Mike Portnoy Calls The Winery Dogs His ‘New Home’

The Winery Dogs have really been hitting it off in recent months, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that drummer Mike Portnoy now considers the supergroup rock trio as his new home.

During a recent chat on “Eddie Trunk Live” radio show, Portnoy underlined that the Winery Dogs are not a side project like the other bands he’s involved with, but his primary group.

“We all have cleared our schedule for the rest of this year to focus on The Winery Dogs, and we plan on doing the same next year,” the stickman said. “We plan on riding this cycle – and this band – as far as we could take it. And we all view this as a full-time band; this is not a side project.”

After separating Flying Colors, PSMS and Transatlantic as side projects and singling out Winery Dogs as “the band,” Portnoy explained further, “I view this as my new home. And the way I was in Dream Theater – that was my home and I did other little things when I could, I view the situation here the same.

“Adrenaline Mob, we gave it our best shot, but this, right from the get-go, it just feels great within the band – the internal chemistry is amazing – and also the external reaction has been just off the charts, unanimously supportive and positive.”

Apart from Portnoy, the trio consist of virtuoso bassist Billy Sheehan and singer/guitarist Richie Kotzen.

The Winery Dogs released their self-titled debut record on July 23 through Loud & Proud Records. With 10,200 units shipped in the US within the first week, the album debuted at No. 27 on the Billboard 200 chart.