Winery Dogs / Self Titled / Loud & Proud Records / Producer: The Winery Dogs / Score: 10/10
The Winery Dogs formed with a little help from radio personality Eddie Trunk. Bassist Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big) and drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) needed a replacement to fill the shoes of former Whitesnake guitarist John Sykes. Trunk recommended blue-eyed soul singing guitar phenom Richie Kotzen (Mr. Big), and a band was born.
The Winery Dogs have chops galore and the maturity to reign in their mad skills to create strong accessible songs with passionate execution. It’s an album melding blues-rock, soulful ballads, and contemporary hard rock with Kotzen bringing the soul in buckets. Highlights include, “Desire,” “Elevate,” and “One More Time.”
-Oscar Jordan
