'Little Drama', BIG SOUND
Local musician Brian Winterman releases debut album

by Kathlyn Von Rohr

When asked to choose a favorite from the dozens of songs he's written, 29-year-old songwriter/musician Brian Winterman throws his hands up in the air to signify he is at a loss for words for the first time in two hours.

Hunched over his bar stool at Crazy Horse, where his deep radio-type voice will summon the waitress from across the room, he orders another tall beer.

"They all have their time and place," Winterman says. "There is no theme, I'm not a punk band or a Goth band, and you might dance to me but I'm not a dance band. I just write what I write."

And write he does. Now, the Bloomington local, after three IU undergraduate degrees and a Masters in Library Science, carries a pen in his pocket for spare lyrics as he juggles his two kids, marriage and a full-time job. In his "spare time" he can be found playing with one of his bands (he leads two, with a third in the works), or self-promoting his first CD, Little Drama, which will be released on July 11.

With the CD release date in view, Winterman admits he's looking forward to getting back to writing again.

"Just knowing the light is at the end of the tunnel has made me write three new songs in the past two weeks," Winterman says casually.

Winterman began writing songs at age 14 when he picked up his Dad's severely warped, cast-off acoustic guitar. Never having any formal music training, he taught himself musical chords. Then he found out the guitar was damaged.

"I heard that, and I thought 'no wonder it hurt so bad,' says Winterman.

Even when remembering the badly calloused fingers of that era, Winterman still maintains his first chords on that warped guitar were the first inkling that he loved music.

Winterman spent his teenage years jamming with punk bands and his years at IU playing with a band called the Menstrals. Winterman met his wife, Una, while playing with the Menstrals at an IU "hap-hazard basement party."

Originally from Newburgh, Ind., Winterman moved to Mt. Vernon with his wife after graduation. Finding Mt. Vernon as quiet as ever, he spent his time secluded in his basement with his four-track mixer, acoustic guitar, synthesizer and whatever else he could find to create his own original sounds.

"It was a great time for me, because I was completely alone," says Winterman.

Now, six years later, one of the many songs written in that Mt. Vernon basement is featured on Winterman's first CD. "Goodbye Lorraine," speaks of mothers with babies, old men in bars -- anything that reminded Winterman of Mt. Vernon.

But how does a basement songwriter go to producing his own CD? Winterman decided to give it a shot when he met a friend of a friend, Mark Robinson.

"I didn't know Brian very well, but he came over with a whole box of songs and ran through 20 without stopping," says Robinson, "And (the songs) were all very different and interesting."

At that time, Robinson, besides being an engineer and guitarist, kept his own recording studio in his basement. And thus, the basement musician found his niche, with the prospect of recording in another basement.

Winterman realized right away that fans wouldn't flock to the sights and sounds of him playing a guitar solo onstage, so he hired a professional band.

"This is different from forming a band of friends or guys who are taking an artistic shot," says Winterman. "These guys are professionals. They're good (and) better than me."

This is not surprising, considering Winterman is the youngest member of his band, Delusion Train.

The name Delusion Train comes from the same place where a lot of Winterman's song titles originate: from a conversation with his drummer, Tim Moore. Moore has been a professional musician for 10 years and, according to Winterman, has no delusions about the business.

"I told him: 'Don't be jaded. Pretend I'm going to be famous,'" says Winterman, "Hence 'Delusion Train."

Moore is not the only highly experienced musician Winterman has backing his resonant singing voice.

According to Winterman's Web site, the saxophone and keyboard player, Joe Donnelly, is a graduate of VanderCook College of Music and appears regularly with five different acts. Dena El Saffar, their violinist, holds a bachelor's degree in viola performance from IU and has been playing since she was six.

Listed as the "bass player," Mike Lindenmuth also plays guitar, both upright and electric bass and banjo. Robinson, Winterman's producer, steps in to play guitar, keyboard and anything else that's needed. David England also plays guitar, and has not only released his own solo record, but has played with several bands around Indiana.

Winterman does what he can to keep his hired musicians happy, including as few rehearsals as possible.

"I give my people a CD, my notes -- do they listen to it?" said Winterman, "I don't know. I don't care. They show up, and it's magic."

Guitarist England appreciates the few rehearsals and attributes Winterman's uncompromising energy to "not running the songs into the ground" by practicing them each night.

Winterman's style and energy is what attracted England to the band in the first place.

"His music is very simple but melodic -- a sense of melody with rock," says England.

Melodious rock? Perhaps that's why Winterman lists Bruce Springsteen as one of his influences. His other influences include Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello and Bryan Adams, making his style (or "styles") difficult to name.

If asked, Winterman will grab his CD and start describing a very unique genre of music for each song on the album. Then he will explain his simple writing style, using only four or five chords per song, while writing songs about "common things." He might even go into his theory that all songs must have some sort of dramatic action in them.

"This is why there aren't many songs about making toast or checking the air in your tires: not enough drama," says Winterman.

With his Crazy Horse CD release party upcoming, and other gigs lined up, Winterman is most excited about surviving it all and possibly recording another album. Of course another record will have to take a backseat to Winterman's first passion: writing and jamming for the walls of his basement.