Who's Alex Winston?

When one thinks of a Ted Nugent concert the imagery would undoubtedly consist of guns, grenades and Gibson guitars. Any visions you may have of an opening act, if you have any to begin with, would follow that same swath of rock ‘n roll destruction as the headliner. However, your Uncle Ted is always full of surprises and his recent tour stop in Providence was no different.

Alex Winston was pegged as the opener and if you haven’t heard of the Alex Winston Band don’t be ashamed. Nobody I talked to knew a wit about Alex. The first thing I noticed was the four racks of amps symmetrically placed across the stage each with one letter on them A – L – E – X. I smiled and asked the guy behind me if he knew who this Alex Winston was and his reply was spot on, “No idea, but if you decorate your amps with your name you better be good or it’ll be a short night.”

When the lights came down and the band hit the stage, this crowd was in for a mild rock ‘n roll shock. Alex Winston happened to be a 20 year old woman, with a red hollow body Gibson, 4 mates looking to enter an epic sideburns contest, and a whole can of whoop ass that was about to get sprung. Taking a look around the crowd I saw I was surrounded by raised eyebrows and slacked jaws. Moments later those slack jaws were becoming pleasant smiles. Nothing is more fun for a music fan that thinking they are in on something and that night they were.

Alex Winston, from song one, the fittingly titled track “Hello” imposed her will on the crowd with her blend of strong rock ‘n roll roots and a sex appeal and stage presence that cannot be learned. It was as though she was made for this job. Bear in mind that this was a crowd that, for the most part, had been following the career of a rock legend that cut his musical teeth ten years before Ms. Winston was even born. Talk about a challenging crow to win over. Win them over she did though with the help of the Mutton Chop Quartet backing her up.

In a setting like this, Alex is only going to be as good as the musicians behind her and she has surrounded herself with some very talented musicians. With Nick Quinn and Chris Peters taking up a bulk of the guitar work, and a rhythm section that kept it tighter than a fat guy in a phone booth the band sounded like they’d been together for years. They deserve a ton of credit for what was becoming a triumphant introduction to the Providence scene.

Alex’s show in Providence left me thinking that the people here can someday say that they “saw her in a club in Providence, before she was a huge star.” I recommend you see her now so you can say so too. This is a young performer, with a stellar band that has nothing but an unbelievable future ahead of her. Take my word for it, you will not be disappointed.