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When did you begin playing the
slap bass?
I started playing upright around
1982-83. I had just started
college at the University of
South Carolina, and was trying to
start a band with me singing and
playing guitar, but we could
never find an upright bass player.
I volunteered to get a bass and
teach myself to play it, since I
had taken three or four electric
bass lessons in the eighth grade.
When I finally found one, it
immediately felt right in my
hands.
Who were your greatest
musical influences?
I taught myself to slap to Johnny
Burnette and the Rock ‘n’
Roll Trio album. I had a Sun
compilation tape I listened to a
lot. The first music that really
got me excited was the Ramones,
the Clash, Elvis Costello, Joe
Jackson; first Police record. I
found that same energy when I
started investigating ‘50’s
rockabilly, and fell in love with
all those records, too.
What brand of bass do you
play?
¾ scale blonde Kay, early ‘40’s.How
many do you own?
Just the big banana right now,
the bass I played on “Jump,
Jive and Wail”. At one time,
I had three.
Who are some of your
favorite slap bassists?
The late Dorsey Burnette, Willie
Dixon and Bill Black.
How did you break into
the music business?
I moved to Nashville [Tennessee],
sat in with a band on my upright,
got invited to be in a video
because I looked “rockabilly”;
met Eddie Angel on that video
shoot, and he said he was
starting a band. I said I play
doghouse. That’s how I got
in on the ground floor of the
Planet Rockers.
What are some of your
memories of the Planet Rockers
and your time with them?
Wow. This is a tough request. I
remember the Planet Rockers being
a great looking band onstage. We
looked like a band. We sounded
like a band. I didn’t
realize, at the time, how rare
that is. The chemistry, the vibe;
that ingredient “x”
that you just can’t put your
finger on. We had a lot of fun.
Many people don’t
realize that you toured with
Emmylou Harris for some time
during the 1990s. Describe that
experience.
It was an incredible honor to be
asked to join the Nash Ramblers.
To be included in the long line
of stellar musicians she had had
in her hands was humbling. I got
a lot better quickly. I had to. I
could go on and on about how
wonderful those three years were.
They changed my life musically,
professionally and personally. I’ll
always owe Emmylou a huge debt of
gratitude for hiring me. She was
really cool to work for.
You’ve played with
an assortment of musicians from a
variety of genres. How are you
able to adapt to a certain music
style so quickly?
Well, I don’t really have to
do it all that quickly. I usually
know beforehand what the gig I’m
on calls for. You might get a
curve ball on a songwriter
session occasionally but, if they
hired me, it’s usually
pretty country/bluegrass/roots
oriented.
How did you and Brian
Setzer meet?
He was scheduled to appear on
Ricky Scaggs’s Monday Night
Concert series that was being
taped at the Ryman Auditorium [in
Tennessee] for TNN. The music
director called and hired me to
be in the house band, so there
would be a slap bass player to
back Brian. That’s the first
night I met him. There was a
great unscheduled portion of the
show where Brian, Elvis Costello,
Marty Stuart and Ricky Scaggs
decided to do a tribute to Sun
Records. I found myself in a
dressing room at the Ryman with
all those guys, rehearsin’
Sun songs. Overwhelming. I’ll
never forget that.
You performed with the
Brian Setzer Orchestra until 2001.
Why did you leave the group?
During my tenure with the
Orchestra, my wife and I had
twins which, in addition to our
two daughters, brought our total
number of children to four. I had
a hard time being away from them
for long periods of time, so I
chose to get off the road.
You’ve also performed with
Setzer and fellow Stray Cats
member Slim Jim Phantom on a
handful of shows. Did you feel as
though you would be compared to
the group’s bassist, Lee
Rocker?
Sure, I thought about that. When
they called me about those two
gigs in Japan, I was extremely
honored. At first, I thought it
was just gonna be us in a club
situation, and that worried me;
that I might be pelted by
tomatoes by irate fans who wanted
all the Cats there. But when I
found out it was a huge festival
with a bunch of bands and 10,000
people, I knew I’d be out of
range of projectiles—or at
least I’d see ‘em
coming. Brian and Jim treated me
so great. It was a wonderful
experience. When we all met in
the lobby of the hotel that first
night to go over to the gig,
Brian and Slim Jim looked so
Stray Cats—hell, they were
them! It hit me then, I’m
going to be on stage with the
Stray Cats. Couldn’t help
feeling 18 again!
Tell us about reuniting
with Brian Setzer for his
Rockabilly Riot album.
So, so cool to be back in a
studio with Brian and [BSO and
’68 Comeback Special drummer]
Bernie Dresel. It was rockin’
from the downbeat of the first
tune. Brian picked some great Sun
songs, rare and classics. To be
recording those songs with
someone of Brian’s stature
was a thrill; just a blast all
the way around.
You’ve finally
released your first solo record,
All These Young Punks.
I’m very proud of it. I
think that everyone should rush
to www.cdbaby.com/mwwinchester and buy
one immediately. I played my
’61 Harmony Rocket guitar on
it. No bass—probably not a
clever disclosure, given I’m
being interviewed about my bass
playing, huh?
Who performed with you on
the album?
Larry Atamanuik, who played drums
in Emmylou’s Nash Ramblers,
played drums. He’s supported
my excursions into solo projects
since the Nash Rambler days. When
I first started playing out, I
somehow found out about a
wonderful musician in town named
Dave Francis, and from the first
time he played electric bass for
me, I just knew he got where I
was coming from. He’s on the
whole record. Jim Hoke is a
genius musician living in
Nashville. Many years ago, he
came up after a Mark W.
Winchester Trio gig and said he
had a friend working at a label,
and would I let him cut some
sides on me to send him. Four
songs on the new record are from
that session. When I finally got
around to finishing it, I asked
Jim to help again, and play sax.
We got the best engineer—in
my opinion—in town, Neil
Cappelino, who recorded those
earlier tracks, and we finished
the record in about four days. It
all fell right back in place.
What was the inspiration
behind the album’s title?
“All these young punks”
is a line from a song on the [Crickets’s]
album called Back in Style. It
seemed to fit as a title, because
this record is a batch of songs
that reflect my British pub rock
influences, more so than my
rockabilly influences. It won’t
be what fans of my slap bassin’
would expect, although I don’t
think anyone will be disappointed
or bored. It’s another side
of what I do that not a lot of
people are hip to…yet.
Thanks for your time,
Mark. Are there any closing
comments or thoughts that you’d
like to share?
Rockabilly has a special place in
my heart, obviously, and I truly
love to slap the bass. It’s
like my “free” space on
the bingo card of life, and I’m
grateful to have been given the
talent to do it, and the
opportunity to do it with some
seriously rockin’ cats over
the years.
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