THE WINERY DOGS Share Music Video For 'Breakthrough'

THE WINERY DOGS, the powerhouse trio consisting of guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen, bassist/vocalist Billy Sheehan and drummer/vocalist Mike Portnoy, have released a music video for the song "Breakthrough". The track is taken from the band's critically acclaimed and aptly named third album, "III", which was released February 3 on the band's Three Dog Music label (via Burnside Distribution/The Orchard) and is available on all digital formats. The first two videos from "III", "Mad World" and "Xanadu", were filmed in Los Angeles last November.

"We wanted to release a third video for the album and honestly, it wasn't easy to decide," states Kotzen. "We went with our song 'Breakthrough', because it's already in the live set and is a song our fans have been talking about with us during our meet and greet sessions. Particularly the lyrics and the storyline, 'Because we're who we are, we'll never be what we were,' feels like it is resonating with folks. Rather than do a full-blown script video with actors, we went with a performance style video of the song. Our longtime friend and videographer, Vicente Cordero, came out to visit us on the road and we told him to 'shoot it all. Get as much footage as you can and we shall put something together.' Here it is…we hope you dig it."

The second leg of THE WINERY DOGS' "202III World Tour" included sold-out shows throughout Latin America, and it concludes tonight in Monterrey, Mexico. They'll head out for the third leg, West Coast U.S. dates, beginning May 17 in Los Angeles, California at the Regent Theater before heading over to Europe for two runs in both the summer and fall. Ticket and VIP package info can be found on the band's official web site.

In a recent interview with Robert Cavuoto of Myglobalmind, Portnoy said that THE WINERY DOGS could not exist without any one of its three members. He explained: "[That's] especially [true] with a trio. I mean, if you have a band of four or five people, maybe you could sub somebody out if somebody's sick or somebody can't do a tour or whatever. But when you're down to only three people, those are usually three distinctive personalities. You look at RUSH, look at ZZ TOP, look at THE POLICE, look at KING'S X — I mean, these power trios… CREAM… You have to have those three personalities to make up that sound and style. And it's the same with THE WINERY DOGS. I don't think we could sub out any of us for a show or for a tour. It has to be Mike, Billy and Richie or it can't be THE WINERY DOGS."

"III" is the follow-up to the band's critically acclaimed and Billboard-charting album "Hot Streak", which was released October 2, 2015 on Loud & Proud Records via RED (a division of Sony Music Entertainment). After landing in the Top Five on many of Amazon's pre-order charts, including No. 1 on the Amazon BestSellers/Hard Rock chart and No. 1 on the Amazon Pre-Orders/Hard Rock Albums charts, it sold 30% more than their 2013 self-titled debut, landing them on various Billboard album charts including No. 2 on "Top Current Alternative Albums," No. 5 on "Top Current Hard Music" and "Top Hard Music Albums," No. 6 on "Top Current Rock Albums" and "Album Core / Genre Rock," No. 15 "Top Current Physical Albums," No. 16 "Top Current Albums," and No. 30 on the "Top 200 Albums" chart.

Upon its release, "Hot Streak" racked up rave reviews. Allmusic.com hailed, "'Hot Streak' is the trio's second album, and its loose, friendly feel shows that the trio doesn't feel compelled to rely on instrumental pyrotechnics. The bluesy, soulful 'Think it Over' would appeal to those who admire THE ALLMAN BROTHERS, while 'Captain Love' shows that the band also has some hard rock energy to unleash, and the title track lets fly some of the technical proficiency that its members are known for." And GuitarInternational.com praised, "'Hot Streak' picks up where their debut CD left off, but showcases the band coming into their own with straight-ahead rockers like 'Oblivion', 'Captain Love' and 'Devil You Know'."

Photo credit: Travis Shinn