“I’m better at making music than explaining the power and legacy of roots music. I love the pure forms, I love amalgamated forms that have the pure forms in their DNA, but I don’t particularly like Genre labels. Music is music.”

Mark W. Winchester: They Got It All

Well-respected roots rock/Americana sidemen; drummer JIMMY LESTER (Billy Joe Shaver, Webb Wilder, Los Straitjackets), bass player/songwriter/singer/bandleader MARK W. WINCHESTER (Planet Rockers, EmmyLou Harris, Brian Setzer), and keyboard player KEVIN MCKENDREE (Lee Roy Parnell, Delbert McClinton, Brian Setzer) form super-groove-group LESTER WINCHESTER MCKENDREE to go it alone, together, on their debut collaborative release, THEY GOT IT ALL (Times Three Records/MAY 29, 2026). The drum, bass and piano (with vocal) trio recorded over two “live” days at McKendree’s Rock House studio in Franklin, TN early this year, focusing on a collection of Winchester’s original songs the three had been performing together on local club dates, brand new material (the unique origins of which we’ll get to), as well as two instrumentals collaboratively conjured in the studio.

(Photo: Mark W. Winchester with Jimmy Lester and Kevin McKendree)

Originally from Monroe, NC, MARK W. WINCHESTER moved to Nashville in 1988. He went on to join Emmylou Harris’ Nash Ramblers, before a stint as a Music Row staff songwriter, where he penned a hit for Randy Travis (‘Would I?’). He later joined the Brian Setzer Orchestra, and has had several of his songs recorded by Setzer, including ‘Rooster Rock’ on which Setzer had Winchester sing lead vocal.

Interview by Michael Limnios            Special Thanks: Karen Leipziger/KL Productions

How has the music influenced your views of the world? What moment changed your music life the most? 

In general, Music influences my mood, my emotions. When I hear music other people have created it substantiates my faith in the fact that creativity is divine. Creating is connecting to whatever it was that set this world and all worlds in motion. So, this most recent music I’ve made and released with Jimmy and Kevin confirms and reinforces my view of the world that says I’m doing what I’m suppose to do-create stuff and put it out there.

Moments are brief. I can’t say there was one moment that changed my music life the most, but I can point to some things that happened that certainly set me on certain paths. One big one was when I told my bandmates in college when we could never find the right style bass player to add to our rockabilly band ( I was playing rhythm guitar and trying to sing lead) that I had taken some electric bass lessons in 8th grade (3 to be exact) and that I would get an upright bass and learn to play it and be the bass player.

How do you describe your sound, music philosophy and songbook? What keeps a musician passionate over the years?

I describe my sound as engaging, rhythmic and lyrically stimulating. My music philosophy is less is best, but more when it’s called for. My songbook is varied because I like and have been influenced by different kinds of music. The main thing I want to do is write good, catchy, memorable songs that help me express the things I’m feeling inside and how the exterior world appears to me.

I can’t speak for all musicians, and I don’t think one thing can keep a musician passionate over all the years they play. I think it is a combination of things, like trying different styles, situations, approaches to stay stimulated. But every musician I think has times when they have to remind themselves why they first wanted to play music, remember those early joyous feelings of learning bit by bit and getting better, reconnect with those feelings and bring them into the present situation they are in. Especially if everything is seeming super serious and stressful. You can’t take yourself or the making of music so seriously, that you forget it’s supposed to be fun.

“In general, Music influences my mood, my emotions. When I hear music other people have created it substantiates my faith in the fact that creativity is divine. Creating is connecting to whatever it was that set this world and all worlds in motion.” (Photo: Mark W. Winchester with Jimmy Lester and Kevin McKendree, well-respected roots rock/Americana sidemen)

Currently you’ve one project release with Jimmy Lester and Kevin McKendree. How did that relationship and idea come about? Do you have any interesting stories about the making of the new album?

Well, I’ve played music with Jimmy and Kevin in different situations for many years in Nashville and out on road tours. I just started to want to re-connect with the things that originally brought me joy with music, as I was talking about before, and that was making up my own songs and performing them live for people. I asked Jimmy and Kevin to start doing some gigs around Nashville playing songs that I’d written and stuff I had released on solo albums in the past and it just immediately felt and sounded great, so we started talking about recording the way we sounded. Kevin is an excellent recording engineer as well as a great musician and we went in his studio.

Interesting stories about making the album? I don’t know, we just have a relaxed, good time making the sound we make together-Not a lot of notable happenings happened over those two or three days we recorded this. It kind of became a theme when we were mixing it though, for Kevin to say, “Is that too much drums? This is a pretty drum-forward mix” and we began to land on and repeat the same answer, which was,“ well, the drummer’s name is first on the record”

How does your hometown that affect your music? Why do you think that Music City’s music legacy continues to generate such a devoted following?

Country music turned into a huge thing and so much great, great music got made here so the mystique of the town endures. Keeps drawing songwriters, keeps drawing pickers. For me, I remember the particular kind of music that started coming out of here at a certain time that made me think- hey that’s a little different, kinda cool- I might could fit in there too. And that has probably been happening all along. The standard fare get a little stale, some new stuff starts coming out and it attracts a young, aspiring creative person to think, “maybe they are doing some cool stuff there.”

Nashville is technically JImmy’s actual home town- he was born here. Kevin and I moved here to pursue music but I get the gist of your question,‘how does living in a “music city” affect the music. I think one big thing is there are a lot of great musicians and you start finding other players that are on your wavelength.

“I’ve really gotten the most satisfaction the last 5 or 6 years when I re-focused on what originally got me excited about music in the first place. Which is writing the best songs I can, getting cool recordings of them and putting little bands together and playing live shows.” (Photo: Mark W. Winchester)

What do you miss most nowadays from the music of the past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of?

The great thing about music from the past is, you can still listen to it. But I’m not a pure nostalgist. I love getting turned on by new music. I think your question is leading me to say, “Oh, music was so much better, back in the day” and that I’m worried that technology or AI is going to ruin the purity of real humans making real music on real instruments- but I have no fear about it. The spark of creativity is born in us humans and comes through us from the original spark from the creation of the universe, and nothing will stop it. People want to express themselves, they want to be heard and understood.

If a type or style of music is bothering you because it doesn’t seem pure or as good as the old stuff, you have great choices- you can stop listening to that and put on some Howlin’ Wolf (which is a damn good option) or keep searching for something new that makes you feel the same way you do when you listen to your favorites. I get so excited when I hear something that is really great and totally modern, because it proves the power of music.

With such an illustrious career, what has given you the most satisfaction musically? Are there any specific memories of your career that you would like to tell us about?!

I’ve really gotten the most satisfaction the last 5 or 6 years when I re-focused on what originally got me excited about music in the first place. Which is writing the best songs I can, getting cool recordings of them and putting little bands together and playing live shows. It was a long process for me to get better and better as a singer, and in the last few years I feel I’ve really improved and sing with more relaxation and confidence than I ever have. The sonic quality of the two-string bass, with the piano, really fit my voice.

I could wax nostalgic about some high points of my career as a bassist for other artists, and I have been very blessed to do a lot of cool stuff, but I’m trying to learn to be a more “in the present moment” kind of person. I can say that the joy I get out of playing music with Jimmy and Kevin is very rewarding at this point in my life and career. We have command of our instruments, I’m writing great songs and singing them stronger than ever- and it’s just pure fun.

What are some of the most important lessons you have learned from your experience in the music paths?

That’s a huge question. It’s been such a personal journey for me. I think one thing I learned and wish I understood earlier is that it’s okay to say, “Can I have a day to think about it, before I give you a decision?” I said “no” too quickly sometimes in my early career, and “yes” too quickly too.

”Country music turned into a huge thing and so much great, great music got made here so the mystique of the town endures. Keeps drawing songwriters, keeps drawing pickers” (Photo: Mark W. Winchester)

What are the lines that connect the legacy of American Roots Music from R&B, Western Swing and Rockabilly to Roots Rock, Americana, Alternative Country and beyond? 

This question is too huge for me to comment on. I’m better at making music than explaining the power and legacy of roots music. I love the pure forms, I love amalgamated forms that have the pure forms in their DNA, but I don’t particularly like Genre labels. Music is music.

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