Songs I Never Sang For My Father

"Songs I Never Sang For My Father, Athens singer songwriter Marty Winkler’s 1st full CD since 2009’s "Under Your Heart", is her richest, most personal and eclectic yet. Lush, haunting ballads like “I Was Dreaming Of A Girl Like You” and “Half The Sum” define the 11 track album, but it also boasts some funky, up tempo tunes like “Camouflage” and “Diggin’ A Hole” that insist that you to jump up and shake it down.

In all instances, the power behind the voice is the incomparable bass playing of her producer and co-conspirator Michael C Steele, a stalwart of Randall Bramblett’s and John Berry’s bands. Steele played a little bit of everything on the new album, his contributions abetted by a small cadre of Georgia virtuosos like Davis Causey and M Lee Davis.

The title refers to Marty’s late father, Paul Donald Winkler. As she says in the album's liner notes, 'he was always my biggest champion. His own voice and ear were wonderful. In his prime he sounded a bit like Dean Martin. He never once said, ‘maybe you should give up music and do something more lucrative'.'

Except for an exquisitely rendered Irving Berlin classic, "What'll I Do?", all of the songs are by Marty, either solo or with one of her small circle of musical collaborators. The compositions not only cover a diverse emotional spectrum, they’re gleaned from 40 years of songwriting.

"Hold Me Closely" dates back to her years as a young Nebraska girl doing her damnedest to take New York by storm. "Diggin'” was co-written with then husband and bandmate David D Johnson when they were scraping by in the Big Apple as newlyweds and soon to be parents. Zoom forward to "Delaney", written just last year for a dear friend who found himself rescued, and vice versa, by a pandemic puppy.

Marty has lived in Athens with her husband and occasional songwriting partner Noel Holston since 2005. As patrons of The Foundry, Hendershots and other Classic City music venues know, her eclectic songwriting and 4 octave vocalizing encompass jazz, pop, americana and cabaret.

A veteran of Lilith Fair, Winkler has sung on stage with Sheryl Crow, Indigo Girls, Dixie Chicks and Sarah McLachlan. She’s been an opening act for musical artists as diverse as Loudon Wainwright III, The Wailers and Jonathan Richman. Her past CD's include the aforementioned "Under Your Heart", "Heavenly Bodies", "Kissing Minneapolis Goodbye", and a Christmas EP, "(These Are The) Ornaments".

She also performs locally in the Georgia Sirens with 3 other Athens singing stars: Maggie Mason Hunter, Susan Staley and SJ Ursrey.