John Winn Bio

Singer, songwriter, guitarist, folk singer, operatic tenor, mentor, artist, humorist, mesmerizing storyteller, skier, tennis pro, and marketing professional.  All of these words describe John Winn, a multi-talented man with a background grounded in music, and a life-long love of skiing and mountains.
           
Winn’s musical career has spanned six decades, starting with formal voice training in college, stints as a tenor with a municipal opera company in St. Louis, and as a coffeehouse singer in the early days of folk music in New York City. Winn traveled with the Belafonte Singers, performed on stages with Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, and Jose Feliciano, and performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall with many of the early folk artists.
           
Born in Hannibal, MO in 1934, Winn grew up in the heart of the depression in a rural farm setting, played basketball and enjoyed bird-hunting along the Mississippi River. He worked many jobs in his youth, including summers spent as a cave guide at the Mark Twain cave near Hannibal.

 A high school teacher identified his strong tenor voice and encouraged him, and he studied voice at Culver Stockton College in Illinois and performed with the municipal opera in St. Louis, MO.

In the early 1950’s, Winn’s interest in skiing brought him to Summit County, Colorado, well before Copper Mountain, Keystone or Breckenridge ski resorts were formed. He found work at Ski Tip Ranch near Arapahoe Basin and present-day Keystone.  He cut wood, built fires, and was their principle dishwasher.

In 1954, while serving in the US Army in Fort Carson, CO, he picked up a guitar and started a life-long love of the instrument. After the Army, Winn headed back to Ski Tip Ranch, where he learned to teach skiing at Arapahoe Basin, playing guitar and singing to guests at night by the huge stone fireplace in the lodge. He also began performing in coffeehouses and bars such as the Red Ram in Georgetown, CO, Mike’s Pub in Boulder, the Exodus and Café Les Tarot in Denver.

One rainy day in March, 1982, with the powder snow turning to spring slush, Winn headed back to Colorado. His love of skiing is probably even stronger than his love of music, and he wanted to be back in the Colorado mountains, closer to the world’s best skiing in Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Copper Mountain. He taught skiing at Keystone, CO, was the head tennis pro at Copper Mountain, and continued performing in Central City, Black Hawk, and Denver.

In 1995, Winn moved to Grand Junction, CO, where the local coffeehouse music scene was getting stronger.  Winn began writing music again, finding inspiration in the beauty of the mountains, canyons, and vistas of western Colorado.

He has performed at local coffeehouses in Grand Junction, and in concerts at the outdoor amphitheater of the Western Colorado Botanic Gardens. He also plays private parties, weddings, and corporate events. Most recently he has been working with Jon James at Shedd Studios to record the lifetime of original music that he has composed. Five CD’s are planned, and the first, Canyon Wind, will be available September 13, 2006 at his concert at the Western Colorado Botanic Gardens in Grand Junction.

John’s new Canyon Wind CD is now available, with two more to follow in early 2007. To order, email aemusic@earthlink.net