Songs for Showmen

Jesse Winchester's musical style is a southern mash of folk, blues and country. His dulcet voice is smooth and soulful and his melodies comforting. He recorded ten studio albums, but is best known for his songwriting and his ability to say a lot with few words. " I don’t like a lotta words; the fewer the better, the simpler the better... in everything", he told Rolling Stone Magazine. 

When he released his first album in 1970 he was three years into living the life of a struggling musician. He played in bands, toured and did some solo gigs. He loathed the grind of touring and so eloquently expressed his feelings in the song A Showman's Life.  


                                   
Instead of touring, Winchester honed his skill as a songwriter.  He considered himself more of an editor than a writer and worked hard at his craft.  His years of self exile provided focus and perspective.  His songs paint pictures and tell stories grounded in emotion.  Clearly, the feelings expressed are those he experienced.         

His efforts paid off as he made a respectable living selling his music to showmen. His songs were recorded by varied artists ranging from Ralph Stanley to the Everly Brothers, Joan Baez, Jimmy Buffett and the Weather Girls. In 1987 Michael Martin Murphey's cover of his song I'm Going to Miss You Girl reached #3 on the country charts. Bob Dylan said of Jesse Winchester, "You can't talk about the best songwriters and not include him." In 2007 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.