Watch Mike Portnoy play along to The Winery Dogs, Xanadu with drum cam footage

The Winery Dogs - the power trio comprising Mike Portnoy, Ritchie Kotzen and Billy Sheehan - returned to action this week with a brand new single, Xanadu, and now, Mike Portnoy has uploaded footage of himself playing along to the track on his YouTube channel.

Shot in Mike’s home practice room, the video gives us a close-up shot of his playing on the up-tempo, bluesy funk-rocker, but we get additional footage of Mike performing his backing vocals too.

The description adds some trivia regarding the chorus lyrics, where Portnoy explains that when he recorded his backing vocals, Ritchie Kotzen hadn’t sent him the lyrics so he’s singing “Maybe I’m Justin”, having misheard the song’s actual line, “Maybe I’m jesting”.

Earlier this week, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness uploaded a video to his YouTube channel titled “F****n Hell! This is RIDICULOUS!!” where he revealed that he hadn’t heard The Winery Dogs until now, and shared his thoughts on Xanadu, also picking up on the “Maybe I’m Justin” line.

The Winery Dogs will release their third album, III in February 2023, with UK tour dates set throughout the year. For more information, click here.

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Stuart has been working for guitar publications since 2008, beginning his career as Reviews Editor for Total Guitar before becoming Editor for six years. During this time, he and the team brought the magazine into the modern age with digital editions, a Youtube channel and the Apple chart-bothering Total Guitar Podcast. Stuart has also served as a freelance writer for Guitar World, Guitarist and MusicRadar reviewing hundreds of products spanning everything from acoustic guitars to valve amps, modelers and plugins. When not spouting his opinions on the best new gear, Stuart has been reminded on many occasions that the 'never meet your heroes' rule is entirely wrong, clocking-up interviews with the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Foo Fighters, Green Day and many, many more.