The Winery Dogs’ Richie Kotzen and Billy Sheehan talk improv, adrenaline, and the importance of balancing godly chops with songs

Richie Kotzen gave Winery Dogs fans a bit of a scare back in 2017 when he announced that the supergroup trio (which also includes bassist Billy Sheehan and drummer Mike Portnoy) would be “taking a break,” a phrase commonly uttered – along with “we’re going on hiatus,” another good one – when a band is close to kaput.

“I probably overstated the point, and it caused some confusion,” Kotzen now says. “We toured pretty hard on our first two albums, and we just needed to catch our breath. That’s really all there was to it. It was a break – lots of bands take breaks. The last thing you want to do is tour to the point that you’re burned out.”

As it turned out, the band’s hiatus didn’t last long, and by 2019 they were back on the road while making plans to record their third album. 

“We were feeling fired up again,” Kotzen says. “But then the Covid pandemic hit and everything pretty much stopped. We couldn’t play anywhere. Nobody could play. So we just decided to take our time and work on the album.” He pauses, then adds, “And I think it’s our best one yet.”

He just might be right. The Winery Dogs already aced their way through their sophomore album (2015’s Hot Streak), and on album number three – which just so happens to be titled III – they prove they’ve got plenty of gas in the tank. 

Right from the get-go, the band lets us know they’re not messing about. Xanadu, a walloping hard rock chest-beater, busts out of the gate with an outrageous, almost absurd guitar and bass unison riff – and the energy stays pinned throughout the 10-song set. 

But while the highly pedigreed chopsmiths toss out ferocious licks as easily as they breathe – the time-shifting barn burner Pharaoh and the righteous blues-rock album closer The Red Wine feature colossal moments of warp-speed musical mojo – they wrap all the fancy-pants stuff around widescreen hooks and solid arrangements that go down easy.

“Everybody in the band has achieved notoriety in musicians’ circles, but when we get together, we really try to concentrate on writing songs,” Sheehan says. “Each one of us has a love of classic rock bands, soul and R&B, and they all have one thing in common: great songs.” 

He notes that the spunky, slinky groover Mad World exemplifies his affection for Sixties and Seventies Motown. “It’s got that feel, so I was thinking of the Temptations and one of my bass heroes, James Jamerson, when we cut that track. I think it’s one of the best songs on the record.”

Interestingly, when the three bandmates convened at Kotzen’s home studio in Los Angeles to start work on the album, they had no songs at all – as in none. “It sounds scary, but it’s my favorite way to work,” Sheehan says. “There’s a certain amount of tension when you plug in and look at the other guys; it kicks your ass on an improvisational level and forces you to make something happen.”

Kotzen agrees, saying, “Too many musicians freak out about writer’s block. I’ve never really had that problem, because my general attitude is, if something wants to be written, it’ll get written. If you have to beat yourself up on a song, it’s best to move on to something else.”

Detailing the writing process for III, Kotzen explains that Sheehan and Portnoy would start jamming, which inevitably sparked the guitarist to respond with riffs and scat-singing. “Before you knew it, we had skeletons of songs,” he says. “I didn’t try to write actual lyrics for a while, though. I like to live with the music, so over a period of a few months I tried a bunch of things out and thought about what I wanted to sing. Then I did my thing and sent the songs off to the boys for their input.” 

The manner in which Kotzen composed lyrics and sang vocals differed dramatically from how he cut guitar solos. “My general attitude toward solos is always the same: ‘Let’s go for it and see what we get,’” he says. “I like the fire and adrenaline rush of being on the spot. You start with nothing and suddenly it’s like, ‘OK, something’s there.’ Sometimes I’ll get a solo that’s an immediate keeper; most of the time I’ll keep the front and back, and I’ll say, ‘The middle is garbage. Let me fix that.’”

For all three members, aligning their schedules hasn’t always been easy. Kotzen maintains a thriving solo career and has also enjoyed success with his ongoing collaboration with Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith, while Sheehan and Portnoy busy themselves with a host of musical activities that include yet another supergroup, the prog-flavored Sons of Apollo. 

Having not toured in four years, Kotzen, Sheehan, and Portnoy cleared the deck for 2023, and are concentrating exclusively on the Winery Dogs. 

“Whenever you have a band in which the members do other things, it can get a little crazy,” Sheehan says. “Fortunately, this band is a three-piece, so that makes things a bit easier. We’ve got the first round of dates right ahead of us, and we can’t wait to take this record on the road. Thankfully, there’s a lot of excitement from the fans, so here we go!”

• III is out now via Three Dog Music.