Kip Winger

Charles Frederick"Kip"Winger(born June 21, 1961) is an American singer and bassist, active as a member of the rock bandWingerand as a solo artist.He initially gained notability as a member ofAlice Cooper's band, contributing bass to hisConstrictor(1986) andRaise Your Fist and Yell(1987) albums.
Winger was born in Colorado to parents who were both musicians. At age 16, Winger began studyingclassical musicafter hearing the works of composers such asDebussy,Ravel, andStravinskyinballetclass. At that time he sent a demotapetoAlan Parsons, from whom he received a personal reply.
As a teenager, Winger played in a band named Blackwood Creek with his brothers Nate and Paul plus friend Peter Fletcher (formerly inPigmy Love Circus). Blackwood Creek disbanded in 1980. Kip, his brothers, and Fletcher also played the Denver area bar scene as the band Colorado. Winger's first release was aRainbow Music Halllive recording of the song "Wizard of the Key" on theKAZY Thunder on the Mountaincompilation in 1980 under the band name Winger which was the Colorado band line-up under a different name.
In 1982, he studied with Sam Guarnaccia in Denver then moved to New York City and waited tables while studying composition with Edgar Grana.
Kip Winger's first commercial break came in 1984, when he co-wrote the song "Bang Bang" forKix's third album,Midnite Dynamite.During that time he was working closely with the record producerBeau Hill,recordingbass and vocals on variousrecords. WhileReb Beachwas working onFiona Flanagan'sBeyond the Palerecord atAtlantic, Winger and Beach were introduced to each other and later began recording demos. In 1985, Winger joinedAlice Cooper's band. After making two albums and touring with Cooper, much of the time alongside keyboardist/guitaristPaul Taylor, Winger left in March 1987 to focus on his own band.
Winger returned to New York to work on songs with Reb Beach, and they were soon joined by Paul Taylor and drummerRod Morgenstein. They initially performed under the name Sahara, but eventually changed their name toWinger, at Alice Cooper's suggestion.
The band Winger released three albums (Winger(1988),In the Heart of the Young(1990), andPull(1993)) before moving on to solo careers.
Kip Winger then moved toNew Mexicoto work on his solo career, and study with Richard Hermann at theUniversity of New Mexico.
He worked and recorded three solo records inSanta Fe, New Mexico:This Conversation Seems Like a Dream,Down IncognitoandSongs from the Ocean Floor.
In 2002 Winger moved toNashville, Tennesseeand began working on his fourth solo record,From the Moon to the Sun(2008), which he co-produced with Cenk Eroglu.
In September 2006, it was announced that Winger would be reformed, with thePullera line-up, to record the band's fourth studio album,IV, and to go ontourto support it. During this tour, Winger recordedWinger Livewhich was released on CD and DVD in 2007. It was also confirmed that an anthology of rare tracks and early recordings,Demo Anthology(2007) would be released, as well as an autographedlimited-editionalbum,Seventeen: The Demos, where only 300 copies were made.
In 2009, Winger recorded their fifth studio album,Karma, which was hailed as their best record.The band toured the US, Europe and South America.
Following the release ofFrom the Moon to the Sun, Winger studied with Michael Kurek and composed a thirty-minutesymphonicpiece, "Ghosts", written for strings, piano and harp for a ballet commission. The work had its premiere with theTucson Symphony Orchestraon November 14–15, 2009. ChoreographerChristopher Wheeldoncreated the ballet "Ghosts", which premiered at theSan Francisco Balleton February 9, 2010, with set design by Laura Jellinek, lighting design by M.L. Geiger and costume design by Mark Zappone.
Winger was nominated for an Isadora Duncan Award for Excellence in Music.The ballet was a hit and was brought back for a second season in 2010.
Winger then composed a four-part work entitledC.F. Kip Winger: Conversations with Nijinsky, intended to celebrate the life of ballet dancer and choreographerVaslav Nijinsky.The album was recorded by theSan Francisco BalletOrchestra and reached the top of the Traditional Classical Chart on theBillboardmusic charts.
C.F. Kip Winger: Conversations with Nijinskywas nominated in the Best Classical Contemporary Composition category at the59th Annual Grammy Awards.
Kip Winger's theatrical composing debut is the musical thrillerGet Jack, with book/lyrics by Damien Gray (Atomic the Musical,Animagique,Sing On Tour). The story revolves around the five female victims ofJack the Ripper:Mary Ann Nichols,Annie Chapman,Elizabeth Stride,Catherine Eddowes, andMary Jane Kelly—known as the "canonical five"—who rise from the dead to track down Jack and take revenge.
Get Jackis currently on development stage, with directorKelly Devineand musical director Andy Peterson, and was presented in concert in October 2019 in New York.
Winger and Gray released the rock/orchestralGet Jackconcept album in July 2019, which entered at #7 onBillboard's Cast Albums chart.
Winger's composition "Blue Suede Shoes" from the albumIVhonored the service and sacrifice of United States armed forces and their families. In appreciation, General Harold Cross presented Winger with an honorary plaque and historic United States of America flag. The presentation occurred in a surprise ceremony during the taping of thePBStelevision programLegends & Lyrics.
On the television programBeavis and Butt-Head, one of the recurring characters, Stewart Stevenson, wears a Winger T-shirtin contrast to the AC/DC and Metallica shirts worn by Beavis and Butt-Head.
He has participated and performed as head counselor in theRock 'n' Roll Fantasy Campwith other musicians includingRoger Daltrey,Steven Tyler,Todd Rundgren,Jack Blades,Kelly Keagy,Bruce Kulick,Bill Leverty,Steve Lukather,Duff McKagan,Mark Slaughter,Carmine Appice, andRudy Sarzo. He was featured in an episode of the American TV showPawn Starsin May 2013 as helping the host,Rick Harrison, through Rock Fantasy Camp.
In the early 1990s, the Jackson Guitar Company made a Kip Winger Signature Bass.