THE WINERY DOGS, featuring drummer Mike Portnoy (ADRENALINE MOB, FLYING COLORS, ex-DREAM THEATER), bassist Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, TALAS) and guitarist Richie Kotzen (ex-POISON, ex-Mr. Big), have signed with Loud & Proud Records, who will issued the band's self-titled debut album in North America on July 23rd. Sheehan recently spoke to Dabelly.com about the band; an excerpt from the interview is available below:

DB: The resulting album is excellent. I love the fact that it’s raw in the sense of being honest, not over produced. All of the instruments come right at you.

BS: "Most of it was played pretty live, pretty one take-ish. We like that a lot. The most successful record that I have ever had came from just sitting down and playing rather than figuring it out, punching in and overdubbing. The Eat 'Em and Smile (DAVID LEE ROTH) record was like that. The Mr. Big Lean Into It record was like that."

DB: Well, again, I love the honesty in the record. I think some of what is missing from the radio these days is back-to-basics music, songs that sound good because they are good. Let’s just roll some analog tape without the gimmicks.

BS: "You know, I was an early adopter of the digital tape revolution. I was a big fan of it but I think the reason I was a big fan was because it was easy. You can hit a few buttons and have everything. It’s also easy to mess around with the music after you’ve recorded it. So I like the urgency that digital recording allows you. But the other side of digital recording is that you can endlessly tweak things forever! You can squeeze all the life out of a song completely. The song can be technically perfect and spiritually corrupt."

DB: It seems like the endless tweaking has been tried with varying degrees of success.

BS: "It’s funny, I don’t know too many records that really benefited from that as opposed to so many records that were just sort of thrown together and they work. They live and they breathe and survive the decades without ever fading away."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

The Winery Dogs have confirmed an in-store performance and signing session at Vintage Vinyl in Fords, NJ on August 6th. Wristbands provided by the store are required in order to attend. Go to this location for details and updates.

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

July

16 - Osaka, Japan - Matsushita IMP Hall
17 - Tokyo, Japan - Nippon-Seinenkan
18 - Tokyo, Japan - Akasaka Blitz
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'