The Winery Dogs – the supergroup headed up by Richie Kotzen, Mike Portnoy and Billy Sheehan – have announced they will be releasing their first studio album in eight years in just over two months’ time.
Titled III, the long-awaited follow-up to 2015’s Hot Streak will arrive February 3, 2023, and has been previewed by Xanadu – the record’s high-octane lead single, which is headed up by some superb electric guitar and bass guitar interplay from Kotzen and Sheehan.
Though listeners may be tempted to think of a more prog-leaning track of the same name from the late ‘70s, The Winery Dogs’ Xanadu is a classic rock beast in its own right, featuring bounding guitar-and-bass hooks, infectious riffs and some world-class soloing from the former Mr. Big guitarist.
At the 2:22 mark, Kotzen continues his red hot form with a knock-out guitar solo – one that, had it arrived a few months before, would’ve almost certainly been included in our best guitar solo of 2022 poll.
And, in case you were wondering, yes – that is the sound of Portnoy throwing his drumsticks at the end of the song. However, the Dream Theater co-founder explains it was done “not in frustration, but very much in satisfaction of what we had just done.”
Furthermore, according to Portnoy – who calls the single “a barnburner” – Xanadu is “one of the fiercest tracks on the album."
Check out the track below.
As well as announcing their new album, The Winery Dogs have also dropped a host of tour dates for next year, with the supergroup set to embark on a sprawling tour of America, South America and Europe next year.
The US leg of the tour will kick off on February 15 at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and conclude on April 6 at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl.
Three shows in Brazil, meanwhile, will take place on the 27, 28 and 30 of April, with the band set to conclude their tour with 11 European dates across the month of June.
For a full list of tour dates, and to preorder III, head over to The Winery Dogs' website.
