Kip Winger

Kip Winger (2006)

Charles Frederick Kip Winger (born June 21, 1961 in Denver ) is an American rock musician who first became famous in the 1980s as the bassist in the band around Alice Cooper . He later founded the band named after him, Winger , in which he also plays bass and whose singer he is. He also studied classical music and is the composer of the Ghosts suite .

biography

Kip Winger was born in Denver, his parents were jazz musicians, so he grew up in a music-dominated environment. He took an interest in classical music at the age of 16 after listening to works by composers such as Claude Debussy , Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky in ballet class . Around the same time he sent a demo tape to Alan Parsons , who replied to him personally in a letter. When Winger was selected to sing the Alan Parsons Live Project many years later , he was able to show Parsons this letter.

From 1982 he studied with Sam Guarnaccia in Denver, in 1985 he moved to New York City and worked as a waiter while he studied composition with Edgar Grana.

Winger's first commercial success began when he co-wrote a song from Kix's third album , Midnight Dynamite, in 1985 . At that time he worked closely with producer Beau Hill ( ZZ Top , Ratt ). He met Reb Beach , who worked as the guitarist for the recording of Fiona's album Beyond the Pale , and they later began making music together. In the same year Winger became a member of the band around Alice Cooper and recorded the albums Constrictor and Raise Your Fist and Yell with this . In Cooper's band he met keyboardist Paul Taylor. Since both had an interest in doing something of their own, they left Cooper's band in 1987 and went to New York, where they teamed up with Reb Beach. The three of them recorded a demo that won them a record deal with Atlantic Records and joined forces with former Dixie Dregs drummer Rod Morgenstein. The band initially called themselves "Sahara". On the advice of Alice Cooper, who had remained on friendly terms with Winger, they renamed themselves "Winger" shortly before their debut album was released.

The band released their first three albums in 1988 ( Winger ), 1990 ( In the Heart of the Young ) and 1993 ( Pull ) before the individual musicians went their separate ways to pursue solo careers. It wasn't until 2006 that Kip Winger and Reb Beach brought the band back to life, which has since released five more albums.

Kip Winger recorded the albums This Conversation Seems Like a Dream (1997), Made by Hand (1998) and Songs From the Ocean Floor (2000) as a solo artist , after his band's comeback album (2006) he released From the Moon to the in 2008 Sun . In 2010 he reactivated their school band, Blackwood Creek, together with his brother Nate and guitarist Peter Fletcher . The group recorded an album for Frontiers Records. He also composed a thirty-minute suite entitled Ghosts , which he wrote for strings, piano and harp . The choreographer Christopher Weeldon created a ballet with the same title, which premiered on February 9, 2010 and was performed by the San Francisco Ballet .

In 2011 Winger took part in the recording of Alice Cooper's album Welcome 2 My Nightmare .

Private life

Kip Winger has been married to Paula DeTullio for the second time since July 2004. His first wife, Beatrice Richter, was killed in a car accident in November 1996. He lives in Nashville, where he has his own recording studio .

Discography

Alice Cooper

• Constrictor (1986)
• Raise Your Fist and Yell (1987)
• Trash (1989)
• Welcome 2 My Nightmare (2011)

Winger

• Winger (1988)
• In the Heart of the Young (1990)
• Pull (1993)
• The Very Best of Winger (2001)
• IV (2006)
• Demo Anthology (2007)
• Seventeen The Demos Vinyl Limited Edition (2007)
• Winger Live (2007)
• Karma (October 2009)
• Better Days Comin ' (2014)

Blackwood Creek

• Blackwood Creek (November 2009)

solo

• This Conversation Seems Like a Dream (1997)
• Down Incognito (1998)
• Songs from the Ocean Floor (2000)
• From the Moon to the Sun (2008)
• Ghosts - Suite No. 1 (2010)

Other

• Kix - Midnite Dynamite (1985)
• Fiona - Beyond the Pale (1986)
• Fiona - Heart Like a Gun (1989)
• Kane Roberts - Kane Roberts (1987)
• Twisted Sister - Love Is for Suckers (1987)
• Bob Dylan - Down in the Groove (1988)
• Various artists - Hearts of Fire (1987)
• Blue Yonder - House of Love (1987)
• Orange Swirl (1998)
• Seven Days - Ride (1998)
• Rob Eberhard Young - Speak (1999)
• Under Suspicion - Under Suspicion (2001)
• Jordan Rudess - Rhythm of Time (2004)
• XCarnation - Grounded (2005)
• The Mob - The Mob (2005)
• Jordan Rudess - The Road Home (2007)
• Northern Light Orchestra - Orchestra Arrangements (2009)

Web links

• Official website
• Kip Winger at Allmusic (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rewind with Kip Winger ( Memento from February 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Profile.myspace.com ( Memento of the original from November 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ^ ^{A b} Holger Stratmann (editor): Rock Hard Encyclopedia. Rock Hard GmbH, 1998, ISBN 3-9805171-0-1 , page 471
4. ^ Alastair Macaulay: Wheeldon's 'Ghosts,' Haunted by Dead Choreographers Society. In: The New York Times. February 11, 2010 (English review)
5. ↑ Booklet of the CD