Call him old-fashioned, but George Winston still can’t reckon with the idea of recorded music.
Winston, the creator of a style called folk piano, says playing music should be done in person.
“Records are interesting because if you play you’re playing for somebody in the future, which is pretty weird. Because usually when you play you’re playing for someone there. That’s how we did it for thousands of years, so all the sudden you’re playing for somebody in the future? When you think of it it’s pretty unnatural,” Winston said.
Of course, he’s used to recording music now and has released 17 records, but playing music live is still the center of his career.
Winston began playing the piano solo in 1971, but he’s had a piano playing in his head since he can remember. It’s what he hears when he wakes up until he goes to sleep and that’s how he creates the lilting melodies on his instrument.
“I wake up with a song in my head and it’s already halfway done. It’s already playing. Now I just have to get the fingers going. That’s the hard part,” Winston said.
After decades of playing, it still takes time to learn new songs and pick up the rhythms of certain players.
“The music tells you what to play and then you have to work on playing it well, getting it in the fingers, and that could take years,” Winston said.
The pianist is prone to metaphors and he likes to compare music to the weather. The player piano always speeding through songs in his head is much like the cycles of sunshine and then storms going on outside, he says.
“Music is like the weather, and I’m watching it and I’m adapting to it. You know, I’m adapting to it just playing whatever comes to me,” Winston said.
Another metaphor he repeats often: “Songs are like birds. They’re never staying in the same place,” Winston said.
That’s why the musician favors live performances. On stage he can play what he’s feeling or tailor a show toward its audience.
Winston won a Grammy in 1996 for Best New Age Album and has sold millions of copies of his records. All that recognition for his art and his talent is lost on Winston.
“It’s imaginary stuff. The only thing that’s real to me is what song I am playing for whom,” Winston said.
He spends most of his time touring now, but in off time he records.
“I play for about three to four hours a day. There’s always something new to learn,” Winston said.
An odd side effect of being a lifelong musician is that Winston doesn’t really get to listen to music. He never puts on a record just to sit back and enjoy it.
Winston is always scheming, always thinking about the mechanics of playing rather than the beauty within the song. And that little voice inside his head is likely never to quit, he said.
“My relationship with music is usually if I put it on I want to learn it. I don’t think I ever really listen unless I’m trying to find a song or learn something. I will have silence and then something in my head will play,” Winston said.
Winston will play at The Foundry on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door.
Follow reporter Hilary Butschek on Twitter @hilarylbutschek or at https://www.facebook.com/hbutschek.