Winston's latest album ("The Two Tones") will be
released on December 17th. Apple wrote
and sings all of the songs on "The Two Tones." He recruited musicians
and a producer (Mark Thies) for this project with the intention of making an
authentic ska/reggae album, but with pop and rock influences and production
values. A three-piece horn section made up of some of the KC areas finest jazz
players provides added interest. This
approach should create interest among both ska and reggae purists and fans of
pop and rock music. The lyrics are intelligent and thought-provoking. The beats
are infectious.
The album features nine new songs written by Winston and
reggae and ska versions of six more songs from Winston’s catalog, including a
reggae version of “Shoot ‘em Up, Cowboy” (now re-titled simply “Shoot ‘em Up”).
The original (rock) version of that song led to a recording contract with
Monument Records for Winston (then recording as “Gary Apple”). It was getting
good air-play and heading up Record World’s singles chart in September of 1978
when Monument’s distribution deal with Phonogram expired and was not renewed.
Despite the fact that it was no longer being promoted, the song spent nine
weeks on the singles chart in Record World. Now (minus the “Cowboy”) “Shoot ’em
Up” will get a second chance.
As a singer-songwriter, Winston has always recorded using
session musicians, but in the early stages of this project it became apparent
that a band was being born. Several of the musicians expressed an interest in
doing some gigs as a group and “Winston Apple and the Two Tones” made their
debut as a live act at recordBar in Kansas City in February of 2013 in the
middle of the recording project. The album title was changed to “The Two Tones”
to reflect the fact that it was very much a group effort.
"Winston Apple and the Two Tones" will be touring
extensively in 2014 to promote the album and to "let the good times
roll" for audiences everywhere.
www.winstonapple.com
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