By Andrew Catania
Billy Sheehan is knоwn fоr hіѕ wоrk wіth Tаlаѕ, Stеvе Vаі, Dаvіd Lее Rоth, Mr. Bіg, Nіасіn, аnd Thе Wіnеrу Dоgѕ. Shееhаn hаѕ wоn thе “Bеѕt Rосk Bаѕѕ Plауеr” rеаdеrѕ’ роll frоm Guіtаr Plауеr mаgаzіnе fіvе tіmеѕ fоr hіѕ “lеаd bаѕѕ” рlауіng ѕtуlе. Shееhаn’ѕ rереrtоіrе іnсludеѕ thе uѕе оf сhоrdіng, twо-hаndеd tарріng, rіght-hаnd “thrее-fіngеr рісkіng” tесhnіԛuе and соntrоllеd fееdbасk.
Shееhаn’ѕ ѕіgnаturе Yаmаhа bаѕѕ раttеrnеd аftеr thіѕ іnѕtrumеnt. Shееhаn аlѕо uѕеѕ twо аmрѕ tо асhіеvе hіѕ ѕіgnаturе tоnе, оnе wіth full dіѕtоrtіоn аnd nоtсh fіltеrіng tо ѕоund more guіtаr-lіkе fоr ѕоlоѕ, аnd оnе ѕuреr-сlеаn fоr thе lоw еnd оf thе nесk рісkuр.
Shееhаn’ѕ fіrѕt full-tіmе bаnd wаѕ Tаlаѕ, a роwеr trіо wіth Dаvе Cоnѕtаntіnо оn guіtаr аnd Pаul Vаrgа оn drumѕ. Thе bаnd рlауеd a mіxturе оf соvеr ѕоngѕ аnd оrіgіnаl mаtеrіаl, аnd аll thrее іnѕtrumеntаlіѕtѕ аltеrnаtеd оn lеаd vосаlѕ.
Tаlаѕ wаѕ a рорulаr lосаl bаnd іn Buffаlо fоr оvеr a dесаdе, аttаіnіng a сult ѕtаtuѕ whісh ѕрrеаd іntо thе nоrthеаѕt US аnd Cаnаdа. In 1978, Tаlаѕ rеlеаѕеd thеіr ероnуmоuѕ dеbut аlbum, whісh gеnеrаtеd thе rеgіоnаl hіt ѕіnglе, “Sее Sаw.” It wаѕ durіng thіѕ tіmе thаt Shееhаn wrоtе “Shу Bоу” (lаtеr rе-rесоrdеd wіth Dаvіd Lее Rоth), аnd “Addісtеd tо thаt Ruѕh” (lаtеr rе-rесоrdеd wіth Mr. Bіg).
In thе lаtе 1970ѕ, Shееhаn аlѕо рlауеd іn a bаnd саllеd Lіght Yеаrѕ wіth drummеr Rоn Rоссо whо hаd еаrlіеr рlауеd іn a bаnd саllеd Blасk Shеер wіth Fоrеіgnеr ѕіngеr Lоu Grаmm іn Rосhеѕtеr, NY. Aftеr Shееhаn hаd rеturnеd tо Tаlаѕ, thеу ореnеd a ѕhоw fоr UFO іn Buffаlо. Thіѕ lеd Shееhаn tо аn аѕѕосіаtіоn with guіtаrіѕt Mісhаеl Sсhеnkеr аnd аlѕо hеlреd lаnd hіm thе jоb tоurіng wіth UFO іn 1983.
Tаlаѕ‘ fіrѕt nаtіоnаl еxроѕurе hарреnеd іn 1980 whеn thеу ореnеd thіrtу ѕhоwѕ fоr Vаn Hаlеn. Hоwеvеr, ѕuссеѕѕ wаѕ еluѕіvе, аnd еvеn аѕ thеіr brаnd оf whаt саmе tо bе knоwn аѕ “glаm mеtаl” gаіnеd рорulаrіtу оvеr thе nеxt fеw уеаrѕ, Tаlаѕ rеmаіnеd аn unѕіgnеd асt, duе lаrgеlу tо рооr mаnаgеmеnt. Thеу іndереndеntlу rеlеаѕеd thеіr dеbut ероnуmоuѕ “Tаlаѕ” LP оn Evеnfаll Rесоrdѕ (rеіѕѕuеd bу Mеtаl Blаdе) аnd thеn “Sіnk Yоur Tееth іntо Thаt” оn Rеlаtіvіtу Rесоrdѕ.
Sееkіng tо tаkе Tаlаѕ furthеr thаn juѕt rеgіоnаl ѕuссеѕѕ, Shееhаn rеfоrmеd Tаlаѕ wіth аnоthеr drummеr (Mаrk Mіllеr), guіtаrіѕt (Mіtсh Pеrrу, аlѕо lаtеr оf Hеаvеn). And a dеdісаtеd vосаlіѕt, Phіl Nаrо, wіth whоm іn thе lаtе 1970ѕ Shееhаn hаd рrеvіоuѕlу wоrkеd іn hіѕ ѕіdе рrоjесt (thе Bіllу Shееhаn Bаnd). Tаlаѕ wоuld rеlеаѕе оnlу оnе mоrе аlbum, Lіvе Sрееd оn Iсе. Aftеr Mіtсh Pеrrу hаd lеft thе bаnd, hе rерlасеd bу Jоhnnу Angеl, whо рlауеd guіtаr wіth thеm fоr thеіr 1985/86 US tоur ореnіng fоr Yngwіе Mаlmѕtееn’ѕ Rіѕіng Fоrсе. Thеrе wаѕ a fоurth Tаlаѕ rесоrd, tеntаtіvеlу tіtlеd “Lіghtѕ, Cаmеrа, Aсtіоn” tо bе іѕѕuеd оn Gоld Mоuntаіn/A&M, but іt nеvеr gоt раѕt thе dеmо ѕtаgе duе tо Shееhаn lеаvіng tо jоіn Dаvіd Lее Rоth’ѕ ѕоlо bаnd. Shееhаn аlѕо аudіtіоnеd fоr Tоrоntо bаѕеd rосk bаnd Mаx Wеbѕtеr, Shееhаn bеіng a lоng tіmе frіеnd оf Mаx Wеbѕtеr ѕіngеr guіtаrіѕt Kіm Mіtсhеll whо frоntеd Mаx Wеbѕtеr frоm 1973- 1981
In thе еаrlу 1980ѕ, Shееhаn bесаmе іnvоlvеd wіth thе рrоtо-thrаѕh mеtаl bаnd Thrаѕhеr, durіng thіѕ tіmе hе ѕhаrеd thе ѕtаgе wіth futurе Anthrаx guіtаrіѕt Dаn Sріtz. Hіѕ іnvоlvеmеnt wіth Thrаѕhеr dіd nоt lаѕt lоng, but hе dіd рlау оn twо ѕоngѕ frоm thе ѕеlf-tіtlеd LP, whісh hаѕ nоt rеlеаѕеd оn CD tо dаtе.
I spoke with Billy to discuss The Winery Dogs new Live CD/DVD and unreleased EP coming out on August 4th, 2017 and his current and future plans.
Congratulations on your new Winery Dogs Disc, it sounds great, you guys always sound great vibes [Thanks a million] I was going to ask you, was it the band’s idea to put out the live DVD or was it more like the record company?
BS: Well as far as with the Winery Dogs when we put things out, it was pretty much our decision. We had done one on the first tour, but we got kind of, at just launching the band and starting out and our first shows, there are a billion details to deal with. So what somebody managed to sneak into the deal was, they’ll be recording the first or second show you ever do in your lives, for a DVD. We thought of it when we got home was ‘Oh my God! We hadn’t even played the song live yet at all’ we had never performed it yet. So now we going to shoot the DVD, so ‘well, ok, here it goes, ’ and it came out pretty good though. At one point, I think one of us started the wrong song or mixed up one song with another, but we left it in, with mistakes and all, pimples and all, we left it together, and it did well, and people enjoyed it. So we thought ‘well next time we do it we will have something to do with not only when we do it but also where we do it’ because of the audiences in Japan, we love them, but sometimes they are a little sedated. They just sit quietly and watch, you know, rather than being up and jumping up and down.
So ironically, the next tour that we did, after we had already booked the DVD shoot in Chile, the audience in Japan went crazy, they were out of their minds, it was hilarious. So I thought ‘Oh man we shouldn’t have done Japan again, ’ but we just spread it around a little bit. Fair enough, so we did the Santiago, Chile and the audience was spectacular. Any place in South America or Mexico, they are always fantastic and almost everywhere that we play the audiences always have a degree of that kind of enthusiasm. We did a show in Paris, and you could not fit another person in the building unless you would have cut them into pieces and stuff them in, (Chuckle) it was so crowded, and they went out of their minds. It was a fantastic duo. There were so many shows we thought ‘oh, we wish we had video taped that one.’ So, fortunately, Santiago was the show, and at the end, we said ‘thank goodness we decided to do the video here, ’ and we got I believe, an incredible night captured very well.
You guys have always sounded tight band just being a 3-person band. Was the Winery Dogs an idea that Eddie Trunk threw at you guys just to line you up or was that more of a collaborative effort of you and Mike and Richie to do it?
BS: Eddie was certainly impetuous for us to find Richie because of Mike and me, we wanted to do a band, and we talked with John Sykes. We did a couple of meetings, and there were a few demos, and I knew right away from the beginning that the chemistry just was not there. John’s a lovely guy and a fantastic player, but we weren’t all on the same page. So we bid him a friendly farewell, all good, and then Mike said to me ‘do you know any singing guitar players?’ And I said ‘well, Jeez, let me think about it.’ And I don’t know why I didn’t think of Richie because I go up and jam with him when he plays here locally and we’ve worked together a lot. I did a tour with him in Japan in 2000 something, opening for the Stones, five shows in Japan, so I’ve played with him a lot, I know him a lot, he’s a dear friend. And I don’t know why it just blanked out on that and so Eddie Trunk said ‘you guys should get Richie Kotzen.’ Of course! Why didn’t I think of that? So sure enough, we got in touch with him, went over and had a little meeting, and here we are The Winery Dogs. So yes, Eddie certainly was instrumental in helping the band get together and also on top of it, as he does with so many bands, he’s such a great supporter of music and bands and players. He’s enriched musicians and the musical community significantly, with support and help and promotion and he’s a dear, a dear friend of ours, and we love him completely.
When you guys did your first album, did you demo it before you played it? Or did you guys just go in there like Mr. Big and it was done in like six days?
BS: It was done quickly. We did it in Richie’s studio, so he knew the studio well. And no, we didn’t demo anything. It was just kind of, once we knew what the song was and had played it through and had an idea of it, we may lay down several versions of it, but just so we had an idea of it so we could make sure and learn it and know it so that when we had to record it, we could perform it and record it, as opposed to trying just to try to remember it and record it. When you’re performing it, it’s way different than trying to remember something and manage to get it down on a recording. When you’re performing it, you’re free to move and move around musically and relax with it and experiment with it a little bit. You always get some special magic moment, and we did, we got a lot of special magic moments on that first record. So Lean Into It, Eat Em and Smile and the first Winery Dogs records are my top three that I’ve ever been involved with.
Did you guys do anything different with Hot Streak?
BS: We did pretty much the same thing except we did the drums in an external studio, well a lot of stuff we did in the external studio. I think Richie’s was in the middle of construction and this thing and we decided to go to an outside studio, and that was a lot more mics and a lot more rooms and a lot more drums. When you leave, especially for Richie, when you leave your house and go somewhere to record, it’s a different vibe than when you’re sitting around in your house, and then you go to another room to record, because the phone isn’t ringing or people aren’t showing up, and you’re really concentrating more. We needed it too because we wanted it quick, and we wanted to move fast because for that type of pressure which brings about better music and also not to just spend unlimited cash in a studio when you don’t have to.
In the old days, that was kind of how it was you know. You didn’t have unlimited cash, you went in, you’d do your songs, they’d hit record, you’d be done, and that would be it. So the spirit of that is what we always try to get and so Hot Streak was very much like that.
How is it different working with Richie Kotzen who also sings, say versus working with Paul Gilbert on Mr. Big?
Well, they’re two separate people so two different finger prints, and DNA. It is a whole different thing in many ways, and then again, there are similarities. I mean, it’s just two completely different styles of playing, and Richie is quite an accomplished singer, as good a lead singer act as it gets, honestly. And Paul has his world of supreme talent and ability that’s in his direction, Richie goes to his leadership and so I never really think about it, too much about the differences, but they are of course great talent.
Now regarding your playing, you have played with all the superstars, Steve Vai, and just about everybody. With the Winery Dogs live DVD out is there any talk of touring? Are you going to have to juggle the Winery Dogs and Mr. Big?
We did that on a ship one time. We did it on one of the Monster Rock Cruises. I did the Winery Dogs and Mr. Big, I did double duty, and it was cool, so I managed to pull it off. But no, right now we’re going to finish off this year with Mr. Big, and then we’ll decide what our schedule will be for Winery Dogs, how, when, where, what, and probably start writing at the end of the year.
For Winery Dogs I think we’re doing something smart up front, in my humble opinion anyway, not to be self-aggrandizing, but we’re not going just to do album tour, album tour and album tour. After Hot Streak we traveled all over the world, we had a great run. We said you know what? Let’s take some time and get inspired so that we come back; it will be fresh and new again. Pretty much like those first two records, because we were still learning each other and learned things about each other and coming up with ideas that were fresh. So when you spend 4 years together, 3 or 4 years together, it’s great to back off and then when you come in again it’s all fresh and new, we’ve all lived lives, Richie is off doing his thing now, Mike’s off doing his thing and I’m doing Mr. Big and a bunch of other stuff.
When we get back together again, we’ll have a whole big vocabulary of stories to tell as well as musical ideas that mean something to us rather than just forcing it out because the schedule says it’s time for a record and I think that’s a wise thing that we’re doing in the Winery Dogs, approaching it in that fashion. So I believe that we’re going to wait until the end of this year to start writing and I’m always writing anyway. So I’ve always got a couple of pieces of music that I’m working on that ‘this might work for Winery Dogs or ‘this might be a Mr. Big thingy’ or whatever. So we’re always at it.
Would you ever consider doing a solo album at this point in your career?
BS: I’ve done three, and I have the foundations for another one, but it’s just a matter of being able to get the time. And I think, who knows, at the end of this year when we’re writing for the Winery Dogs I just might be able to slip it in. I use the ear of a good buddy of mine on drums, he’s just a spectacular player, and hopefully, he’ll be done touring at that time too, and we’ll put something together. But yeah, I probably will again.
You are such an accomplished bass player, is there anything more that you would like to accomplish with the instrument that you haven’t?
BS: Yeah, lots more. The adventure never ends, I mean I’m still learning every day, some new thing. I just want to do more; I want to play better, I want to play stylistically broader, I want to go back and revisit things I used to play years and years ago that I haven’t played for a long time, visit them and rehabilitate my ability to play them. I’ll go back and listen to things I played on the record, and I have no idea how I did that. So to relearn it again is like learning it brand new, all over again. So it’s always exciting. I don’t know what 100% would be, but I think I’m at 5% or 6% of what I’d like to accomplish on the instrument.
And then I hear some classical pianist yesterday on the classical radio where some 14-year-old girl from China sits down and goes through a Rock Mononoph, with blistering, mind blowing expertise and ability and I think to myself, who do I think I’m kidding? That’ is a real musician, so those are the people that I listen to inspire me when I hear something (unclear) I think man, I’m barely a beginner. And that’s not a false sense of modesty, it is true, underneath, there is no limit to how good you can get and I will relentlessly pursue it as long as I breathe.
That brings up the YouTube questions that I ask. Do you think the streaming services of YouTube have cheapened making music? I guess it seems like the mentality is everyone wants something for free now when you guys go ahead and work your butts off on an album?
BS: I don’t think so; I believe that it’s a way for music to reach more people than ever before. I know many people sit down with YouTube and you scroll through, scroll through, scroll through, find great stuff, get inspired by it, play, listen, go out and see that band or that musician play live because we all know you can’t download a live performance. You can see a video or see it whatever, but there’s nothing like being in a room with people of liked minds and watching real performers that do it on stage, and that will never change. The virtual reality goggles or whatever else, it will never be like that. Maybe in a Thousand years, it might be, but I think we’ve got a good 400 or 500 until it starts to encroach upon that.
So, I don’t mind it; I think it’s a great thing; more music for more people in more ways. Yeah, there’s not much money in the record business anymore, but that’s ok. I’ve never been money motivated; I didn’t become a musician to get rich. I became a musician because I love playing music and there were girls. So that was, but no, in fact, that is probably half true with most players in the world. But anyway, it doesn’t bother me at all. I’m glad that there are more ways for more people to get more music. I’m quite an ‘aficionado’ of my iTunes, and I’ve got everything on my hard drive, at any given moment I can find anything from anywhere, somewhere in my collection. I’ve got about 2T of music in my music collection, and it’s glorious to sit down on Saturday night with a glass of wine and a bunch of friends and start scrolling through things and listening and inspiring, and it’s a great thing. So no, I’m not opposed. I was an early adaptor of all things digital, from the very beginning. So especially with recordings, digital recordings and the ease of it, and no longer being a slave to the tape machine and its idiosyncrasies, anybody with a laptop now can make a record that’s as good or better than what you could do in a 10 Million dollar studio in the 70s or the 80s. So it’s evened the playing field in a lot of ways.
And similar to desktop Publishing, when that first began everyone was bemoaning the idea that ‘wow, there are going to be so many writers, writing so many books, we’ll have like thousands of great books every year. We won’t even know what to pick from’. No, the same amount of books, good books were written before desktop Publishing and after it. Sure enough with music, everybody that has got a laptop has the equivalent, again, to a Ten Million dollar studio back 30 years ago. You would think everybody would be putting out these amazing records, but no, the same amount of good music comes out, just about every year, the same number rises to the top, and it’s pretty even. So I think that the digital recording revolution levels the playing field and it gives everybody a chance. But it’s interesting to see that there’s still that same amount of talent out there, as there was before that too. So I think it’s a fair representation and you’ll see the hits and likes of any particular piece of music or whatever, how popular it gets. People are getting good at tracking down the things they like and finding it and pursuing it, and the digital revolution will spread it everywhere.
You just did a reunion with Talas?
Three days ago. Yeah, we posted it all over the slide footage. There’s footage of me with the GoPro camera on my headstock, and it’s all over the place. But it was the Version 2 Talas. There were 2 Talas (unclear) of the three piece band, mostly in Buffalo and then the four piece band that went on and toured quite a bit more in the USA. Most people know the 4-piece Version for which we just had a reunion for the first time in 32 years, but we’ve had a few reunions with the Buffalo Version, back in Buffalo, starting in ’97 that we did a few through the years, but they don’t play anymore (the guys in Buffalo), so we got together with Version 2, did a benefit for the fire department near Rochester New York, and we had a spectacular time.
I know you’ve been asked these hundreds of times but, is there any word from David Lee Roth about a reunion?
BS: Haven’t heard, I’m ready if he decides to do it. I’m willing to go, I would love to play with him in any capacity, so it’s really up to him, it’s his thing, it’s his decision, and I respect him for that. I would be forever grateful to date for having him bring me to LA, start a band with me, Eat ‘em Smile. He’s still my hero and playing with him in that is like getting my Ph.D. in showbiz 101, and it was an incredible experience. So I sure hope we do it some day, who knows? I haven’t heard a thing, but I always try to be an optimist.
I know with the Winery Dogs, and you’re playing out with Mr. Big till the end of the year, is there anybody that you have not worked with that you’d like to?
BS: Amazingly, not actually. The only guy I had such a passion for is Paco De Lucia, a favorite guitarist but he passed away a few years ago and also Rory Gallagher who died long ago. He was one of my all time favorites. So, I’ve been lucky to play with most of everybody that I wanted to. Of course, there’s a lot more guys out there that I’m sure our paths will cross, but I’m very very lucky, and I’m supremely grateful for everything that has happened to me in music, life, and career. And playing with some amazing musicians have certainly been many of the high points.
Well, Billy, you’re a fantastic player yourself.
BS: That’s very kind of you, thank you. I’ll try to live up to that.
How do you feel when someone says you’re one of the best bass players today?
BS: Well, I am of course grateful and appreciative. In my mind, I do view things differently though. I am the one that’s on the inside looking out so I’m always thinking about that mistake or that something I can’t do or slumming that one part of that one song and so I’m always climbing another mountain and not looking back at any moment, but I may have climbed intentionally or inadvertently. I, of course, appreciate it, and there are so many incredible musicians on every instrument, so it’s hard to pick best. It’s like which is better, blue or green? It’s a different color, it’s a different thing, so I understand that, but for someone to make that kind of statement, it being in an email or a comment or to me in person, I, of course, appreciate it, more than I can express and I’m very grateful for that.
And it also inspires me to do better because I want to make sure that if somebody feels that way about me, I keep my game level. Well, you can’t ever keep it level; you’ve always got to be improving it. Because the world moves ahead and if you’re not moving ahead of it then you’re dropping behind. So I’m always working. Yesterday at my rehearsal room with no air conditioner, no window, it was hot and sweaty, but I was playing bass, and I had a riot, and it was great. And today I’ll do similar and work at, work stuff out and come up with new things.
I’ve got a recording session coming up in a few days with some impossible licks on it. See, unfortunately sometimes when people think highly of you, they throw things at you that they’re sure you can do, but they’re impossible. So there’s a baseline in this song by Japanese artists that I just spent the better part of the morning learning the first 5 seconds of it, and so I’ll be hitting it again for a few more hours then I’m going to record it on the 26th. They expect me to walk in, sit down and rip through it and so my reputation precedes me, unfortunately. So I have to work twice as hard on this to make sure and get it right. I know they’ll be videotaping and filming and everything too, so I‘ve got to know my stuff when I walk in there, it’s a tough one. There’s another side to that.
Do you have any performances planned with Steve Vai?
BS: No no, but Steve and I are good friends, anytime he needs me, he gives me a call, I’m happy to play anytime, any how. When we get together, it’s like we’ve never left. We get to jam. I went up and jammed with his band when he came to LA a couple of months back (unsure) got up with him and played a show. Or played a song rather and it’s always cool. Yeah, Steve’s the greatest, and I love him very much. He’s like a brother to me, and we have some musical things in common through the years.
Now, just in closing, I know you’ve got Mr. Big for the rest of the year. Do you have anything surprising in the works that you can’t talk about, but maybe you can hint at or is it just Mr. Big?
BS: Well without the band, I’m involved with what’s called the Fell, and it’s the guys from Smashmouth, and we have quite an incredible record that accidentally happened. He called me last summer; I was just sitting around ‘Hey, my name is Mike, and I used to play with Smashmouth, and we just did a soundtrack, could you come down and lay some bass on it?’ ‘I was like sure.’ We talked, I played some bass, it sounded great. Cool, few more, a couple more ‘could you do a few more?’ ‘Yeah sure.’ Then he said ‘well you know what, I’m thinking about maybe doing a record. I’ll pay your studio time, or if you want you to be on the record we could do like that’. I said ‘Hey I’ll save you some money; you don’t have to pay me. If there’s a record, we’ll deal with that, and if not, we’re cool’. So sure enough, a year later, this album sounds great, and we put out one single and video, and it was exploding all over the place.
So a good problem to have now is how do I squeeze that into the schedule also. But I’d rather have that problem than not have enough work and not have enough things to do and the more bands that I’m associated with means, the more likely I am to be performing live on stage for more nights, and I live to play live. So this is another opportunity for me to play and so I’m very pleased that more of those are on the way and I want to make sure there’s interest on it.
