Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Medley: Muskrat Ramble/ I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag / Stop The Bleeding”?
========= “Fixin’ To Die Rag” by Joe McDonald was inspired by “Muskrat Ramble by Kid Ory”, and l’ve always played the two together, and I play the last piece with it that seemed to fit well after those two songs.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
======== Basically I’ve just been playing these songs together for a long time, and the last piece was something I had that fit on the end to extend the song.
What made you want to put together a complex medley instead of, say, releasing a single song?
======= It’s just how I have always done them. Some songs just fit together well as medleys and seems better than playing just one of the songs alone, and in this case I wanted it all extended actually I don’t do many medleys).
Would you say this complex approach kind of gives a sneak peek into the overall approach for the whole forthcoming material?
======== Not so much, as all the other pieces on the album are single songs alone.
Any plans to release a video for the single?
======= No, I’m not a video person at all, I prefer to let the listener have their own impressions.
As previously mentioned, the single comes off your new album Restless Wind – what’s the story behind the title?
======== I’ve loved the song “The Wayward Wind” since I heard it on a car radio in 1956 sung by Gogi Grant, and it is sometimes referred to as “The Restless Wind”, and I picked the album title since that songs ends the album.
How was the recording and writing process?
======== The recording went pretty quickly, and the two pieces I came up with I came up just happened by themselves, and they fit in this album.
After more than 40 years in the scene – would you call this material a departure or rather a back to roots?
======== I have always played uptempo pieces and ballads, so it is just a normal continuation.
What aspect of the American History did you get to explore on this record?
======= Basically the 20th century, and I am basically a 20th century player (very little from the 19th century and nothing from the 21st. But actually I put the album together for the way these songs as instrumentals fit together in this order.
What else is happening next in George Winston’s world?
========= Continuing touring and recording and working with the other artists I have been producing.