guitar player?
I do! I get the question asked to me as to if I have to pick one of them, which one would it be. I would never pick one or the other. It’s got to a point where it’s really melded into one thing. I wouldn’t put myself in a position where I had to choose. Every time I write a song, the first thing I’m thinking about is what am I going to sing over it. Either that or it starts with a vocal melody. So it’s really one and the same for me and it has grown into that over time.
Talking of the touring part, at the time of publishing this interview, you would complete a European tour and be on a US run of dates. But recently you did a Brazil tour as well. How did that go?
It was great! I love playing South America. It has been a very strong market for me as a solo artist. So I knew when I was going down there with The Winery Dogs that it was going to be very strong as well. We had a really amazing response, all the shows were sold out.
What is the general set list you’re playing in these shows? Is it just the Winery Dogs material or do you throw in some covers and stuff like that?
Well, we do all the songs from The Winery Dogs record including the bonus tracks. There’s one song that’s only available on the Japanese version and there’s another that’s only on the US version. So we do all 14 songs that we wrote together and then I have a spot where I come out and do one of my songs alone on an acoustic guitar, and then the band comes in and joins me on a song I wrote called ‘You Can’t Save Me’, which is off of my record ‘Into The Black’. And then from that, we segway into ‘Shine’ which Billy and I did with Mr. Big. So that’s kind of an interesting little moment there, and then we have Billy doing a bass solo which is really cool. It’s almost like a song within itself. And there’s one cover song that we play at the end of the set. We do an Elvin Bishop song that I just love to sing, called ‘Fooled Around And Fell In Love’.
That sounds awesome. So, I have just one more question for you. Mike is in a few other bands and Billy is in Mr. Big, obviously. But for you, is this band the main priority or do you have other things that are equally important at this point?
The reality is, like you said, everyone has other things that they do. I’m very different in the sense that I really don’t do bands. I mean, I’ve had stints with Poison and Mr. Big, but since 1989 I’ve been making my own records, releasing them and doing tours for them. That’s what I do. I do Richie Kotzen. I don’t do anything else. Even in The Winery Dogs, I’m still doing Richie Kotzen (laughs). So for me, nothing has really changed. I just have a kickass rhythm section and we wrote some killer songs together, but for Richie, it’s business as usual. What’s going to happen next, I have no way of knowing. I know that everyone is very excited about the record, we’re thrilled about the response we’ve got on the tour, but will I make another solo record? Absolutely. Will Mike do a project with somebody else down the line? Absolutely. Will Mr. Big do a reunion? Probably! That’s all great, and there’s no reason for that not to happen. If that does happen, it doesn’t mean that the Winery Dogs is over. It just means that we’re musicians, we’ve played music our whole lives and that’s what we’re going to continue to do in varying capacities.
Visit The Winery Dogs on the web at:
facebook.com/TheWineryDogs
twitter.com/TheWineryDogs
Remaining US Tour Dates:
Wed 10/9 – San Francisco, CA -Yoshi’s
Thu 10/10 – Portland, OR – Star Theatre
Fri 10/11 – Seattle, WA – Crocodile Café
Mon 10/14 – Denver, CO – Soiled Dove
Thu 10/17 – Milwaukee, WI – Potawatomi Casino
Fri 10/18 – Palatine, IL – Durty Nellies
Sat 10/19 – Effingham, IL – Effingham Performance Center
Mon 10/21 – Pittsburgh, PA – Altar Bar
Tue 10/22 – Poughkeepsie, NY – The Chance
Wed 10/23 – New York, NY – Eddie Trunk 30th Anniversary Party
Fri 10/25 – Clifton Park, NY – Upstate Concert Hall
Sat 10/26 – Niagara Falls, NY – Hard Rock
Sun 10/27 – Allentown, PA – Maingate Nightclub
Tue 10/29 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
Wed 10/30 – Patchogue, NY – Emporium
Thu 10/31 – Pawtucket, RI – The Met
Sat 11/2 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Ballroom
Thu 11/5 – Cincinnati, OH – Mad Frog
Wed 11/6 – Ft. Wayne, IN – Piere’s