Had a great show on the Westjet Stage for Junofest.  Here's what the Province had to say.  Last paragraph:

http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/news/etoday/story.html?id=ced24cb6-2ddc-4fb0-81ab-968ed3b1f128

P.S. Myspace seems to want to disable links . . . even "Tiny URLs".  So, just highlight the link and re-paste it in your browser.

I've been included on a very cool compilation CD out of Michigan in the US. It's called DIG MUSIC VOLUME I. On the disc is a "group of artists that hail from such fertile new-music breeding grounds as Athens, Stockholm, Dublin, LA, London, Vancouver, Lansing and Boston." Also featured is fellow Canadians "Tokyo Police Club" from Newmarket, Ontario.

You can pick up the album through PAYPAL. It's going for $9.99.

www.myspace.com/digmusicmyspace

cheers,

~winston

"DIG Music, Volume 1" Features:

The Revellz, The Deadly Sins, The Kosmos, Tokyo Police Club, Hello Saferide, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, The Blonde Majority, of Montreal, The Hat Madder, Modey Lemon, Universal Hall Pass, Winston, & The Strange Little Girls

I've been writing a lot of new songs lately.  Instead of waiting for my next record to come out, I thought I'd give you a sneak peak at this crowd favorite.  It's called "What's your fucking problem?".  Lyrics are below.

------

There's not enough time in the day
To bring in what you're giving away
The truth is the hardest to say
And the steepest to pay

There's a certain look in your eyes
That arrives after telling a lie
I can see it's just a little fire
Burning inside

What's your fucking problem
Is it the money or is it the job
Is it your honey or is it the love
That you never got

Your girl's just along for the ride
I think she's getting some on the side
She deserves to have something to hide
When you've never tried

All the boys are all headed for home
Some of their wives are starting to show
You're on the phone trying to hook up some blow
You've got nowhere to go

What's your fucking problem
Is it the money or is it the job
Is your honey or is it the love
That you never got

What's your fucking problem
You're so young but over the hill
Is it the shoes you've been trying to fill
And you never will

Oh . . . you never will . . .

You're essential to a Saturday night
As important as Canadian rye
You'd fight off the morning light
To keep us alive

But how long do you think you can last
Living your life like it's some kind of test
Whether you fail or whether you pass
Have you given your best

CHORUS

"Word Travels" on the Outdoor Life Network has been using my song "Saying The Same Thing" in a few episodes this season. Check out this promo for the show. The song starts about 1:10.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xjedv-rw5M

The mud bathing looks fun :)

~winston

~the cmj showcase is official. i'll be playing with some great canadian acts: Hunter Valentine, Cadence Weapon, Wintersleep and Uncut on Oct. 18th in NYC.

~i've spent hours this last week on google earth trying to get familiar with manhattan. looks like i'll be staying just a few blocks south of central park. here's the good news: I was recently told that Bowen Island (my home) is geographically the same size as Manhattan. Simple!

Winston
Limited
By Jasmyn Burke

Having recorded and released Passengers with a backing band in 2004, Winston has now recorded a six-song solo EP created exclusively with the use of vintage analogue gear. The result is a lovely little package of songs that are introspective, as Winston sings about feeling run down and wasting away. Signed to Aquarius, Winston is on a label that includes the likes of the talented Jeremy Fisher and the oh-so-great Corey Heart. That said, Limited is an EP filled with melodic songs that fall in and out of happiness, ultimately making for a simplistic pop-meets-folk record. With songs like "Denim" and "Saying the Same Thing," Winston has struck a great chord, making a half-hour long EP that would be great to listen to when winding down after a day of hard work, or after having called in sick.(Aquarius)


Winston
Limited
Aquarius

BRYAN BIRTLES / bryan@vueweekly.com

You've probably noticed that lately it's been really rainy in Edmonton and whether it's because of global warming or just some sort of weather aberration, it still makes me sad. And when I start to feel a little blue, it's nice to have an album like Winston's Limited around. Because when you feel sad, there's nothing better than feeling sadder. Don't ask me why.

Winston himself produced and plays most of the instruments on this album. It sounds a bit like Coldplay, but with more of a bedroom-pop flavour, though when it needs to swell it certainly does so. At times grandiose and sweeping in its arrangements, Limited also has the ability to come down to a very personal confessional level and draw you into it.
The other neat part about this album—something more and more musicians seem to be attempting—is that it was recorded without digital devices of any kind. I'm not one of those guys who thinks that analogue is by definition better than digital, but I do think that setting constraints on the recording process spurs creativity, and creativity is highly evident here.

WINSTON
Limited
**** (4 out of 5 stars)
by Meagan Bibby – Sands, Delta

Winston's goal was to "make something real, something human." -myspace.com/Winston

From the Elliot Smith-esque intro of "All Alone" to the bongo-infused backbeat of the title track "Limited" to the breathtakingly metaphorical "Denim," this entire album is beautifully fashioned with each acoustic chord progression, keyboard note, bongo beat and soft bass line. Produced at HippoWest Studios on Bowen Island, each song has been recorded without the assistance of digital editing, which allows the sincere melodies and raw clarity of the vocals to shine through.

Winston
By —John Threlfall

Jun 13 2007

Limited (Aquarius)

This second release from west coast-based Winston (a chaser to 2004's Passengers) is a strong album, offering a short (24 minutes) six-song collection of surprisingly introspective, sensitive material sure to please anyone who enjoys small "r" rock. Maybe it was his decision to record this on vintage analoge gear (sans the use of any digital devices whatsoever) or to produce it himself, but either way, Limited is a smooth package that clearly stands out from the pile of new releases which shuffle in weekly. Stripped down to a basic rock trio—with Winston himself on vocals, keys and guitars—Limited offers simple songs with engaging lyrics ("I'm so limited by what I can afford/It's so definitive, the artist and his chords") and catchy melodies. Of all the tracks, "Denim" is perhaps the strongest, featuring some haunting Chris Isaac-style guitar work and similar bend-around-the-notes vocal stylings; other songs evoke early Skydiggers and, if you're old enough to remember them, Grapes of Wrath. While not necessarily the most memorable disc ever, Limited is still a good album, offering an eminently listenable collection of songs that you can't help but enjoy. Winston's a good choice to open for Emm Gryner this week, and word is he's well worth catching live. Like a full-bodied wine and a mellow cheese, it should be a good pairing.

Winston (with Emm Gryner)

Wednesday, June 20

Logan's Pub, 1821 Cook

Tickets $12 at Lyle's Place

382-8422

THE VANCOUVER PROVINCE

WINSTON
Limited (Aquarius)

This six-song EP has an
appealing warmth as
Winston records "live" with a
band on what now might be
considered antique gear. It
creates an immediacy that
shows off both a talented
songwriter and an
adventurous singer. Like,
where did that falsetto come
from? C+ - T.H.

-------------------------------------------

THE RED DEER EXPRESS

Winston at Lava Lounge

05/30/07
BY MARK WEBER
Red Deer Express

Vancouver singer/songwriter Winston is set to release his critically acclaimed solo EP through Aquarius Records next month.

He makes a city stop June 27 at the Lava Lounge.

He's hitting the road with Canadian songstress Emm Gryner on a tour of Western Canada kicking off June 19.

Winston clearly didn't take any short-cuts with Limited.

"I wanted to make something real, something human," he says about his choice to skip industry standard recording methods like using computers to edit instruments, tune vocals and insert digital samples.

"Besides, for an album this personal, I didn't want it to sound perfect. Sometimes the feel is vulnerable, and I wanted to capture that vibe honestly, not just with my lyrics but with the music and recording as well," he explains.

Limited was recorded last December in Vancouver's Mushroom Studios.

Things kick off beautifully with the gentle, simple melancholy of All Alone – an acoustic-guitar driven tune built on infectious melodies and compelling harmonies.

The second song, Saying the Same Thing clips along at a brisk pace – a light-hearted sounding, thoroughly accessible tune aimed no doubt at radio. The haunting title tune draws listeners into the heart of what this prolific artistic is all about. A terrific vocal empowers a magical, laid-back musical foundation.

The whispery, luminous Good and Strong is reminiscent of textures of rich singer/songwriter tunes from the 1970s – lyrically and musically.

Winston produced the disc himself without using any digital devices. The result? An introspective alt-pop blend that is at times gritty and other times haunting.

After forming a four-piece band and releasing the critically-acclaimed full-length disc Passengers back in 2004, Winston was dubbed a top local act by Vancouver critics.

When he's not busy recording his own tunes, he produces other indie artists from his secret bunker in downtown Vancouver.

A writer and label owner, versatile musician and producer, Emm Gryner has captured the hearts of wayward souls with tunes "filled with dark and haunting hues behind their subtle shine."

This is particularly true of her latest disc The Summer of High Hopes.

It was released early last year in Ireland where Gryner had made an earlier breakthrough with a collection of critically-acclaimed Irish cover tunes (Songs of Love and Death). It was released this side of the pond last fall.

The Summer of High Hopes was recorded in all kinds of places from basements in Ontario to studios in Sweden.

Featured guests include guitarist Michael Ward (Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals and The Wallflowers) and Winnipeg native Bryce Kushnier (electronic/indie outfit VitaminsForYou.

The new disc is described as a deeply personal soundtrack that "could have only been made by a young woman left alone to navigate the choppy seas of love, warfare and day-to-day despair."

mweber@reddeer.greatwest.ca

----------------------------------------------------------
CHART MAGAZINE

WINSTON Limited (Aquarius/EMI)

When B.C.'s Ryan Hauschild realized that his band Winston had suddenly become a solo project, he decided he wanted to try something different for his first independent outing. Limited, a six-song EP, was made without the use of any digital devices — no computers, no Pro Tools, not even a digital guitar tuner. Though the disc was recorded on vintage analogue gear, not one of the tracks sounds any worse off for the lack of modern equipment. On the contrary, they sound more polished at times than one would expect from such a bare-bones experiment. As Hauschild's voice stretches to falsetto on "Denim," his sugary pop veers dangerously close to Coldplay territory. It's evident that the singer-songwriter has talent, but lamenting about the state of one's life has been done to death by a number of artists who sound exactly the same. Hauschild has better songs in him — let's just hope they come out on the upcoming Winston full-length. Scott Bryson

Back to the basics
Band morphs into solo act, recording an EP

Tom Harrison
The Province

Thursday, April 19, 2007

What do chopping wood and dumping Pro Tools have in common?

Ask Winston.

"I've really been through a big change," he says. "I've actually left the city. I'm on Bowen Island now, which is funny because I was a Main Street guy before."

Winston (or Ryan Hauschild, to give his birth name), moved to Bowen last October and rented a cottage. There he "went through a back-to-the-basics phase, chopping wood, fetching water. That was when all these killer songs appeared."

That also was when he decided to make an EP, Limited, that would be recorded on analog equipment and even eschewed guitar tuners.

"For me, this record is the debut of me solo. I think I started off as 'This is my band.' But Winston always was a changing band. Just by default, I'm Winston. It feels natural now to say, 'I am Winston, this is my new record.'"

As recording goes, this, too, was back to the basics.

"It was fun, really fun," Winston says. "For a couple of weeks it was great.

"It forced us to play songs from beginning to end. It was nice to do without Pro Tools. It got the guys excited, too. It was a challenge.

"I wouldn't suggest that to anyone else," he adds.

Winston also has been trying his hand as a producer -- the highly recommended Waiting For the Sun by Anthill -- and has learned that the back-to-basics approach is a lot of work and therefore not for everyone. "It depends on the kind of record you want to make. For me, I wanted to make a stripped-down, groovy kind of record.

Limited, naturally, is more personal, with an agreeable warmth and the appearance, through experimentation, of a falsetto voice. There is more space and less density than Winston, the band, produced and might be a signpost to Winston, the man's, first Aquarius album.

"I don't know and I'm glad about that," he says. "I like not knowing. I like not saying, 'I'm a rocker,' or 'I'm a folk artist.' And I've got a lot of respect for Aquarius because of that. They said, 'Make the album you want.' I was like, 'Is this a dream?' Especially in this day and age."

tharrison@png.canwest.com

© The Vancouver Province 2007







Winston goes back to basics, and it works

Amy O'Brian
Vancouver Sun

Thursday, April 19, 2007

LIMITED

Winston

Aquarius Records

Rating 3

This six-song EP from Vancouver's own Winston is a modern marvel mostly for what it's not. There were no computers and nothing digital used on any of the tracks. In a world where nearly every commercial release is so slickly produced that the soul of the artist is smothered, Winston's music is refreshingly honest. The songs are a happy combination of acoustic pop, piano indie rock, and personal, sometimes vulnerable lyrics.

On the album's title track, a kitchen timer keeps the beat as Winston sings about feeling "forgotten like an old abandoned shoe." He easily enters the higher registers with his crisp voice and though he sometimes verges close to whiny, he generally stays on the pretty side of the fence.

Good and Strong is a sweet sensitive-guy tune about being a loyal support to someone in need, while Saying the Same Thing is a faster angstier tune where Winston is at his best. Winston performs at his CD release party this Saturday at the Lamplighter Pub in Gastown.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007