When Little Man Tate decided to call it a day in October 2009, Jon Windle had one of two choices – go and find himself a ‘day’ job – or maybe give it one more crack and see if the world was ready to listen to what he had to say. Not that it was quite that straight forward…
In fact, it was only during a break between studio sessions writing for other people that the bug bit gain. “…I was at this charity do in Rotherham and one of the organisers, a friend, was nagging me to get up and do a number. I was like, “Nah, nah” and they were all “go on Jon, go on Jon”….so we just did a couple of covers and a couple of LMT numbers and I loved it! I remembered what I loved about performing and it all just came back to me….”
Freshly inspired Jon now had a new project to whet his lyrical appetite, as the wintry nights drew in, he kept himself busy with countless scraps of paper and battered guitar strings which, eventually, led to the body of material that would become his debut solo album.
Released on 18th October 2010, almost a year to the day after the demise of LMT, Step Out The Man (Tiny Teeth Records) received both critical and public acclaim.
Although more mature than previous work, Windle has stayed true to his roots and fundamental beliefs around song writing “…I love country music, love the way it tells a story…I want to write about specific events, not general social commentary…”.
Accompanied by blistering high energy live performances, he has proved to the cynics that he has the ability to move away from the comfort of a group, and stand out to be counted in his own right – captured perfectly in the tone of the title track to last years album.
Writing and recording is well underway for album number two. More live dates will follow as Jon continues to spread his word to anyone who will take the time to listen to it.
Agent – Colin Keenan
