Flying Colours will enter the studio in December, drummer Mike Portnoy confirms.
The former Dream Theater and current Winery Dogs sticksman is set to join keyboardist Neal Morse, guitarist Steve Morse, bassist Dave LaRue and singer Casey McPherson to write the follow-up to 2014’s Second Nature later this year.
He tells One On One Mitch Lafon: “We’re pencilled in to reconvene in December and begin writing, so that’s the plan. We’ll start writing at the end of this year, we’ll possibly have something out by 2017. We’ll see how the process goes when we get under way in December.”
Portnoy recently announced he’d perform his 12 Step Suite in full for his 50th birthday at the Cruise To The Edge festival in Florida in October – a concept piece which details his experience with alcoholism. He recalls how his longtime collaborator and friend Morse supported him during his road to recovery in the early 00s following Dream Theater’s Scenes From A Memory tour.
Portnoy says: “I first got sober in April 2000 – and coincidentally enough, my last drink was with the Spock’s Beard guys. We were on tour together and my last night of drinking was the last night of that tour.
“I got on the plane the next day and went home, immediately sought help and surrendered. Neal was a big part of my recovery and support system during that time – and it was not much long after that where he found God and became a born-again Christian, and he left Spock’s Beard and Transatlantic as well at the time.”
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He continues: “Both of us went through huge personal changes around the same time and I think we were both supportive to each other. With my sobriety, he was really supportive and with his change, I was still there for him and we maintained that musical relationship.
“We’ve been through a lot together and lots of ups and downs over the years. He’s genuinely one of my closest friends on earth.”
The Neal Morse Band will release their as-yet-untitled concept double-album this year. They have a number of tour dates scheduled this month in Europe following Portnoy’s US run with Winery Dogs.
Neal Morse Band tour dates 2016
Jul 17: Loreley Night Of The Prog, Germany
Jul 18: Eindhoven De Effenaar, Netherlands
Jul 19: Malmo KB, Sweden
Jul 20: Oslo John Dee, Norway
Jul 21: Gothenburg Pustervik, Sweden
Jul 22: Stockholm Debaser Medis, Sweden
Jul 25: Keuruu Iso Siotto, Finland
Winery Dogs tour dates 2016
Jul 05: Buffalo Tralf Music Hall, NY
Jul 08: Houston Warehouse Live, TX
Jul 09: Dallas Gas Monkey, Bar N’ Grill, TX
Jul 10: San Antonio Alamo, TX
