While singer-songwriter Charlie Winton has spent fifty years playing guitar, and writing songs, he’s also the visionary behind one of the most significant forces in the publishing business, where he served as chairman and CEO of Publishers Group West for many decades, before he divided his ventures into several distinct imprints, which continue to shape the industry today. During it all, he kept playing and writing, and along the way honed for himself a soulful Americana-rock sound.
2016 saw Charlie retire from his “day job”, opening the door to embracing music as a full time second career. He immediately joined forces with Bay Area producer Scott Mathews, whose notable collaborators include Jack Nitzsche, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison, and Elvis Costello, Since that time, Winton has, now aged 73, released three records, each more meditative and expressive than the last. His upcoming fourth album, ‘Shadowland’, the followup to 2024s ‘Eternal Light’, takes a long look back at the shadows of the past, with his gravelly sound and unrushed introspection the perfect match those times when you’re taking a long drive down an endless stretch of road in the wilderness.
Winton’s new single, ‘Rising Tide’, is characterised by an arresting guitar riff, filled to the brim with melancholy. There’s the same sort of deep-seated curiosity to be found in the likes of Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen, recognising the wonder and mystery of life, while acknowledging it’s meaningful. Winton, with the simplest of poetic declarations, brings forth a confession of someone who is reconciling with the present, while fully conscious of the past. It’s like the swell of a tide, capturing a poignant realisation that there’s “always time to get it right”.
With his rugged vocals taking their rightful place over a steady tempo and wailing acoustics, Winton seems to be carrying the weight of looking to the past, present, and future, all at once. But he’s “hanging in, and holding tight”.
The music video for ‘Rising Tide’ is Winton’s first official one, and he draws listeners in with his passion for the moment, pouring out raw emotion with every note, against the backdrop of the narrator’s glimpses of hope and dashes of sorrow. Flashes of the clock occasionally provide a jarring reminder that the great wheel of time continues to turn, and eventually, those hands will stop. And that’s all the more reason to “let the light in, slay your dragons”, and ensure that we get every single last drop from the moments that we have left.
Watch the music video for ‘Rising Tide’ below, and find out more about Charlie Winton and his music online on his official website, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
