THE WINERY DOGS, consisting of drummer MIKE PORTNOY (ex-DREAM THEATER), bassist BILLY SHEEHAN (MR. BIG), and guitarist / vocalist RICHIE KOTZEN (ex-POISON) will release their self-titled debut album on July 23rd. All three band members are featured in a new Guitar World interview; an excerpt is available below:

Q: Some people have called this project a supergroup. Would you say that’s an accurate assessment?

Sheehan: "I don't think so. Most super groups are short-lived and usually have internal problems. We're pretty easy going whenever we're together. The supergroup title is also a high-pressure name to live up to. We didn't get together to try to capitalize on what we've done before. We wanted to do something that was straight out of the box."

Q: Where did the name Winery Dogs come from?

Kotzen: "What’s funny is that in the collaboration of making this record, everything was easy and just happened so naturally. The hardest thing was actually coming up with a band name (laughs). I had suggested the name The Winery Dogs. They were dogs that were used many years ago to guard vineyards and keep stray animals from screwing up the vines. I thought that was cool because in a weird way, it parallels what we're doing musically. Many artists these days have gotten more into programming and using samples.

Even though some of those new records are cool and creative, they're not necessarily made by musicians in the sense of what we know a musician is capable of doing on an instrument. So, where winery dogs are protecting the vineyard, we're protecting (or promoting) the old-school thought of making a record by playing an instrument and not sampling or tuning your vocals."

Portnoy: "I think for Richie, the name also conjures up old school feeling; like THE ROLLING STONES or THE BLACK CROWES. It had that kind of a feel to him.

Sheehan: "We're the ones waving the flag for people who want to really play and sing as opposed to faking it. Holding down the fort against the onslaught of the artificial."

Click here for the complete interview.

The Winery Dogs' live itinerary for 2013 is as follows:

July

24 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Teatro Rival
26 - São Paulo, Brazil - Carioca Club
27 - Belo Horizonte, Brazil - Music Hall
28 - Porto Alegre, Brazil - Opinião
30 - Santiago, Chile - Teatro Nescafe Del Arte

August

1 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Teatro Flores
3 - New York, NY - B.B. King Blues Club and Grill
4 - Lancaster, PA - Chameleon
7 - Newton, NJ - Newton Theater
8 - Chicago, IL - Reggie's

September

5 - London, England - Islington 02 Academy
6 - Zoetermeer, Holland - Boerderij
7 - Saarbruken, Germany - Garage
9 - Aschaffenburg, Germany - Colos-Saal
10 - Hamburg, Germany - Knust
11 - Berlin, Germany - Lido
13 - Munich, Germany - Theaterfabrik
14 - Cologne, Germany - Gloria
15 - Paris, France - La Maroquinerie
17 - Prattein, Switzerland - Z7
18 - Milan, Italy - Live Club
19 - Karlsrue, Germany - Substage
21 - Barcelona, Spain - Apolo
22 - Madrid, Spain - Joy Eslava
23 - Lisbon, Portugal - Paradise Garage

October

3 - Agoura Hills CA - The Canyon
4 - Las Vegas, NV - Vamp'd
5 - San Diego, CA - Ramona Mainstage
6 - San Juan Capistrano, CA - The Coach House

The Winery Dogs features the following 13 songs:

'Elevate'

'Desire'

'We Are One'

'I'm No Angel'

'The Other Side'

'You Saved Me'

'Not Hopeless'

'One More Time'

'Damaged'

'Six Feet Deeper'

'Criminal'

'The Dying'

'Regret'