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The self-titled debut album from THE
WINERY DOGS, the power trio featuring drummer Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER,
AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ADRENALINE MOB), legendary bassist Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG,
TALAS, DAVID LEE ROTH) and guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen (MR. BIG, POISON),
sold around 10,200 copies in the United States in its first week of
release to land at position No. 27 on The Billboard 200 chart.
"The Winery Dogs" was released in North America on July 23 via Loud
& Proud Records and in Japan on May 15 via Victor Entertainment. The CD was
mixed by Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, ADRENALINE MOB,
STONE SOUR and STEEL PANTHER. Sheehan previously stated about the effort:
"I'm really pleased with it. Richie sang his ass off and played amazingly
unique stuff, and, of course Mike annihilated on drums. [It's a] really cool,
unique record."
"In all of my years in this business, I've always been part of either a
progressive band or a metal band," said Portnoy. "This is the first
time I've been in an all-original band that's just a rock band in the vein of
LED ZEPPELIN or VAN HALEN."
He
added: "It's so refreshing to just play straight-ahead music with lots
of twists. Obviously, the musicianship is great in this band, but it's
very song-oriented."
Regarding how THE WINERY DOGS got its name, Portnoy said: "It was Richie's
name. We had a list of about 50 names. I had about 10 that I preferred over THE
WINERY DOGS, but you know, when you're in a band, you have to give and take and
choose your battles, and Richie really, really loved this band name. So, you
know, it was, like, 'OK.' A name is a name. If you feel that strongly about it,
then go for it. So
that's who we are."
"The Winery Dogs" track listing:
CD:
01. Elevate
02. Desire
03. We Are One
04. I'm No Angel
05. The Other Side
06. You Saved Me
07. Not Hopeless
08. One More Time
09. Damaged
10. Six Feet Deeper
11. Criminal
12. The Dying
13. Regret
DVD (limited edition, only available in Japan):
01. Elevate
02. Desire
03. I'm No Angel
THE WINERY DOGS will guest on the nationally syndicated radio show
"Rockline" with host Bob Coburn on Wednesday, August 14 at 8:30 p.m.
PT / 11:30 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to speak with THE WINERY DOGS by
calling 1-800-344-ROCK (7625). The show will be streamed on the
"Rockline" web site for two weeks beginning the afternoon after the
live broadcast.
THE WINERY DOGS will take part in a in-store performance and signing session on
Tuesday, August 6 at Vintage Vinyl in Fords, New Jersey.
DEEP PURPLE
singer Ian Gillan was interviewed earlier this year on the Buenos Aires,
Argentina radio station Vorterix Rock 103.1. You can now listen to a clip from
the chat in the YouTube clip below.
Asked if he ever felt the desire to reconnect with former DEEP PURPLE guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore, especially in the wake of the passing of DEEP PURPLE
keyboardist Jon Lord in 2012, Gillan replied: "Not in the slightest. Yes,
we were very much in close touch with Jon; I had dinner with him in Tokyo, I
had dinner with him in Paris, we were always sending e-mails to each other,
and, of course, the relationship
was fantastic. Jon left the band over ten years ago, but he was still very much
our personal friend and, of course, the godfather of DEEP PURPLE. As far as
Ritchie was concerned, that's a different story altogether. I think we cut the
thing…
"The band was dying."
He continued: "If you want to talk about Ritchie, I guess we have to; not
many people do these days. But the truth of the matter is, from a historical
point of view, the band was dying. If Ritchie had stayed in the band, it would
have been the end of DEEP PURPLE. The shows were getting shorter and shorter,
the audiences were getting
smaller and smaller. We were playing in small halls, and they weren't
even full — they were half empty — and Ritchie was walking off stage every
night. And so, when he left 20 years ago, it stopped raining and the sun came
out, and Jon Lord, amongst others, started walking up straight; his personality
re-emerged. So did Roger Glover and Ian Paice; they became they were people
originally, instead of fending and cowering in case they upset Ritchie. And so
this situation ended, and we're all glad it ended, and we had to rebuild. And,
of course, now the distance of time is so great that we
just remember the good times. And we remember Ritchie as a great
player, a great performer, a great writer, and I remember him as my
roommate; I used to share rooms with him. But something happened with Ritchie,
and that's the end of that. So we remember the past as it was; it was
completely and totally different to Jon Lord.
"And so, no, I have no desire to pick up the phone to Ritchie, or have
dinner with him, or meet him in Paris or Tokyo. I hope he's well, and I hope
he's happy. And that's the end of it."
Soundcrave
Magazine conducted an interview with drummer Brann Dailor of Atlanta
progressive metallers MASTODON on July 19 at the Camden, New Jersey stop of
this summer's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. You can now watch the chat
below.
Asked about the progress of the songwriting sessions for MASTODON's follow-up
to 2011's "The Hunter", guitarist Bill Kelliher told Artisan News:
"We haven't really come to the lyrical concepts yet. That's usually the
last thing that comes. We're usually focused on the music and getting
all the parts and everything sounding 'balls to the wall,' you know what I
mean?! That's the most important thing. And then once we've got all
that settled and recorded, we're always scrambling for lyrics and ideas
and stuff. We're getting a little bit better at it, and I think Brann's
[Dailor, drums] got a lot of ideas for vocal melodies and stuff like that. I'll
play the riff and he'll kind of sing along, and I'm, like, 'OK, that
sounds really proggy, but really awesome.' I'm really, really excited
about it. But as far as what it's gonna be dealing with, it's a little
too early to tell; it's pretty fresh stuff right now. I mean, we've got
some demos, but they're really, really rough."
Kelliher also spoke about possible lyrical themes that might be covered on
MASTODON's next album. He said: "Death always makes for really good story
telling. It's kind of the theme that we have a lot in our music. We've had a
lot of friends pass away since the last record. I'm not really sure yet. I
think we're kind of focusing more about living on this earth and what
would happen if this was your last year to live. I think that's sort of
maybe a little bit of what we might be kind of touching on."
He added: "Art reflects life — how you're feeling and your mood. I played
a riff for Brann and he was, like, 'That sounds kind of happy. Are we happy
now?' I
don't know… I am; I'm a pretty happy guy. So that's kind of how we work; it's
pretty simple. But we'll have to see. I really like the way 'The Hunter' went;
that was not a total change in direction, but we just kind of
proved to ourselves that we can just write stuff that we think sounds
cool, and it doesn't have to all flow together, it doesn't have to all
sound the same. It can be totally different without a concept. So I
think that really opened up my mind at least to, like, 'What if I write
something like this? Is that gonna be cool?' And we're all on the same
page right now with all the songs — the 30 or so songs we've gathered so far.
So we'll just have to see how it goes."
MASTODON's latest album, "The Hunter", came out in September 2011
through Reprise Records.
Drummer Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS,
DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ADRENALINE MOB) has tweeted a photo of a gift
that he received from a fan during THE WINERY DOGS' current South American
tour. He wrote: "Got this from a fan...kinda cool, but also kinda creepy!!
Maybe it's a Blabbermouth voodoo doll?? : ) "
THE WINERY DOGS is the power trio featuring Portnoy, legendary bassist Billy
Sheehan (MR. BIG, TALAS, DAVID LEE ROTH) and guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen
(MR. BIG, POISON).
THE WINERY DOGS' self-titled debut album was released in North America on July
23 via Loud & Proud Records and in Japan on May 15 via Victor
Entertainment. The CD was mixed by Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with
ANTHRAX, ADRENALINE MOB, STONE SOUR and STEEL PANTHER.
Portnoy announced his departure from ADRENALINE MOB last month due to
"scheduling conflicts." A replacement drummer has not yet been
announced.
Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER more than 27 years ago, abruptly quit the
band in September 2010 while on tour with AVENGED SEVENFOLD. He has since been
replaced by Mike Mangini (ANNIHILATOR, EXTREME, JAMES LABRIE, STEVE VAI).
Portnoy played on AVENGED SEVENFOLD's latest album, "Nightmare",
following the death of that band's drummer, Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan,
and toured with them for the entire second half of 2010.
In a recent interview with Ghost Cult
Magazine, former AFTER FOREVER frontwoman and current REVAMP vocalist Floor
Jansen — who has been performing with Finnish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH
since last October as the band's touring singer — was asked if she would be
willing to front NIGHTWISH permanently if she were asked to fill the slot.
"I've
been asked to fill in for the current world tour and for a couple of
festival dates, but what will happen after that is still unclear," she
replied. "NIGHTWISH will take a break after the current touring
cycle and they'll make a decision next year. Until then, everything is
still up in the air."
She continued: "If they would ask me, I
would be very flattered and I would love to do it. It will be a major
overhaul in my life and my career as a singer, but then again, we're not
rushing things.
"Both the guys in NIGHTWISH and I have
experiences with previous band breakups and all emotions that come with
it. It's almost like dating. Things feel good and it's going well, but
we're not in a rush to tie the knot, so to speak."
Jansen made her live debut as the frontwoman of NIGHTWISH on October 1, 2012 at
Showbox Sodo in Seattle, Washington following the abrupt departure of the
band's lead singer of five years, Anette Olzon.
NIGHTWISH keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen has known Jansen
for more than 10 years already, having previously toured with her former band,
AFTER FOREVER.
Asked about the reasons for Olzon's sudden exit from the group, Tuomas told
U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine: "I'm sure it came as a shock to everybody.
We came out with a statement [regarding the split], which pretty much says it
all. It
still is a private matter, and that's all we wanna say about it, like,
ever. It was an amicable divorce, so to say, and made in good spirit,
and we are just looking to the future. There really is no reason to go
back into all the details and all that. I mean, this is not politics,
this is a rock band."
Regarding whether there is a chance that Floor will become the official new
NIGHTWISH lead singer, Tuomas said: "The way that we have decided is that
we're gonna continue with
her until the end of the festival season in 2013 — just have fun, just
do the shows the best we can. I mean, the atmosphere in the band is so
good at the moment, [we want to] just enjoy this what we have right now. They
try not to think about NIGHTWISH at all for a few months.
Everybody take a little vacation. And we already have the rehearsal
place for the next album booked in 2014 — from July to September. So
that's how far we have planned. But when we do the last festival show
next August, after that, it's gonna be total nothing for a few months.
So I would say everything is possible, but that's really not the thing
that we want to be thinking about right now, because there's absolutely
no reason to."
