Laikan Winter

Madison native Laikan Winter spent her teens performing at the local bar circuit as a country music vocalist singing everything from Patsy Cline to Faith Hill and dreaming of her move to the "Country Music Capital." Following high school graduation, Laikan moved to "Music City" where she attended a local community college as a Performance major studying voice, drama and dance while working as a waitress. Upon returning home during spring break of 2003, Laikan was given a cd, Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral, by her boyfriend. Curious, Laikan took the cd back to Nashville for a listen, not knowing just how significantly it would impact her life. It was then that Laikan realized that her hunger for the conservative-geared and lyrically-restrictive genre no longer satisfied her creative palette. Thirteen months after leaving for what she thought would be her final destination, Laikan found herself unexpectedly back in Madison abandoning her childhood ambition and in what she refers to as "musical purgatory." Uncertain of what would follow, she spent the next few years experimenting with several music genres including industrial metal and dance, 3 major-city moves and an endless string of band auditions with no real connection. In late 2007, Laikan broke the cycle when she saw a film that changed everything. The motion picture "Once" immediately made a connection with Laikan, filling her void of musical uncertainty, while inspiring her to get back into the studio and record new material. Laikan’s debut EP, Splinter is set to be released in early summer 2008.